The slush fund and the pardon are not two scandals. They are one mechanism. Money to buy loyalty now, immunity to protect that loyalty later. The structure pays men to break the law and then promises they will never answer for it. That is not corruption around the edges of a state. That is a state being rebuilt to run on it.
Notice what the boast actually concedes. He says he could have settled his case. His case. Brought by him, against him, with public money. A man cannot generously decline a fortune he was never owed. The performance of sacrifice is the tell. He needs you to see a gift where there is only theft.
Every “what stops him” in this piece has the same answer. Nothing structural. Only people. Only turnout. Only the slow unglamorous work of refusing to call it normal.
The armband is honest. Wear it. Then do the part that actually costs something.
Sky News: “When you bankrupt a casino, a few thousand people lose their jobs. When you bankrupt American foreign policy, the entire world pays the price. So where does this leave us?”
Abraham Lincoln: “The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise—with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”
Colin - They might be able to read it if only Congress didn’t keep going out on early/extended recess to avoid doing their Actual job.
By the way - Massie just filed to run for his seat again in 2028 and has said that he will be naming more names in the Epstein files since the DOJ is not following the law.
Anon, yay! Good news! I just turned on my phone to call Thomas Massie's office to tell him how sorry I am that he lost his primary bid. I had called him beforehand to wish him well. Was really surprised that he lost. I HOPE HE NAMES ALL THE NAMES AND STARTS WITH TRUMP SO THE DUMPSTER CAN HEAR IT LOUD AND CLEAR BEFORE HE KICKS THE BUCKET!!!!!
Why hell doesn't he just post them. The likes of Theil and Musk need to destroyed. I've seen pics of them having dinner on the island back in 2015. If they aren't paedophiles it doesn't matter. Epstein was an evil man and anyone associated is too.
Trump understands how to do pardons and Democrats must act now to prevent pardons from stopping enforcement of the law in 2029.
After Democrats have elected a president in 2028, they will want to arrest, prosecute, convict and imprison Trump, members of his administration and Republicans in Congress in 2029. However, to be sure Democrats in 2029 will be enable to enforce the law, Democrats in control of 15 blue states now need to pass a new state law in 2026 modeled after the federal law against insurrection (18 U.S. Code § 2383) to get around Trump pardoning his friends, supporters and anyone else. Pardons only apply to federal crimes. The 15 blue states that pass the new law will be able to arrest, prosecute, convict and imprison Trump, members of his administration, Republicans in Congress and any of the six justices on the Supreme Court if they had ever visited any of those 15 blue states from 2027 through 2028. State laws apply to criminal acts committed within state borders, regardless of the offender's residency status. Under the fundamental legal principle of territorial jurisdiction, a state has the authority to prosecute anyone who violates its laws while physically inside its boundaries even while on a temporary visit. The 15 states which have Democrats in control of state government with Democrats as governor, attorney general and a Democratic majority in the state House and state Senate. The 15 states are Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Illinois, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine. According to the federal law on insurrection (18 U.S. Code § 2383), a felony crime is committed by “whoever 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”. The evidence should prove that while in office from 2027 through 2028 after the new state laws were passed in 2026, Trump, members of his administration, Republicans in Congress, and six justices on the Supreme Court had violated federal law (18 U.S. Code § 2383).
You once told me you were unqualified to run for President ---OK----how about DOJ?? I am certain you have the connections and I damn certain you have the qualifications-----PLEASE !!!!!!!
But the point of the horror show is that becoming "disenthralled" is when you find out, tough luck with saving the Country, sucker!?!? Mitch McConnell already sold your Country down the river and far out to sea. Your "Supreme" Court only despises various colored types slightly more than they really, murderously hate females. The President you ELECTED calls your gas prices "peanuts." His "familiar" (look it up under witches) laughs at your wife's "legal status." There is no functional continuum between "disenthralled" and "saving our country." The whole world is asking, what will stop him? because the Constitutional pipe dream is being completely unmasked as useless.
We who are on the side of democracy can only partly wash our hands of this mess. The MAGA base that elected Trump was created because the rest of us, while in power, failed to acknowledge the clearly expressed needs and desires of people who did not think the way the majority thought. And by not paying attention, we allowed that unrepresented minority to grow while we weren't looking, to the point where they could, thanks partly to gerrymandering and electoral manipulation, and partly to the outsized influence of money, take over the whole show.
The people who worked for generations to bring back the true abominations, like racism, misogyny, religious extremism, oligarchy and de facto slavery, were able to make common cause with those who were simply disaffected with a government that did not seem to address their needs. Together, they created an effective political movement whose foot soldiers conveniently ignored the ugliness they were enabling - much of which either did or soon will go against their own interests.
And, when it could have been stopped, the rest of us did not see this as a problem that needed to be solved. The perfect became the enemy of the good, and all of us will pay the price together, regardless of who we pulled the lever for in November 2024.
Majority rule does not mean the minority can be ignored. And sometimes the minority makes that point clear.
There is a solution to the core problem which Reich described as “the Supreme Court, the Republican Party, and Trump are destroying laws and institutions that had been painstakingly enacted and implemented to protect our democracy, defend against bigotry, and strengthen the rule of law”. Between the beginnig of 2021 and the end of 2028, Democrats (Biden and AG Garlan did not enforce the law to stop the election of Trump.
What is the solution? A new generation of Democrats need to get elected in 2026 and 2028 and commit to enforcing the law against insurrection that began on January 6, 2021, as incited by Trump. Trump owes his presidency to his lying and the failure by Democrats and the Supreme Court to enforce the law against insurrection that began on January 6, 2021, and has continued into 2025 and 2026 as planned in Project 2025. In 2024, the Supreme Court violated federal law 18 U.S. Code § 2383 by failing to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment that stated Trump, an insurrectionist, was ineligible to hold office.
In 2025 and 2026, Trump and members of his administration including his Cabinet and ICE agents, Republicans in Congress and six justices on the Supreme Court were criminal felons who massively rejected and disobeyed the laws and authority of courts of the United States and must be arrested, prosecuted convicted and jailed in 2029 after Democrats control the presidency, the DOJ, and Congress.
According to the federal law on insurrection, 18 U.S. Code § 2383, “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 America, Democrats have been asleep for decades since 1980 while Republicans have caused tragic suffering in America with attacks on democracy and justice with perversions including Citizens United, wars, and wealth inequality created by Republicans stealing wealth from 99% of Americans and transferring the wealth to the top 1%.
In 2029, Democrats must restore high taxes on the wealthy, billionaires and corporations to the rates in 1965 to fund solutions to affordability of food, housing, healthcare and childcare. Democrats must also enable new laws and reform the Supreme Court after the six justices are removed, end Citizens United, tariffs, and wars, and restore strong protections for voting and civil rights. But Democrats must first get elected and then enforce the federal law against insurrection to arrest, prosecute, convict and imprison Trump, members of his administration, Republicans in Congress and six justices on the Supreme Court.
Mmerose ... "Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated." So says every tyrant since the dawn of the Neolithic Period roughly 400 generations (100 centuries) ago. Lincoln's suggestion: don't be naive and instead be disenthralled with the tyrant's lie.
"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds
!" So says human nature (speaking through Bob Marley, etc.) since the origin of our species roughly 12,000 generations ago.
If I act based on the assumption that I won't catch a fish, then I won't catch a fish, and then I can't blame the fish.
Just,is there a process; any legal or procedural or "representative" function operative in the U S A as now exists. to "emancipate" The nation itself from this train-wreck?
There is a principle. Apply the principle in every context without exception.
Applying the principle is not necessarily following orthodoxy (the "right" knowledge) and is necessarily following orthopraxy (the right practice of deliberately treating each other like we are all created equal until it's automatic ... like brushing your teeth).
When necessary: break rule to apply principle.
Not necessarily procedural or legal and instead "justice" (not the "how" and instead the "why"). Not necessarily written in a document and certainly written in the human heart.
Thank you James for that brilliant quote by Jane Goodall, one of my favorite heroes. Yes, "we can only attain our true human potential when the head and heart work in harmony".
James, the 'tyrannical principle' of all times as you described it is the only field of enterprise that trump has needed to master since he successfully bullied his classmates at military school. The 'Power of Positive Thinking' was the 'fascist's
handbook' as promoted by his father Fred. Further, under his mentor and master criminal Fred Cohn, he was taught and demonstrated the power of 'The Lie', to steal, cheat, oppress, and ridicule as naturally he breathes, until with a lifetime of practice he brings the world's most powerful nation to its knees. It was easy for him to subvert weaker minds in order to sustain a death-grip on power, and the 30% or so of the populace that constitute his cult may never be 'deprogrammed' in their lifetimes yet still retain their 'privilege' of the vote. As well, the billionaire power brokers maintain a chokehold on the flow of political funding. To rectify this blighted scenario to favor the ordinary citizen seems a Sisyphean battle. Every straight-thinking person in this country and by extension around the world will be called upon to repel this fascist scourge. Note that the next biggest criminal in US politics, Ken Paxton is endorsed by trump to be the candidate from Texas for the US Senate. Power of positive thinking, Nazi style.
Paxton's power of positive thinking of the "automaton" kind versus Talarico's power of positive thinking of the "being human" kind. It's never over till it's over. Good thing it's over for Ken as James is just getting started.
Who will stop the orange menance?....the Grim Reaper (currently in hot pursuit). The ensuing challenge will be to await whatever "awful spawn", from the existing sludge, will rise to assume the reins of power. Better or worse? (heavy sigh).
How will the Senate and House behave without the bully-in-chief at their throats, threatening their jobs and families? Maybe there is some small hope that they will come out from hiding under their seats. PS. Johnson needs to go, ditto Thune (both shameful and pitiful specimens of cowardice, stupidity, and duplicity).
Yes but isnt he planning on nullifying adverse votes and using his militia if need be. His life is literally threatening annihilation to get what he wants
I dont see our having an "election" as we have known them to be. Listen to Fuhrer. He does what he says he will do...sometimes. He is not always taco. He began talking about 2020 being "rigged" for MONTHS. ICE at the polls? Voter suppression? Am I out in left field here? ... but left is where I dwell, permanent residence.
Why didn't the Cuban Missile Crisis cause WWIII in 1962? It's impossible to know except in hindsight. In hindsight, Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) said to Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch), "We are only two people … but that is how things change." True story. Good movie.
If you hadn’t pulled off air support at the Bay of Pigs and abandoned Cubans to a slave state there wouldn’t have been a missile crisis in the first place.
You are so right! We have to develop new, more effective solutions for our current problems. These problems never before encountered call for major changes; judicial reforms, starting with the Supreme Court is critically important. We need new anti-corruption laws regarding a President's stock trading & self-dealing including profiteering by family members. We desperately need an Ethics Committee with teeth! We also need job requirements for Cabinet positions; Trump's Cabinet appointees are colossally unqualified for their positions! Never again should we have a former drug addict & lawyer known for hawking bogus health supplements in charge of Health & Human Services or a Wrestling promoter in charge of the Education Dept.! The next President and Congress will need to dedicate much of their initial work to making the office of the Presidency grift proof!
We the people, including voters and candidates, engage in the competent practice of politics like three musketeers (all for one and one for all) while swearing on a stack of Bibles that we will never again commit political malpractice like three stooges (all for one but only when that one is me). And then we keep reminding each other that "my" actions speak louder than "my" words. That does not mean that statutes won't need to be enacted, or that judicial decisions won't need to be pronounced (I think). Or ... maybe that's all that needs to happen. I'll think about it.
You are right, Johan. And his slush fund just so happens to be $1.776 billion, with 1776 matching the call for violent action the insurrectionists used. Trump’s slush fund is like a call to action of a highly paid and rewarded personal militia. With this violent militia combined with ICE, how would Americans defend themselves? That slush fund must be stopped. Thank goodness there are at least three solid legal cases to stop this fund and, with pressure from the public, even Congressional Republicans are starting to express resistance to the slush fund. I support the idea of a black arm band so long as we convey a clear, patriotic message of mourning for our treasured democracy, determination to regain our democracy, and not a sign of weakness. We have a lot of work ahead of us.
That specific $1.776m figure gives the lie to acting AG Todd Blanche's excuse to senators that the fund would in principle be available to anyone who had been a victim of the 'weaponization' of justice. The idea that the targets of Trump's retribution campaign (James Comey, Letitia James, Lisa Cook and all those DoJ attorneys and FBI agents who worked on the various Trump indictments) could make a successful claim can be laughed out of court. It must be galling for Trump that he cannot himself claim compensation from the fund bearing in mind that he considers himself the most ill-used of victims of the co-called weaponization and had originally planned to loot the government for a cool $10bn.
Russell - I’m sure he will “find” a way to get ahold of a good portion of the funds. So will all of the lawyers that T employed. The rest is just a payroll for employing the insurrectionists so he can use them later.
I read that one lawsuit being filed is about discrimination against the ones who have been alienated by the language used. Another, by Allison Gill, is suing for an amount (can’t remember if it was thousands, millions or what) which equates to 8647. What is infuriating is that the officers from the insurrection are having to file yet another lawsuit against T. They have suffered enough but keep getting victimized over and over again.
The New Yorker's David Kirkpatrick undertook a detailed analysis of Trump's various grifts since he returned tooffice and calculated that he had (up to the end of April) made around $4bn using the office of president.
The recent disclosures of the 3,700 stock trades he has made since the start of this year were a staggering example of grift.
He recently claimed that he couldn't attend his eldest son's wedding in the Bahamas because of his love of country and dedication to the job (a snub that led The Guardian's Marina Hyde to complain that we now live in a post-troth society) only to spend day after day posting rubbish on Truth Social (literally all day long according to an analysis by the BBC) and doing very little else.
Trump is currently being sued not just by Capitol officers over his slush fund but also by army veterans over the location of his proposed triumphal arch.
HOW is it that members of the GOP (with occasional heroic exceptions), still getting paid for doing nothing or worse, can sleep at night? This, too, is utterly unimaginable. I mean, what do these people actually do with their time during the day?
Carol - “ I mean, what do these people actually do with their time during the day?” - When in D.C. they wait to be told what to do and when at home they hide from their constituents.
I try not to dream in grey, but I see no real evidence that Americans fully comprehend what's going on in your country, let alone are prepared to do what's necessary. I mean, how difficult is it to shut down the economy? That's a non-violent act, isn't it? But nope, no sign of that. Yup, I've had it with the stupidity. My only interest now is in protecting and fighting for my own country in order to save us from the tyranny Americans are 100% responsible for.
Hey, friend! Hope to make it up to one of your beautiful beaches this summer once the chill comes off... had to put a small fire on last night. Are you an ex-pat or an interested observer? And, did we meet on Charlie Angus's substack?
You must have been an extraordinary parent when your children failed at something or struggled with a task. How successful a tool has shaming, humiliating and berating others been for you? You've always been concerned with your own country, as far as I can tell from your past posts. Every once in a while you sprinkle in a comment about not judging others and putting away prejudices, yet you clearly don’t practice what you preach.
Seems like living in Canada all those years clearly wasn't enough time to foster the usual kindness and generosity that your fellow Canadians readily display. What kind of action do you hope to promote on a liberal substack with most readers in their 70’s and 80’s by calling Americans stupid? Isn’t that what the republicans do, call democrats stupid? Isn’t that what Trump does? Look in the mirror, see clearly who you are emulating. If you think everyone here in the US in stupid and unable to view circumstances outside of their own, why waste your time, wouldn't that be...stupid?
Sorry, but I've been watching and waiting and I hear the same things all the time. Can't wait for the axe to fall, and by the way, I'm 70. I do wish you luck, but right now my country is threatened unnecessarily by your country.
Stop. Stop it all. National strike. Rolling strikes. Boycotts. Rolling boycotts. Buy only necessities. Buy only local. Build communities of mutual benefit.
$$$$$$ - the ONLY language wealth and power speak.
Robert- I’d be interested in your take, along with that of Heather and Michael’s. The concept is over 50 years old, but I think the originators may have nailed it.
The part that costs something is the work with no audience and no catharsis. Showing up to register voters in a county that is not yours. Driving someone to the polls. Sitting through a school board meeting. Donating to a race three states away that you will never see the result of personally. Running for precinct committee. Knocking doors in September heat for a candidate who is merely adequate, because adequate and accountable beats charismatic and unchecked. Personally, I will be speaking to think tanks, organizations, and various local committees, getting the word/vote out and donating to campaigns.
The armband makes you feel like a person of conscience in an afternoon. The turnout operation makes you tired for months and offers no photograph.
Even if Trump gets a spanking in the Mid-Terms, never were the words of Bertholt Brecht in his play 'The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui' more appropriate.
'Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again.'
With Trump gone, the list of his billionaire enablers remains. If we win the battle, we will still be in a state of war with the alt-right fascists.
The cleaning out of Trump's Augean Stables of Corruption is going to be a Herculean task, but the traitors must be systematically found and exposed. All those who took their 30 pieces of silver to destroy the country must be dragged out into the light.
They were but maggots have supported their attempted J6 takeover. BTW I am not clear on how t-rump finally told them to stop that day. Which one of them did he call or did he use a bull horn? This is a serious question.
William, I do agree with you. It will not be enough to stop the orange man. We have to go after the oligarchs that enabled him as well! When we win the House and the Senate, we need to start getting legislation done that will force the oligarchs to do what we have been saying for a long time now. Take away the tax cuts the orange man gave them. Pass legislation that makes them pay their fair share in taxes and go after them when they do not. Remove the loopholes they use over and over. Remove these PACS. End Citizens United. Stop the flow of dark money. Strengthen the judicial system so that the laws can actually be enforced and hold to account anyone who breaks them! No one in this country, no matter how much money they have, can skate accountability!
Citizens United, Presidential Immunity, and the legalization of bribery decisions must all be reversed. The SC must be expanded, and the MAGA toadies removed. This is just the start of the process of seizing back the government the oligarchs bought for cheap. It's not clear that all of this can even be done, but absent these steps, the US is done.
Chris, I cannot help but think, if that orange fool was allowed to break every single law, step all over the Constitution and destroy everything in our government, then by gosh we absolutely can reverse Citizens United, presidential immunity and the legalization of bribery decisions! His corrupt sc and maga toadies are the ones who allowed him to do all of that, so naturally, once they are removed and the oligarchs are put in line, we can begin the monumental task of setting our country straight! This is one time when I will gladly tell a maga mouth-hole that if that orange despot could do all of those things, then We the People can do what we have to in order to fix it!
It is very exciting, Laurie, to see other states following Hawaii's lead! I hope more and more states will follow what they are doing. If the federal government refuses to get rid of Citizens United, the states are finding a way to do just that. The states are listening to their people and doing what the people want rather than bending the knee to the orange despot!
Peggy, it was Montana's lead, I think. But who would put these states together? The idea is that States have the right to do elections as they see fit. Citizens' United does not have to be ended. But states can say that they don't want big dirty money buying seats, drowning out voter's voices. I think this could be a Domino effect. Spreading across the Country. It's overdue. It IS exciting! "Government of, by and for The People!
Chris, I wanted to add that one of the things Democrats must do when we take back the House and the Senate is to legislate laws concerning all of these frivolous lawsuits! People make spurious allegations and accusations and have absolutely no proof or evidence to back them up! They go to court without any way to win the lawsuit and hope a deal will be made to settle the lawsuit! Even the man in the White House sued himself and then settled with himself! It is ludicrous and it must stop. The defendant has no choice but to pay lawyers to defend them and even when the lawsuit is tossed as frivolous, the defendant still has that stain on their character that many will believe it to be true! I believe these types of lawsuits can be stopped if the person hurling the accusations and allegations were made to show their proof to the court. If they cannot, they should be held for casting aspersions on the defendant in order to sully their reputation. Even if there is no jail time, the person should be forced to pay an extremely heavy fine.
So succinct. So depressing. So true. They are indeed committing war against us. If only ~ IF ONLY ~ more of We the sane People understood this, and the utter necessity of participating en masse in days of NO SCHOOL NO WORK NO SPENDING, ESP ON MEGA-CORPS ANYTHING❗ IF & WHEN IT'S AT THAT BOILING POINT.... THAT could make a major difference❗
Joyce, Unfortunately there are way too many people in this vast country that would be unable or unwilling to carry that off. Too many maga, too many comfortably off that aren’t suffering (yet) - spending, traveling etc. , too many too poor to have the ability and energy and too many uninformed . Not to mention who could organize that on a massive scale. We are not (yet) united. We don’t have msm and we do have fox. Sigh.
Our society today is very like that situation of the 1880 election. Division, hatred of the “”other,” etc. yet, a nearly saintly man, James Garfield, was elected. His fate was assassination. One of four Presidents killed in office; all four trying to unite and calm the hatred between “brothers.”Two Presidents wounded in other attempts to change history. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
If slush fund goes through, it it would be like taking all of those violent criminals and asking them each individually, which weapons would they like from John Wick’s armory.
One thing is for certain. He’s not asking for all of that money to build or fund something that he’s not going to use . We need to know what that is.
Stock market manipulation, insider trading, stacking the courts, starting another forever war with Iran, calling the press the enemy of the people, insulting female journalists, getting late night comedians fired, point man in the Epstein coverup, creating a $1.776,000,000 slush fund and saying he’s saving the taxpayers money because he dropped the $10 billion dollar lawsuit against his own IRS. I could list many other examples of Trump’s Supreme Court ruling of absolute immunity that he is taking full advantage of. The love of money is destroying our country!
of course. It's for a trump GOON SQUAD that could once again threaten members of Congress, for one. But my Senators and Rep are stupid enough to support this sedition fund. Their lack of opposition to the fund means they support it.
Let them prove me wrong and kill this fund.
I can kill someone on 5th avenue and get away with it.
I can pardon all the convicted Jan6 protestors and get away with it.
I can give US money to all the Jan6 protestors and get away with it.
We see with clarity the GOP in Congress care only about their position and making money. All their other stated principles are bullshit, eyewash for the masses.It was all a lie.
And they are apparently too stupid to realize how the rule of law protects them. Or maybe they just think trump will die soon enough and the "smart" course is to wait it out. Maybe they think they can bail before the bus they are on pulls into Jonestown.
I think that we should go beyond #NoKings in our labeling. The next major protest should be entitled #EndRepubloFascism to #SalvageDemocracy.
And we should push hard on turning muted dissent among House Republicans into getting them to start the #ImmediateFlipMovement before the summer break. They know that Trump is squandering America's greatness, and the patriotic thing to do is to declare as independent, caucusing with Democrats. With just three defectors they can #FlipTheHouseEarlyAndBeHeroesForever.
Very depressing reality Robert, and the Republicans all just go along with it. This country is almost done for, and if I was younger it would be out of here.
Me too Richard. I envy those who comment (on HCR mostly) they are moving overseas. I don’t have the money for that and I’m old with kids & grandkids I love. I’m very disillusioned about any positive outcome any time soon.
Yes, it is so hard for me to accept what is happening. They are totally ignoring science, and it is clear that global warming and climate change will make it impossible to live on this planet in another ten years or so. I will be gone by then.
You ask all the right and best questions. Your calls to action sound like a good plan. I do have one question, How do we drag the weakened, corporate Democratic Party along with us?
That is an excellent question, Brad! I'd like to know that, too! Right now it seems the corporate democrats are simply not with most of the democrats demanding change! They will not listen and think they speak for all democrats which is not true. I put my trust in democrats and independents like Bernie Sanders, Jamie Raskin, Elizabeth Warren and others like them. They truly have the pulse of the American people and are willing to speak out and fight for us.
"What's to stop him?" is the question the whole world is asking, appalled. Any sovereign entity that considered itself in entente with America is considering, can they ever trust America again, if their whole governmental system can be hijacked and perverted as we see, and the much-touted "We the People" concept is meaningless? No matter how many human citizens plead; "We did not vote for this!" What does it matter now?
This is quite optimistic in language. It assumes we have not already lost our democracy. Which we very well may have. Here’s hoping you optimism is not just feel-good blather.
Are you ok with over 2 more years of dictatorial rule over federal govt, law enforcement, treasury, military, war, nuclear bombs, etc? How much has he received in cash and services, insider trading and "gifts"? At least a trillion, right?
JBR - It’s probably why Doge was created in the first place so they could “free up” as much money as possible for T to take for himself. It was never about waste, fraud and abuse of the government - it was about how much waste, fraud and abuse he could do to our country. He always projects his intentions.
I think we should also remark, at each new instance of administrative goose-stepping or speculation on whether the regime is that incompetent: "Sure, they're incompetent at functioning, but they think it's time to project a b lated and transparent image of the authoritarian and the regime as inevitable and omnipotent. They aren't."
Because I think the authoritarian is simply attempting to impose on the public, an unmoustached Big Brother. And that an aim is surrender, whether in despair or in hapless laughter.
I agree with your critique of this administration's corruption, but I have canceled my paid subscription. Lately, this Substack has just been a pipeline of endless Trump-bashing with zero productive, actionable proposals. I do not want to pay for repetitive political theater that fuels anxiety rather than offering structural solutions.
Furthermore, using this extreme rhetoric as a public campaign tool is the definition of crying wolf. As Rutger Bregman recently argued, screaming 'neofascism' and calling for symbolic gestures like July 4th armbands is strategically counterproductive—it drives voter exhaustion and alienates the moderate swing voters needed to win the 2026 midterms. We don't need panic; we need broad-tent political organizing that drops the purity tests. I am moving my financial support to people focused on building a positive alternative rather than just lamenting the wreckage.
Thank you Henri... you've made an extremely important statement that I personally need to take more seriously because simply bitching about how awful all this is won't help.
To you both: feeling frustrated about inaction is justified (when friends say they agree with me, but won't take action, I want to scream). However, political rhetoric is NOT useless. Like conversation among like-minded people, it builds community. Like religious services, it strengthens faith and resolve to take action. If you want others to change, be the change; take action yourselves. Share what you want us all to do. We are the ones.
Henri has a column devoted to many specifics. For me in Canada, I don't travel to the US, I don't buy US, I talk to people and try to encourage them, I encourage our various levels of government to make new alliances both military and economic. As for the US, where I was born and raised to 17, I have repeatedly made the point that until Americans shut down the economy, they can go blissfully down the road to fascism. I am angry, I admit it. Not the nation I grew up in, and dumb? Dumb. Ever think about improving your education system?
Jack Smith for Attorney General. emergency situation. Fix The Court com. Fix Scotus.
Limit the terms of office of members of the House and Senate. Term limits for Supreme Court Justices, Federal Judges and for Circuit Court Justices. Congress should not be a retirement home. Term Limits org .
Outlaw bribing Supreme Court Justices. Prohibit conflict of interest payments to Supreme Court Justices.
Stop the obscene corruption among Washington government officials, including in the high court.
It’s called criminal conduct. Hoping we get a higher rate of criminal prosecutions and convictions in the future, for violating federal laws. Also seizure and forfeiture of illegally obtained assets and profits.
Limit pay, health care and pension plans for members of Congress to the average benefit for American workers.
The President Of The United States should be limited to one term of four years.
VP should be limited to one term of 4 years, + one full term of 4 years as President.
There are plenty of well qualified people who would like to do those jobs, and who would be good at it.
The country deserves better results. Taking away the need to get reelected to that office would free the President from having concerns that his or her decisions will have negative impacts on getting reelected. Better results for the country. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, CREW, ethics watchdog organization , citizensforethics org .
Susie T. Buell, The Rising. Greg Palast com . Heather Cox Richardson, Substack, (at) Heather Cox Richardson ,
Is that due tomorrow? Thomas Jefferson, July 3, 1776.
Criminal law. Stop the abuse of pardon power. January 6, 2021 rioter pardons, and others. Diane Ravitch's blog.
$2.5 m bribe to pardon Julio Herrera Velutini.
Eric Adams case. Stories by Ryan Crosswell for PA 7th. Ryan For PA org. 1/2026, flip PA 7th.
End qualified immunity. Fix The Court. End Citizens United. Overturn Buckley and Citizens United.
The Party, dystopian and Orwellian. The grift.
trickle down is a golden shower. Change my mind. The 100 bumper sticker project. Peel here >
Not many checks and balances, but we have corruption in every branch, executive, congress, supreme court (scotus) ,
At this point, an alien abduction might be considered a rescue mission.
President donald trumpus (fotu$, bone spurs) granted a full pardon to his former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, on November 25, 2020. This pardon ended a long-running legal battle following Flynn's 2017 guilty plea for lying to the FBI about conversations with Russia's ambassador. The move, part of a contentious criminal case, was heavily criticized by Democrats as an abuse of power.
Low IQ Donald J Trump is a thug and a clear and present danger to our country and the World. He is a convicted felon of 34 counts of felony. He is in the Epstein files. He was found guilty by a jury of his peers of sexual abuse.
Cognitive test. I did a puzzle that said 3 to 4 years on the box. I finished it in just two months. - djt .
donald trump, vladimir putin and benjamin netanyahu walk into a bar. They are war criminals.
FOTU$ (Felon of the United $tates) , djt , Susie T. Buell, The Rising.
did someone say epstein files? Look at the UFO files instead. Start a war to distract the peasants.
Indivisible org. Substack (at) indivisible team.
Student loan forgiveness instead of insurrectionist forgiveness. Defiance org, Defiance Dispatch on Substack, (at) Defiance Dispatch ,
"On Election Day 2028, we elect a president whose character and temperament are consistent with the founding ideals of the United States"
Let's assume that this happens. Great. Then what? Those 77 million people that voted for Trump are still there. What will be in place to prevent another neofascist from gaining power? The two Trump terms have revealed serious structural flaws in the US political system. Where is the Democrat Project 2029? Is the plan just to carry on as if nothing happened, just like the past 250 years, and hope that everything will be OK? That sounds like the Susan Collins Doctrine to me.
The slush fund and the pardon are not two scandals. They are one mechanism. Money to buy loyalty now, immunity to protect that loyalty later. The structure pays men to break the law and then promises they will never answer for it. That is not corruption around the edges of a state. That is a state being rebuilt to run on it.
Notice what the boast actually concedes. He says he could have settled his case. His case. Brought by him, against him, with public money. A man cannot generously decline a fortune he was never owed. The performance of sacrifice is the tell. He needs you to see a gift where there is only theft.
Every “what stops him” in this piece has the same answer. Nothing structural. Only people. Only turnout. Only the slow unglamorous work of refusing to call it normal.
The armband is honest. Wear it. Then do the part that actually costs something.
Johan 🐌
https://carriekaufman.substack.com/p/the-world-is-reorganizing-itself?r=cb67r&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web.
Sky News: “When you bankrupt a casino, a few thousand people lose their jobs. When you bankrupt American foreign policy, the entire world pays the price. So where does this leave us?”
Abraham Lincoln: “The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise—with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”
Great post. Trump wouldn't understand a word of it. Much of the House should read it before they are jailed.
Colin - They might be able to read it if only Congress didn’t keep going out on early/extended recess to avoid doing their Actual job.
By the way - Massie just filed to run for his seat again in 2028 and has said that he will be naming more names in the Epstein files since the DOJ is not following the law.
Anon, yay! Good news! I just turned on my phone to call Thomas Massie's office to tell him how sorry I am that he lost his primary bid. I had called him beforehand to wish him well. Was really surprised that he lost. I HOPE HE NAMES ALL THE NAMES AND STARTS WITH TRUMP SO THE DUMPSTER CAN HEAR IT LOUD AND CLEAR BEFORE HE KICKS THE BUCKET!!!!!
oh I hope so.... really really hope so.
Joanne, not sure which part of my comment you are responding to, but TY!
Why hell doesn't he just post them. The likes of Theil and Musk need to destroyed. I've seen pics of them having dinner on the island back in 2015. If they aren't paedophiles it doesn't matter. Epstein was an evil man and anyone associated is too.
Colin
Trump understands how to do pardons and Democrats must act now to prevent pardons from stopping enforcement of the law in 2029.
After Democrats have elected a president in 2028, they will want to arrest, prosecute, convict and imprison Trump, members of his administration and Republicans in Congress in 2029. However, to be sure Democrats in 2029 will be enable to enforce the law, Democrats in control of 15 blue states now need to pass a new state law in 2026 modeled after the federal law against insurrection (18 U.S. Code § 2383) to get around Trump pardoning his friends, supporters and anyone else. Pardons only apply to federal crimes. The 15 blue states that pass the new law will be able to arrest, prosecute, convict and imprison Trump, members of his administration, Republicans in Congress and any of the six justices on the Supreme Court if they had ever visited any of those 15 blue states from 2027 through 2028. State laws apply to criminal acts committed within state borders, regardless of the offender's residency status. Under the fundamental legal principle of territorial jurisdiction, a state has the authority to prosecute anyone who violates its laws while physically inside its boundaries even while on a temporary visit. The 15 states which have Democrats in control of state government with Democrats as governor, attorney general and a Democratic majority in the state House and state Senate. The 15 states are Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Illinois, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine. According to the federal law on insurrection (18 U.S. Code § 2383), a felony crime is committed by “whoever 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”. The evidence should prove that while in office from 2027 through 2028 after the new state laws were passed in 2026, Trump, members of his administration, Republicans in Congress, and six justices on the Supreme Court had violated federal law (18 U.S. Code § 2383).
You once told me you were unqualified to run for President ---OK----how about DOJ?? I am certain you have the connections and I damn certain you have the qualifications-----PLEASE !!!!!!!
Trump figures it worked for his buddy Adolf, why not us...
But the point of the horror show is that becoming "disenthralled" is when you find out, tough luck with saving the Country, sucker!?!? Mitch McConnell already sold your Country down the river and far out to sea. Your "Supreme" Court only despises various colored types slightly more than they really, murderously hate females. The President you ELECTED calls your gas prices "peanuts." His "familiar" (look it up under witches) laughs at your wife's "legal status." There is no functional continuum between "disenthralled" and "saving our country." The whole world is asking, what will stop him? because the Constitutional pipe dream is being completely unmasked as useless.
A whole hell of a lot of US most assuredly did NOT elect him
Still haven’t heard any apologies from those idiots that did!
Because YOU owe THEM an apology. The J6 fund goes some way in that direction.
😂😂😂
We who are on the side of democracy can only partly wash our hands of this mess. The MAGA base that elected Trump was created because the rest of us, while in power, failed to acknowledge the clearly expressed needs and desires of people who did not think the way the majority thought. And by not paying attention, we allowed that unrepresented minority to grow while we weren't looking, to the point where they could, thanks partly to gerrymandering and electoral manipulation, and partly to the outsized influence of money, take over the whole show.
The people who worked for generations to bring back the true abominations, like racism, misogyny, religious extremism, oligarchy and de facto slavery, were able to make common cause with those who were simply disaffected with a government that did not seem to address their needs. Together, they created an effective political movement whose foot soldiers conveniently ignored the ugliness they were enabling - much of which either did or soon will go against their own interests.
And, when it could have been stopped, the rest of us did not see this as a problem that needed to be solved. The perfect became the enemy of the good, and all of us will pay the price together, regardless of who we pulled the lever for in November 2024.
Majority rule does not mean the minority can be ignored. And sometimes the minority makes that point clear.
Mobiguy
Totally agree with you.
There is a solution to the core problem which Reich described as “the Supreme Court, the Republican Party, and Trump are destroying laws and institutions that had been painstakingly enacted and implemented to protect our democracy, defend against bigotry, and strengthen the rule of law”. Between the beginnig of 2021 and the end of 2028, Democrats (Biden and AG Garlan did not enforce the law to stop the election of Trump.
What is the solution? A new generation of Democrats need to get elected in 2026 and 2028 and commit to enforcing the law against insurrection that began on January 6, 2021, as incited by Trump. Trump owes his presidency to his lying and the failure by Democrats and the Supreme Court to enforce the law against insurrection that began on January 6, 2021, and has continued into 2025 and 2026 as planned in Project 2025. In 2024, the Supreme Court violated federal law 18 U.S. Code § 2383 by failing to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment that stated Trump, an insurrectionist, was ineligible to hold office.
In 2025 and 2026, Trump and members of his administration including his Cabinet and ICE agents, Republicans in Congress and six justices on the Supreme Court were criminal felons who massively rejected and disobeyed the laws and authority of courts of the United States and must be arrested, prosecuted convicted and jailed in 2029 after Democrats control the presidency, the DOJ, and Congress.
According to the federal law on insurrection, 18 U.S. Code § 2383, “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 America, Democrats have been asleep for decades since 1980 while Republicans have caused tragic suffering in America with attacks on democracy and justice with perversions including Citizens United, wars, and wealth inequality created by Republicans stealing wealth from 99% of Americans and transferring the wealth to the top 1%.
In 2029, Democrats must restore high taxes on the wealthy, billionaires and corporations to the rates in 1965 to fund solutions to affordability of food, housing, healthcare and childcare. Democrats must also enable new laws and reform the Supreme Court after the six justices are removed, end Citizens United, tariffs, and wars, and restore strong protections for voting and civil rights. But Democrats must first get elected and then enforce the federal law against insurrection to arrest, prosecute, convict and imprison Trump, members of his administration, Republicans in Congress and six justices on the Supreme Court.
My point exactly. Not only did that happen, but too bad for the whole world there's no fix. Enjoy being on the right side, but punch your TS card.
Mmerose ... "Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated." So says every tyrant since the dawn of the Neolithic Period roughly 400 generations (100 centuries) ago. Lincoln's suggestion: don't be naive and instead be disenthralled with the tyrant's lie.
"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds
!" So says human nature (speaking through Bob Marley, etc.) since the origin of our species roughly 12,000 generations ago.
If I act based on the assumption that I won't catch a fish, then I won't catch a fish, and then I can't blame the fish.
Just,is there a process; any legal or procedural or "representative" function operative in the U S A as now exists. to "emancipate" The nation itself from this train-wreck?
That is the right question. This is my answer:
There is a principle. Apply the principle in every context without exception.
Applying the principle is not necessarily following orthodoxy (the "right" knowledge) and is necessarily following orthopraxy (the right practice of deliberately treating each other like we are all created equal until it's automatic ... like brushing your teeth).
When necessary: break rule to apply principle.
Not necessarily procedural or legal and instead "justice" (not the "how" and instead the "why"). Not necessarily written in a document and certainly written in the human heart.
In Jane Goodall’s words, “I truly believe, only when head and heart work in harmony can we attain our true human potential.” Ref: https://onbeing.org/programs/jane-goodall-what-it-means-to-be-human/.
Please and thank you: pay it forward.
Thank you James for that brilliant quote by Jane Goodall, one of my favorite heroes. Yes, "we can only attain our true human potential when the head and heart work in harmony".
James, the 'tyrannical principle' of all times as you described it is the only field of enterprise that trump has needed to master since he successfully bullied his classmates at military school. The 'Power of Positive Thinking' was the 'fascist's
handbook' as promoted by his father Fred. Further, under his mentor and master criminal Fred Cohn, he was taught and demonstrated the power of 'The Lie', to steal, cheat, oppress, and ridicule as naturally he breathes, until with a lifetime of practice he brings the world's most powerful nation to its knees. It was easy for him to subvert weaker minds in order to sustain a death-grip on power, and the 30% or so of the populace that constitute his cult may never be 'deprogrammed' in their lifetimes yet still retain their 'privilege' of the vote. As well, the billionaire power brokers maintain a chokehold on the flow of political funding. To rectify this blighted scenario to favor the ordinary citizen seems a Sisyphean battle. Every straight-thinking person in this country and by extension around the world will be called upon to repel this fascist scourge. Note that the next biggest criminal in US politics, Ken Paxton is endorsed by trump to be the candidate from Texas for the US Senate. Power of positive thinking, Nazi style.
Paxton's power of positive thinking of the "automaton" kind versus Talarico's power of positive thinking of the "being human" kind. It's never over till it's over. Good thing it's over for Ken as James is just getting started.
Who will stop the orange menance?....the Grim Reaper (currently in hot pursuit). The ensuing challenge will be to await whatever "awful spawn", from the existing sludge, will rise to assume the reins of power. Better or worse? (heavy sigh).
How will the Senate and House behave without the bully-in-chief at their throats, threatening their jobs and families? Maybe there is some small hope that they will come out from hiding under their seats. PS. Johnson needs to go, ditto Thune (both shameful and pitiful specimens of cowardice, stupidity, and duplicity).
Re Thune I agree. But Governor Cucking Farney 省長 is the one we REALLY need to get rid of, as you should know if your IQ is over 80.
Your comment is inane and irrelevant. As are all of your comments.
Yes but isnt he planning on nullifying adverse votes and using his militia if need be. His life is literally threatening annihilation to get what he wants
I dont see our having an "election" as we have known them to be. Listen to Fuhrer. He does what he says he will do...sometimes. He is not always taco. He began talking about 2020 being "rigged" for MONTHS. ICE at the polls? Voter suppression? Am I out in left field here? ... but left is where I dwell, permanent residence.
Why didn't the Cuban Missile Crisis cause WWIII in 1962? It's impossible to know except in hindsight. In hindsight, Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) said to Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch), "We are only two people … but that is how things change." True story. Good movie.
If you hadn’t pulled off air support at the Bay of Pigs and abandoned Cubans to a slave state there wouldn’t have been a missile crisis in the first place.
You are so right! We have to develop new, more effective solutions for our current problems. These problems never before encountered call for major changes; judicial reforms, starting with the Supreme Court is critically important. We need new anti-corruption laws regarding a President's stock trading & self-dealing including profiteering by family members. We desperately need an Ethics Committee with teeth! We also need job requirements for Cabinet positions; Trump's Cabinet appointees are colossally unqualified for their positions! Never again should we have a former drug addict & lawyer known for hawking bogus health supplements in charge of Health & Human Services or a Wrestling promoter in charge of the Education Dept.! The next President and Congress will need to dedicate much of their initial work to making the office of the Presidency grift proof!
You bring up an important point: we have no established criteria for any of our cabinet positions!
Grift proofing government work instruction:
We the people, including voters and candidates, engage in the competent practice of politics like three musketeers (all for one and one for all) while swearing on a stack of Bibles that we will never again commit political malpractice like three stooges (all for one but only when that one is me). And then we keep reminding each other that "my" actions speak louder than "my" words. That does not mean that statutes won't need to be enacted, or that judicial decisions won't need to be pronounced (I think). Or ... maybe that's all that needs to happen. I'll think about it.
You are right, Johan. And his slush fund just so happens to be $1.776 billion, with 1776 matching the call for violent action the insurrectionists used. Trump’s slush fund is like a call to action of a highly paid and rewarded personal militia. With this violent militia combined with ICE, how would Americans defend themselves? That slush fund must be stopped. Thank goodness there are at least three solid legal cases to stop this fund and, with pressure from the public, even Congressional Republicans are starting to express resistance to the slush fund. I support the idea of a black arm band so long as we convey a clear, patriotic message of mourning for our treasured democracy, determination to regain our democracy, and not a sign of weakness. We have a lot of work ahead of us.
That specific $1.776m figure gives the lie to acting AG Todd Blanche's excuse to senators that the fund would in principle be available to anyone who had been a victim of the 'weaponization' of justice. The idea that the targets of Trump's retribution campaign (James Comey, Letitia James, Lisa Cook and all those DoJ attorneys and FBI agents who worked on the various Trump indictments) could make a successful claim can be laughed out of court. It must be galling for Trump that he cannot himself claim compensation from the fund bearing in mind that he considers himself the most ill-used of victims of the co-called weaponization and had originally planned to loot the government for a cool $10bn.
Russell - I’m sure he will “find” a way to get ahold of a good portion of the funds. So will all of the lawyers that T employed. The rest is just a payroll for employing the insurrectionists so he can use them later.
I read that one lawsuit being filed is about discrimination against the ones who have been alienated by the language used. Another, by Allison Gill, is suing for an amount (can’t remember if it was thousands, millions or what) which equates to 8647. What is infuriating is that the officers from the insurrection are having to file yet another lawsuit against T. They have suffered enough but keep getting victimized over and over again.
The New Yorker's David Kirkpatrick undertook a detailed analysis of Trump's various grifts since he returned tooffice and calculated that he had (up to the end of April) made around $4bn using the office of president.
The recent disclosures of the 3,700 stock trades he has made since the start of this year were a staggering example of grift.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LEIn9wHJTbw
He recently claimed that he couldn't attend his eldest son's wedding in the Bahamas because of his love of country and dedication to the job (a snub that led The Guardian's Marina Hyde to complain that we now live in a post-troth society) only to spend day after day posting rubbish on Truth Social (literally all day long according to an analysis by the BBC) and doing very little else.
Trump is currently being sued not just by Capitol officers over his slush fund but also by army veterans over the location of his proposed triumphal arch.
Absolutely felony grand theft.
We the sane People must do everything & anything to nonviolently (against other humans) ⛔ STOP ⛔ it.
HOW is it that members of the GOP (with occasional heroic exceptions), still getting paid for doing nothing or worse, can sleep at night? This, too, is utterly unimaginable. I mean, what do these people actually do with their time during the day?
Carol - “ I mean, what do these people actually do with their time during the day?” - When in D.C. they wait to be told what to do and when at home they hide from their constituents.
call their donors. do photo ops. meet with local business heads to make it look like they care.
Trade stocks and suck up to Trump?
(Or other animals)
Joyce, I respect your feelings, but you're dreaming in technicolour now.
Dear Dorothy~ And are you thinking that's a bad thing? Perhaps our best advice here, might be, Don't dream in gray.
I try not to dream in grey, but I see no real evidence that Americans fully comprehend what's going on in your country, let alone are prepared to do what's necessary. I mean, how difficult is it to shut down the economy? That's a non-violent act, isn't it? But nope, no sign of that. Yup, I've had it with the stupidity. My only interest now is in protecting and fighting for my own country in order to save us from the tyranny Americans are 100% responsible for.
From a guy on the Eastern Shore to a gal in the Valley: Tell it, Sister.
Nova Scotia?
Hey, friend! Hope to make it up to one of your beautiful beaches this summer once the chill comes off... had to put a small fire on last night. Are you an ex-pat or an interested observer? And, did we meet on Charlie Angus's substack?
Well, clearly you don’t fully comprehend what’s going on in ours, so that evens things out a bit.
You must have been an extraordinary parent when your children failed at something or struggled with a task. How successful a tool has shaming, humiliating and berating others been for you? You've always been concerned with your own country, as far as I can tell from your past posts. Every once in a while you sprinkle in a comment about not judging others and putting away prejudices, yet you clearly don’t practice what you preach.
Seems like living in Canada all those years clearly wasn't enough time to foster the usual kindness and generosity that your fellow Canadians readily display. What kind of action do you hope to promote on a liberal substack with most readers in their 70’s and 80’s by calling Americans stupid? Isn’t that what the republicans do, call democrats stupid? Isn’t that what Trump does? Look in the mirror, see clearly who you are emulating. If you think everyone here in the US in stupid and unable to view circumstances outside of their own, why waste your time, wouldn't that be...stupid?
Sorry, but I've been watching and waiting and I hear the same things all the time. Can't wait for the axe to fall, and by the way, I'm 70. I do wish you luck, but right now my country is threatened unnecessarily by your country.
Stop. Stop it all. National strike. Rolling strikes. Boycotts. Rolling boycotts. Buy only necessities. Buy only local. Build communities of mutual benefit.
$$$$$$ - the ONLY language wealth and power speak.
Remember E.Jean Carroll. This amazing woman beat him down THREE times! She is our Avatar. Let's follow her lead. Never ever give up.
I am going to begin making black armbands to hand out. And yes yes yes that orange anal pustule is absolutely a fascist. He's an SF. A STUPID fascist.
Johan- I think it was you who brought to my attention the phrase “attention economy” in one of your very recent Substack articles. So I looked it up:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_economy
Robert- I’d be interested in your take, along with that of Heather and Michael’s. The concept is over 50 years old, but I think the originators may have nailed it.
It’s all about incentive structures. Yes, the attention economy.
I certainly share your alarm. As for small actions, I like this pair of bumper stickers someone in our neighborhood has on their car:
__________________________
YOUR DESCENDENTS WILL ASK:
WHAT DID YOU DO, WHILE____
__________________________
TRUMP IS TURNING AMERICA
INTO A FASCIST DICATORSHIP
100% agree!
Your summary is ready for MSNBC.
Johan, what is the part we must do that actually costs something, In your estimation? Just curious.
The part that costs something is the work with no audience and no catharsis. Showing up to register voters in a county that is not yours. Driving someone to the polls. Sitting through a school board meeting. Donating to a race three states away that you will never see the result of personally. Running for precinct committee. Knocking doors in September heat for a candidate who is merely adequate, because adequate and accountable beats charismatic and unchecked. Personally, I will be speaking to think tanks, organizations, and various local committees, getting the word/vote out and donating to campaigns.
The armband makes you feel like a person of conscience in an afternoon. The turnout operation makes you tired for months and offers no photograph.
Johan
Even if Trump gets a spanking in the Mid-Terms, never were the words of Bertholt Brecht in his play 'The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui' more appropriate.
'Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again.'
With Trump gone, the list of his billionaire enablers remains. If we win the battle, we will still be in a state of war with the alt-right fascists.
The cleaning out of Trump's Augean Stables of Corruption is going to be a Herculean task, but the traitors must be systematically found and exposed. All those who took their 30 pieces of silver to destroy the country must be dragged out into the light.
AMEN!
They were but maggots have supported their attempted J6 takeover. BTW I am not clear on how t-rump finally told them to stop that day. Which one of them did he call or did he use a bull horn? This is a serious question.
He put out a message on social media.
Maybe they should bear a mark of shame with tRUMP'S image.
The Donald IS cleaning out the Augean Stables already. You guys want to put all the maure back.
William, I do agree with you. It will not be enough to stop the orange man. We have to go after the oligarchs that enabled him as well! When we win the House and the Senate, we need to start getting legislation done that will force the oligarchs to do what we have been saying for a long time now. Take away the tax cuts the orange man gave them. Pass legislation that makes them pay their fair share in taxes and go after them when they do not. Remove the loopholes they use over and over. Remove these PACS. End Citizens United. Stop the flow of dark money. Strengthen the judicial system so that the laws can actually be enforced and hold to account anyone who breaks them! No one in this country, no matter how much money they have, can skate accountability!
Citizens United, Presidential Immunity, and the legalization of bribery decisions must all be reversed. The SC must be expanded, and the MAGA toadies removed. This is just the start of the process of seizing back the government the oligarchs bought for cheap. It's not clear that all of this can even be done, but absent these steps, the US is done.
Chris, I cannot help but think, if that orange fool was allowed to break every single law, step all over the Constitution and destroy everything in our government, then by gosh we absolutely can reverse Citizens United, presidential immunity and the legalization of bribery decisions! His corrupt sc and maga toadies are the ones who allowed him to do all of that, so naturally, once they are removed and the oligarchs are put in line, we can begin the monumental task of setting our country straight! This is one time when I will gladly tell a maga mouth-hole that if that orange despot could do all of those things, then We the People can do what we have to in order to fix it!
Hawaii and Montana are working to ban the big money from entities like Citizen's United.
It is very exciting, Laurie, to see other states following Hawaii's lead! I hope more and more states will follow what they are doing. If the federal government refuses to get rid of Citizens United, the states are finding a way to do just that. The states are listening to their people and doing what the people want rather than bending the knee to the orange despot!
Peggy, it was Montana's lead, I think. But who would put these states together? The idea is that States have the right to do elections as they see fit. Citizens' United does not have to be ended. But states can say that they don't want big dirty money buying seats, drowning out voter's voices. I think this could be a Domino effect. Spreading across the Country. It's overdue. It IS exciting! "Government of, by and for The People!
Chris, I wanted to add that one of the things Democrats must do when we take back the House and the Senate is to legislate laws concerning all of these frivolous lawsuits! People make spurious allegations and accusations and have absolutely no proof or evidence to back them up! They go to court without any way to win the lawsuit and hope a deal will be made to settle the lawsuit! Even the man in the White House sued himself and then settled with himself! It is ludicrous and it must stop. The defendant has no choice but to pay lawyers to defend them and even when the lawsuit is tossed as frivolous, the defendant still has that stain on their character that many will believe it to be true! I believe these types of lawsuits can be stopped if the person hurling the accusations and allegations were made to show their proof to the court. If they cannot, they should be held for casting aspersions on the defendant in order to sully their reputation. Even if there is no jail time, the person should be forced to pay an extremely heavy fine.
Good idea, Peggy.
Thank you!
„People make spurious allegations and accusations and have absolutely no proof or evidence to back them up!”
Yeah, like Russian collusion, insurrectioprojection, rape, etc.
Do you include Yog-Soros among them?
So succinct. So depressing. So true. They are indeed committing war against us. If only ~ IF ONLY ~ more of We the sane People understood this, and the utter necessity of participating en masse in days of NO SCHOOL NO WORK NO SPENDING, ESP ON MEGA-CORPS ANYTHING❗ IF & WHEN IT'S AT THAT BOILING POINT.... THAT could make a major difference❗
Joyce, Unfortunately there are way too many people in this vast country that would be unable or unwilling to carry that off. Too many maga, too many comfortably off that aren’t suffering (yet) - spending, traveling etc. , too many too poor to have the ability and energy and too many uninformed . Not to mention who could organize that on a massive scale. We are not (yet) united. We don’t have msm and we do have fox. Sigh.
Exactly
Quite right. The mechanism that has led to this fiasco needs to be dismantled. Getting rid of Citizens united and breaking up monopolies would help.
That is why the oligarchs must be taxed out of existence. An economic system that produces centibillionaires is corrupt and not sustainable.
Our society today is very like that situation of the 1880 election. Division, hatred of the “”other,” etc. yet, a nearly saintly man, James Garfield, was elected. His fate was assassination. One of four Presidents killed in office; all four trying to unite and calm the hatred between “brothers.”Two Presidents wounded in other attempts to change history. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
'Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again.'
Nunno. A lot of the “bitches” (of both sexes) troubling the world are childless, and unlikely to become otherwise. THAT’s a major part of the problem.
we know how people handled the excesses of plutocracies in the past.
Agree Professor, we need to be 2big2rig.
Or
2Big2RigYaDig?
If slush fund goes through, it it would be like taking all of those violent criminals and asking them each individually, which weapons would they like from John Wick’s armory.
One thing is for certain. He’s not asking for all of that money to build or fund something that he’s not going to use . We need to know what that is.
Mike--Full frontal?? They are so despicable an attack from behind would be more indicative of their true intent.
Love that, Mike! 👏🏼 Our new slogan: 2Big2RigYaDig?
✊
It really speaks to us late Boomers who came of age in the Seventies: “Can you dig it? I knew that you could!” (guess the movie!)
Stock market manipulation, insider trading, stacking the courts, starting another forever war with Iran, calling the press the enemy of the people, insulting female journalists, getting late night comedians fired, point man in the Epstein coverup, creating a $1.776,000,000 slush fund and saying he’s saving the taxpayers money because he dropped the $10 billion dollar lawsuit against his own IRS. I could list many other examples of Trump’s Supreme Court ruling of absolute immunity that he is taking full advantage of. The love of money is destroying our country!
Absolutely. The Trump family and his mob are destroying our country for love of money.
And power. Very much about power.
The Art of the Insider Deal.
The slush fund will build a civilian military. He considers anyone who disagrees with him an enemy.
He is constructing his SS and gestapo. If it happens find out where they live.
of course. It's for a trump GOON SQUAD that could once again threaten members of Congress, for one. But my Senators and Rep are stupid enough to support this sedition fund. Their lack of opposition to the fund means they support it.
Let them prove me wrong and kill this fund.
I can kill someone on 5th avenue and get away with it.
I can pardon all the convicted Jan6 protestors and get away with it.
I can give US money to all the Jan6 protestors and get away with it.
We see with clarity the GOP in Congress care only about their position and making money. All their other stated principles are bullshit, eyewash for the masses.It was all a lie.
And they are apparently too stupid to realize how the rule of law protects them. Or maybe they just think trump will die soon enough and the "smart" course is to wait it out. Maybe they think they can bail before the bus they are on pulls into Jonestown.
I think that we should go beyond #NoKings in our labeling. The next major protest should be entitled #EndRepubloFascism to #SalvageDemocracy.
And we should push hard on turning muted dissent among House Republicans into getting them to start the #ImmediateFlipMovement before the summer break. They know that Trump is squandering America's greatness, and the patriotic thing to do is to declare as independent, caucusing with Democrats. With just three defectors they can #FlipTheHouseEarlyAndBeHeroesForever.
Excellent!
Very depressing reality Robert, and the Republicans all just go along with it. This country is almost done for, and if I was younger it would be out of here.
You're not alone.
Me too Richard. I envy those who comment (on HCR mostly) they are moving overseas. I don’t have the money for that and I’m old with kids & grandkids I love. I’m very disillusioned about any positive outcome any time soon.
Yes, it is so hard for me to accept what is happening. They are totally ignoring science, and it is clear that global warming and climate change will make it impossible to live on this planet in another ten years or so. I will be gone by then.
You ask all the right and best questions. Your calls to action sound like a good plan. I do have one question, How do we drag the weakened, corporate Democratic Party along with us?
That is an excellent question, Brad! I'd like to know that, too! Right now it seems the corporate democrats are simply not with most of the democrats demanding change! They will not listen and think they speak for all democrats which is not true. I put my trust in democrats and independents like Bernie Sanders, Jamie Raskin, Elizabeth Warren and others like them. They truly have the pulse of the American people and are willing to speak out and fight for us.
Tell them you will primary them, and mean it
vote in some new people in the primaries.
"What's to stop him?" is the question the whole world is asking, appalled. Any sovereign entity that considered itself in entente with America is considering, can they ever trust America again, if their whole governmental system can be hijacked and perverted as we see, and the much-touted "We the People" concept is meaningless? No matter how many human citizens plead; "We did not vote for this!" What does it matter now?
We can refuse to go along. Stop serving them and stop paying them.
This is quite optimistic in language. It assumes we have not already lost our democracy. Which we very well may have. Here’s hoping you optimism is not just feel-good blather.
Sadly, I was thinking the same thing. We need to aim for a massive voter turnout and see what happens.
I am showing up
we will find out this Nov whether we havealready entirely lost our democracy at the national level.
Are you ok with over 2 more years of dictatorial rule over federal govt, law enforcement, treasury, military, war, nuclear bombs, etc? How much has he received in cash and services, insider trading and "gifts"? At least a trillion, right?
JBR - It’s probably why Doge was created in the first place so they could “free up” as much money as possible for T to take for himself. It was never about waste, fraud and abuse of the government - it was about how much waste, fraud and abuse he could do to our country. He always projects his intentions.
I yes-and your suggestions:
I think we should also remark, at each new instance of administrative goose-stepping or speculation on whether the regime is that incompetent: "Sure, they're incompetent at functioning, but they think it's time to project a b lated and transparent image of the authoritarian and the regime as inevitable and omnipotent. They aren't."
Because I think the authoritarian is simply attempting to impose on the public, an unmoustached Big Brother. And that an aim is surrender, whether in despair or in hapless laughter.
I agree with your critique of this administration's corruption, but I have canceled my paid subscription. Lately, this Substack has just been a pipeline of endless Trump-bashing with zero productive, actionable proposals. I do not want to pay for repetitive political theater that fuels anxiety rather than offering structural solutions.
Furthermore, using this extreme rhetoric as a public campaign tool is the definition of crying wolf. As Rutger Bregman recently argued, screaming 'neofascism' and calling for symbolic gestures like July 4th armbands is strategically counterproductive—it drives voter exhaustion and alienates the moderate swing voters needed to win the 2026 midterms. We don't need panic; we need broad-tent political organizing that drops the purity tests. I am moving my financial support to people focused on building a positive alternative rather than just lamenting the wreckage.
Thank you Henri... you've made an extremely important statement that I personally need to take more seriously because simply bitching about how awful all this is won't help.
To you both: feeling frustrated about inaction is justified (when friends say they agree with me, but won't take action, I want to scream). However, political rhetoric is NOT useless. Like conversation among like-minded people, it builds community. Like religious services, it strengthens faith and resolve to take action. If you want others to change, be the change; take action yourselves. Share what you want us all to do. We are the ones.
Henri has a column devoted to many specifics. For me in Canada, I don't travel to the US, I don't buy US, I talk to people and try to encourage them, I encourage our various levels of government to make new alliances both military and economic. As for the US, where I was born and raised to 17, I have repeatedly made the point that until Americans shut down the economy, they can go blissfully down the road to fascism. I am angry, I admit it. Not the nation I grew up in, and dumb? Dumb. Ever think about improving your education system?
Yeah. Abolish teachers union for a start.
So, who are you supporting? Henri?
Simon Rosenberg's Hopium Chronicles is more strategically action oriented.
So join the Republican Party add your voice to calls to pass the SAVE Act.
Jack Smith for Attorney General. emergency situation. Fix The Court com. Fix Scotus.
Limit the terms of office of members of the House and Senate. Term limits for Supreme Court Justices, Federal Judges and for Circuit Court Justices. Congress should not be a retirement home. Term Limits org .
Outlaw bribing Supreme Court Justices. Prohibit conflict of interest payments to Supreme Court Justices.
Stop the obscene corruption among Washington government officials, including in the high court.
It’s called criminal conduct. Hoping we get a higher rate of criminal prosecutions and convictions in the future, for violating federal laws. Also seizure and forfeiture of illegally obtained assets and profits.
Limit pay, health care and pension plans for members of Congress to the average benefit for American workers.
The President Of The United States should be limited to one term of four years.
VP should be limited to one term of 4 years, + one full term of 4 years as President.
There are plenty of well qualified people who would like to do those jobs, and who would be good at it.
The country deserves better results. Taking away the need to get reelected to that office would free the President from having concerns that his or her decisions will have negative impacts on getting reelected. Better results for the country. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, CREW, ethics watchdog organization , citizensforethics org .
Susie T. Buell, The Rising. Greg Palast com . Heather Cox Richardson, Substack, (at) Heather Cox Richardson ,
Is that due tomorrow? Thomas Jefferson, July 3, 1776.
Criminal law. Stop the abuse of pardon power. January 6, 2021 rioter pardons, and others. Diane Ravitch's blog.
$2.5 m bribe to pardon Julio Herrera Velutini.
Eric Adams case. Stories by Ryan Crosswell for PA 7th. Ryan For PA org. 1/2026, flip PA 7th.
End qualified immunity. Fix The Court. End Citizens United. Overturn Buckley and Citizens United.
The Party, dystopian and Orwellian. The grift.
trickle down is a golden shower. Change my mind. The 100 bumper sticker project. Peel here >
Not many checks and balances, but we have corruption in every branch, executive, congress, supreme court (scotus) ,
At this point, an alien abduction might be considered a rescue mission.
President donald trumpus (fotu$, bone spurs) granted a full pardon to his former National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, on November 25, 2020. This pardon ended a long-running legal battle following Flynn's 2017 guilty plea for lying to the FBI about conversations with Russia's ambassador. The move, part of a contentious criminal case, was heavily criticized by Democrats as an abuse of power.
Low IQ Donald J Trump is a thug and a clear and present danger to our country and the World. He is a convicted felon of 34 counts of felony. He is in the Epstein files. He was found guilty by a jury of his peers of sexual abuse.
Cognitive test. I did a puzzle that said 3 to 4 years on the box. I finished it in just two months. - djt .
donald trump, vladimir putin and benjamin netanyahu walk into a bar. They are war criminals.
FOTU$ (Felon of the United $tates) , djt , Susie T. Buell, The Rising.
did someone say epstein files? Look at the UFO files instead. Start a war to distract the peasants.
Indivisible org. Substack (at) indivisible team.
Student loan forgiveness instead of insurrectionist forgiveness. Defiance org, Defiance Dispatch on Substack, (at) Defiance Dispatch ,
Yes, more UFO files please!!
Traitors are the new patriots. Immunity and the pardon power allow this apple basket turnover.
"On Election Day 2028, we elect a president whose character and temperament are consistent with the founding ideals of the United States"
Let's assume that this happens. Great. Then what? Those 77 million people that voted for Trump are still there. What will be in place to prevent another neofascist from gaining power? The two Trump terms have revealed serious structural flaws in the US political system. Where is the Democrat Project 2029? Is the plan just to carry on as if nothing happened, just like the past 250 years, and hope that everything will be OK? That sounds like the Susan Collins Doctrine to me.