I find it rather ironic that Mr. Trump is telling the people of Iran to take over agencies, and buildings while demonstrating everywhere they can to show their displeasure for how inhuman their government really is, and at the same time here at home he is mimicking the tyranny he despises over there.
Trump said he would attack Iran if protesters are being executed. He’s always projecting. But protestors might feel Trump will save them. I hope they don’t listen.
What’s happening here isn’t “law enforcement,” it’s the behavior of a security apparatus that’s slipped its leash and started treating the public as an occupied population.
When masked federal agents roam a city with impunity, firing into cars and smearing the dead as justification, you’re not looking at public safety, you’re looking at a domestic intimidation force that’s learned it can operate without consequence.
Call it whatever you want: a parallel police state, a rogue internal militia, an unaccountable enforcement caste. The label matters less than the function, and the function is fear.
And the irony is almost too on‑the‑nose: a country that lectures the world about authoritarianism is now running operations that mirror the very regimes it claims to oppose.
If another nation deployed masked federal units to terrorize its own citizens, Washington would call it a human‑rights crisis. When it happens here, it’s rebranded as “security.” The cognitive dissonance is doing more work than the agencies themselves.
This isn’t drift, it’s design. A state that treats oversight as optional and violence as administrative routine eventually stops resembling a democracy and starts resembling something far more familiar to people who’ve lived under coercive rule.
And the most telling part? The people in power don’t even bother hiding it anymore. They assume the public will adapt to the new normal. That’s the real danger.
I’m working on a new piece about this from a behavioral standpoint that will drop later today. I invite you all to check it out and thank you for writing this piece.
The “authorities” don’t want the people to read real history.
Plantation owners didn’t want their slaves to be literate.
The Roman Catholic Church hierarchy didn’t want the laity to read, write or speak Latin — the “code” language the clergy, lawyers and “philosophers” (scientists).
The ignorance of the public makes the public easier to control.
Most employers aren’t too keen about hiring highly educated literate employees who know their legal rights and who know History.
The push for STEM education is from employers who want technically competent servants who are ignorant of History, Philosophy, Labor unions, their legal rights, Politics, Sociology, etc.
The parishioners and the priests at your church may be very good people doing good works and duly worshipping, but the Church is and was a political force in history with all the trapping of the lay world. That said, I certainly welcome the current progressive and humane voices of the Church.
You were taught Latin long after the Bible and many liturgical texts had already been translated into many other languages and were accessible to most of the world.
The point of my analogy was that the hierarchy of the Church wanted their followers to be poor and ignorant, just as most Republicans do.
Prior to the end of WWII, most of the industrial manufacturing of the USA was done in the Northern states. The Southern states of the former Confederacy were still mostly agrarian that didn’t appreciate the need for an educated working class.
Industrialists of the North supported basic public education because their factories needed workers who had skills in basic reading, writing and arithmetic. With some exceptions, the elites of the South didn’t need workers with such skills. So, there was limited support for good public education in the South.
The elites of the North and South sent their children to exclusive private schools.
After WWII and the Taft Hartley union-busting Act, Northern industrialists began moving their factories into the South, before moving them to Central and Latin America and Asia. The industrialists paid lower wages to the non-unionized Southern workers, and even less to the offshore ones.
The lower-paid workers of the South were less able to afford to pay for good public education. Today, all across the USA, the elites don’t want to pay for a good public education system. Trump’s billionaire Secretaries of Education have been opposed to public schools.
An ignorant public is easier to control via propaganda.
I'm terrified when I hear the "Democratic" leadership is "afraid" to get behind the NO ICE movement. Are they a captive institution? Or do they lack moral courage? I wrote an article about the elimination of the SA which ought to be a warning about compromise. https://hpschrader.substack.com/p/night-of-the-long-knives-political-alliances-warning
The Democratic leadership, by and large, are APPEASERS.
They are latter-day Neville Chamberlains, hoping that if they cede more and more territory to America's Fuhrer, Trump won't turn on them and attack them, too.
Charles Schumer can tuck his forearms against his body, flap his arms and hands and chirp, "We Will Win!" like Tweety Bird; and Hakeen Jeffries can order "another study to investigate this" but we need leaders who will actively CONFRONT Trump and MAGA, and motivate other Democrats to do the same.
Mark,you are so right.How long does it take Dems to realize that the leadership is broken.They have no interest in fighting fire with fire.They are talking about issues in intellectual terms that does not resonate with those who want action.
I commend Robert for noting the various institutions that should be fighting back. Religion will not,they are almost 100% wedded to Trump. Corporations will not,they are making massive amts of money with "regulations" gone. Any organization that depends on any type of Federal Support will not for fear of the funds being cut off.
Just as an observation,we blame Stephen Miller(a Jew who became a Nazi),Russell Voight ,Trump,the big and influential supporters of what is going on is "Big TecH" . Nvdia especially,but,Musk,Cook(Apple)Zuckerberg,Microsoft, and all those cos that wish to impose AI on the our Demcocracy.They do not believe in Democracy and their supporters are Wall Street,CNBC,Fox,who are just waiting for the day when 60 million Americans lose their jobs due to AI.
What will it take to fight back? I don't have a lot of faith that demonstrations will make that much of a difference,but I do participate in virtually every one.
It will also take the 67 million Dems who do nothing ,no demonstations,no letter writing,they do nothing. At the demonstrations I have seen people in wheelchairs,on walkers,on canes who care enough to get out there.70% are women,30% men. No Blacks,No Asians,No Indians and of course no Hispanics.
You can go into MAGA territory and debate its promoters. Remember that Bernie went to Fox News to educate its audience. Wee must be activist educators.
Helena - They got spanked when they started calling to defund the police so they don’t want a repeat when they are going to run on affordability and other issues. They could run on a platform to reform ICE but worry that republicans will twist it and end up gaining when they should be losing. At least that’s how I see it.
I see your point -- I just don't think being 'cautious' and 'tactical' and 'sticking to a playbook' will save the nation from fascism. Dictators don't hold free and fair elections, so focusing exclusively on election tactics misses the point. IF there are elections later this year, armed ICE agents will stand outside the booths -- without curtains on them -- in all Democratic strongholds so that people are "protected" and can "vote safely."
How about a campaign for competence. Even someone who supports ICE is likely to agree that it is not run properly. This is the thing: Nothing in the Trump administration is run properly, competently.
the No ICE movement is premature and counterproductive at the moment. This is what it means to millions: that you are pro-illegal invaders of the country. They will vote Republican. Help ICE discredit itself. Be patient and document everything.
And? So anyone with the capability of thinking sees what is happening. Where’s the response? Right now the people of Minnesota are taking it on the chin for everyone, but no one else seems to care. Oh, they care on their keyboards and claiming it’s terrible, but take no concrete action. Where’s the political opposition? Where’s the alleged leadership?
Johan, Thank you for this accurate engaging post. An Anne Frank letter from January 13 1943 was posted yesterday. It was as if she was looking out her window in Minneapolis today. Absolutely chilling. We are in deep trouble. I hope your posts will be read and heeded as I hope Dr Reich’s are. 💔🇺🇸
Thank you.. and yes, that parallel is chilling precisely because it shouldn’t feel contemporary at all. When a letter from 1943 (especially from Anne Frank and knowing of her conditions, the history and seeing it through my travels) reads like commentary on an American city in 2026, it tells you the structure hasn’t evolved nearly as much as the mythology claims.
We’re not “in trouble” because history is repeating; we’re in trouble because too many people still believe it can’t happen here. The warnings are everywhere. The question is whether anyone with power is willing to hear them before the window closes.
Thank you Johan! I hear you and agree with you that "history is repeating right here in the U.S. That is certainly the important question--"whether anyone with power is willing to hear them before the window closes". Keep writing here Johan.
The republican party is a terrorist organization that uses and promotes violence, extortion, bribery, and intimidation to resolve political differences.
The republican party is a terrorist organization that promotes violence against women, children, minorities, and any "other" of the moment as a matter of policy.
The republican party is a terrorist organization that has abrogated the rule of law and the constitution.
The republican party is a terrorist organization that advocates white nationalist christian fascism.
The republican party is a terrorist organization that promotes misogyny, racism, patriarchy, and xenophobia.
The republican party is a terrorist organization that actively promotes the oligarchy and the transfer of wealth from the middle and lower classes to the rich.
The republican party is a terrorist organization that actively promotes, facilitates, and protects pedophiles.
The description of this disaster is the easy part. I hope you will follow up with some solutions and action items. We didn’t get here in a day or a month or a year. The fascist takeover has taken the Republicans 40 or 50 years, and they have been very patient and focused. We need to get going! The window is closing! We need to keep it open!
you are correct. however, the means of communication, therefore the means of organizing are severely at risk. we all need to remember that we live in a digital surveillance state, far more refined and capable compared to what ed snowden revealed in 2013. The techbroligarchs control satellite, internet, cable, and cellphone companies. A simple, simple example: what happens if you don't pay your cable bill? obviously, it's shut off. So now extend that example to vermin like us, traitors and antifas who believe in the rule of law and democracy. People like us who read and communicate these subversive ideas on substacks like this. How long does anyone really think the regime will tolerate this? Pulling the plug on any website is easily and routinely done in China, russia, pakistan, saudi arabia, indonesia, malaysia.
My guess is that sometime this late spring or early summer, progressive websites will start to experience "technical difficulties". Anyone using cell phone or internet to organize resistance to the regime will be easily flagged for further scrutiny and action.
So I'm open to ideas on how to communicate nationwide when they start to clamp down.
This is part of the reason to get going now! If you watch in fascination as the window closes, instead of helping keep it open, what you predict will come to pass. So, now’s the time.
GOP/Republican parties were so out dated and run by their elder members.
There was a “need” for leadership and a massive void so the MAGAs fit right in! Trump had been a member in the party of the Democrats forever. Trump persuaded younger members, who knew him from his long-running TV program, that HE was available and able “to lead.” Trump dropped willingly into the opening for leadership so MAGA was create for these dissatisfied folks.
The rest is history! Trump is not interested in our country or democracy or the Constitution, but he is interested in making huge amounts of money, along with power. Trump has found the entrance key and the major “piggy bank.” Please make sure Trump finds the EXIT before our nation is gone!
Johan - Another little tidbit that I’m sure they don’t want you to know is that as far as I remember federal agents cannot conduct traffic stops on their own. They need to be with actual law enforcement in order to conduct those stops. Maybe things have changed since my day in the job but someone needs to check on it. Just read an article (in Wired I believe) that because they are rushing agents into cities some of their vehicles don’t even have the proper lights and sirens. You all are right that this is not about public safety. What people should do is to continue to check their voting registration status and not wait until right before the elections. Especially since this administration is demanding that states hand over their voting rolls. It is up to the states to determine if their voting records are accurate and not the government. Just exactly what are they wanting with our information other than to make casting a vote more difficult? Some states love to purge their voting rolls right before the election making it harder for people to vote.My state already handed over my private information but I am glad to see that other states are putting up a fight.
Anon,your private information and mine and for 300 million americans the private information has been scooped up by DODGe(Musk favorite entity) for gathering infor for the surveillance state.The company in the forefront of is Palantir( Alex Karp) ,a company endorsed by Trump and the Republicans for identifying anyone who might be against this " NazI' gov't.
David - even more worrisome is the fact that a friend of mine had his social security check deposited last month and 2 days later his account was drained. His bank is dragging its feet in resolving this situation. Thank the supreme court for giving SS and IRS permission to give our data to DOGE. This occurred this past July 2025. I check my balance daily, and keep my direct deposit account only for receiving social security check. then it goes to a different checking account. my credit union has been very helpful
Paul,thanks for the headsup. THe SC s part of the : Neo Nazi: movement with the exception of the 3 democratic females. Why would we expect theywould not do this? Do you happen to know the name of the case or did they just do it because Trump told them to.
David - You are correct about Doge’s actions and the continuation of surveillance by Palantir which is why I think they want even more information about us.
In your excellent comment, you wrote, "They assume the public will adapt to the new normal. That’s the real danger." Adapting to the new normal may be their assumption, but increasingly it seems "they" do not care what anyone thinks because, to another of your excellent statements, ""This isn't drift, it's design," they have a plan, an agenda, and they are putting it into effect very rapidly, very pervasively, and- horrific to say - very effectively.
Minneapolis shows federal officers, including ICE and other agents, using military-style tactics like tear gas, flash bangs, pepper balls and less-lethal rounds against demonstrators protesting the federal immigration enforcement presence after recent shootings and rising tensions in the city.
Johan, this is such a great description of signposts along the road, but the NOW necessity is to suggest actions! Stand up, speak out. Write your state and federal representatives. Demonstrate at every opportunity. March and sing and wear clown outfits. Blow whistles. Whatever floats your boat, non-violently, of course. Have fun — this is the most subversive of all 🤣. If we are intimidated, we are giving in to their desire that we become passive observers. Their method is to escalate wherever possible, but they look so silly escalating against frogs.
Thank you, and you’re right that passivity is exactly what these systems rely on. My focus in the piece was naming the architecture, because people can’t act effectively if they don’t understand the machinery they’re up against.
Once the structure is visible, the range of actions becomes clearer…whether that’s speaking out, organizing locally, or refusing the role of silent spectator.
Authoritarian systems escalate because they assume the public will retreat. The moment people stop performing fear, the performance of power starts to look absurd.
Try being kind to them. They act like they’re all on a rage filled cocaine bender. Killing them with kindness is a strangely subversive act. I saw a video where a woman was calmly explaining to an agent why she was furious with them for tearing apart their community. He was visibly cold and acknowledged he was not from Minnesota. She put a hand warmer in his hands. He was so relieved. It will be hard for him to other her after that! Of course I’m aware that Reneé Good’s last words were “I’m not mad at you”. This woman said “I am mad at you and here is why”. Then she treated him with motherly kindness.
The fascis, a bundle of rods bound around an axe, embodies the lie that strength comes from forced unity. A single reed breaks; the bound bundle doesn’t. But that “strength” only exists when individuality is erased and obedience is mandatory. That’s why the symbol is both powerful and evil: it turns cohesion into coercion and makes the state’s violence look like virtue.
Yesterday I posted a comment on how to RESTRICT Trumps activities; not how to terminate them but to RESTRCT them. I closed by saying POST TRUMP America would never go back to what it was; so it should look to leading a VIGOROUS & OPEN debate on Global Warming; pending Environmental Collapse plus their effects on the TERMS of human existence.
Last night I addressed the reality that I am unlikely to be invited to America to initiate my RESTRICT program. from where I am I can only INITIATE said debate.
Whilst America is now deeply divided over the subject of Trump; my program requires the people to LISTEN to each other rather than automatically condemning each other; so restoring a truly UNITED states.
I’m appalled by “kettling” as crowd control tactic. If that contributed to Renee Good’s death, does that make it premeditated murder? LA Times did an expose in 2014 and they’ve had a dozen years since then to refine their techniques. “Patrol agents have deliberately stepped in the path of cars apparently to justify shooting at the drivers…according to an independent review of 67 cases that resulted in 19 deaths.” https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-border-killings-20140227-story.html.
Steve - I wonder if they were relieved when they found out that the man they just shot in the leg was an immigrant from Venezuela? They could go back to their original disgusting rhetoric about how much they deserved it. Now they are arresting/detaining men, women and even children and claiming to be re-vetting them since they had the audacity to come here and follow the laws when Biden was president. They are also pulling people out of their time to be naturalized citizens before they can take their oath.
Steve,you know the Trump model. : Deny,Deny,Deny, Attack,Attack,Attack,Never admit you're wrong. He is all mouth. Half the posters here in a physical altercation would kick his ass.
Wayne - I believe we all lie in one form or fashion but the scale is probably not on his level. I lie daily when people ask me how I am doing/feeling and I tell them I am fine.
I have lied, Wayne, but Trump lies in ways that are destroying our country, the rule of law, and even common decency. His followers seem detached from reality. I am not undoing the U.S. Constitution, attacking non-white people, perpetuating hate and division. And Trump is doing all that with relentless lies that have apparently brainwashed his followers. With help from Fox News. Trump is the playground bully, and most Republicans are groveling to the "King." I hope they wake up and end the reign of terror before it's too late.
My belief system does not allow me to attack anyone individual . But I can attack policy. I can rage against injustice and greed. And- in my belief system- I must.
I’m not interested in Heaven. And if need be, I would happily place my 70 year old body in between my neighbors and brutal fascism. I cannot attack anyone. I can however, defend, and have done so from my own front lawn.
Hundreds of thousands of veterans of the armed forces have been killed while defending your right to not attack anyone. Millions more have suffered life-changing injuries in that regard.
Absolutely at this point. Maybe in the beginning we could have attempted some type of communication between Cheeto Man and the American public, but his administration is now publicly executing American citizens who are: a) exercising free speech, b) standing up for their communities, c) rallying against tyranny and injustice, d) defending the constitutional rights across the board.
If we don’t address those issue now then when? If don’t defend against defiling the constitutional rights of all Americans, then when? If demand accountability now, then when? If we don’t demand the rule of law now, then when?
I want truth, no corruption and the rule of law to be true and honest. So much divisive action between humans. I just don't get why it's so hard to just be real. Every single thing we are experiencing right now is a psychopath's smoke screen to divert our anger from pedophilia to murder. I am sick to my stomach. I love the button my daughter gave me. I wear it with pride. It states: "Ask me how I'd torture Trump". Well guys, just ask me. I have a million ways.
We lost everything we know to be honest, caring, and good because we have a lunatic running the country in to the ground.
I am tired of his demands, his threats, his narcissism, his corruption, his anger, his cruelty. I am tired of the constant lies. I am tired of the attacks on our democracy and freedom.
How did we get here? The consequences caused by giving to him immunity are showing up everywhere... 🤦♀️
It's past time to impeach Trump again and take him out of power permanently! We should remove him from office after November, when we take Congress back. Then, Trump will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Just got my shirt which reads "We the People" are PISSED OFF! This 👇
Trump is not “the” big problem. Trump is a deranged stooge of “Dark Money” billionaires, mega-millionaires and Wall Street corporations that support Fascism in their Capitalistic quest for perpetually increasing short term profits.
Individuality, some of those Dark Money manipulators may argue that “it’s the system” that “requires” them to exploit the people and resources of the Earth without consideration for the long term consequences.
If we allow that system to continue, we are doomed.
The billionaires are parasites on the rest of us working people. That’s the purpose and design of unregulated capitalism. To take money from the majority and siphon it to the few at the top. They will to anything to maintain their interests, as can be seen in Minnesota right now. Don’t for a second think that in time it won’t come to your neighborhood. Resist!
This is the key. The GOP exists now purely on racism and hate, a tool to keep the lower 90% or the people divided. Trump is an out of control maniac now, not sticking to the script. If the Dems were not completely owned by corporate donors, they could seize the issues that are popular and wipe out the GOP. The smarter oligarchs may realize that after they're finished with the immigrants, the MAGA horde is going to turn on them. They would be wise to switch to the Dems, where they'll only face higher taxes, than the GOP, where the gallows awaits them.
CK,I think it time we identified at least 10 of those billionaires and made a concerted effort to go after them. Find a way to destroy their way of living.How about all the millionaire Religious leaders who support Trump.
Some of those billionaires are in Trump’s Cabinet, others own the mass media and the defense contractors.
There are a few hundred of them.
The wealthy religious leaders are all hypocrites.
The most practical remedy is to tax the snot out of those parasites. I suspect that most could live comfortably on net incomes of only $1-million per year.
He isn't a stooge. The corporatists are just taking advantage of his offers to make them even richer, and they do not fear the power of the average American. We must make them fear us. Boycott en masse, general strikes a la Europe, civil disobedience in large numbers and sustained for time never seen before.
“We must make them fear us. Boycott en masse, general strikes a la Europe, civil disobedience in large numbers and sustained for time never seen before.”
Agreed, with emphasis upon “them”. Trump exhibits the traits of dementia and/or senility in addition to psychopathy. He is doing the bidding of others — most of whom are anonymous to the public at large. When he is gone, his wealthy sponsors will replace him.
He currently has the support of a majority of the US Congress and, apparently l, of the SCOTUS, possibly due to many of the same sponsors. They are the true enemies of “the people“.
...except that the presumption that there will be elections in November may be wrong, and the presumption that there will be anything left of the country if we wait until November is wrong.
Heather, I'm right with you. I still do not understand how we could not get him in jail after the insurrection. Oh! WAIT! It was greed, corporations and greed. Why was he still allowed to walk around. He and all is other big money wackfucks should be having fun in solitary confinement for killing and torturing Capitol police! The Hypocrisy of it all makes me ill.
Yes, Donald, everytime I hear him say this in a news report, I think "Huh?? You are telling people in Iran to protest while KILLING PEOPLE HERE IN THE U.S. FOR DOING SO????" Trump is an instigator of murder, mayhem and viciousness. WE HAVE GOT TO GET HIM OUT BY ANY MEANS POSSIBLE!!! AND I MEAN, A-N-Y MEANS!!!
Video from Minneapolis shows federal officers, including ICE and other agents, using military-style tactics like tear gas, flash bangs, pepper balls and less-lethal rounds against demonstrators protesting the federal immigration enforcement presence after recent shootings and rising tensions in the city.
Unfortunately, following a post by another person this perspective was offered, I paraphrase: his reflection is us. We have allowed this, maybe not you and I and our close friends , but America has failed to recognize this deterioration. Trump reflects the United States Attitudes [oh, my]. When John Boehner and another notable Republican stepped away a few years ago, this may be what they saw. Now we must all own the problem and step out with moral integrity and take action.
This is the collective truth that e all must face. Some caused the problem by voting for Trump; some caused it by working toward bad policies for the last forty years; far too many caused it by staying home from the last election or refusing to vote for Harris, thinking out works was stabile and able to weather any politics.
Skian,thanks for bring up the massive #s of those who did not show up because they could not bring themselves to vote for a black women. The 67 million Dems who are AWOL when it comes to protesting. We all know who to blame,Relgion,Supreme Court,Wall Street,CNBC,Fox,and the list goes on. What action are we going to take?
...and there are even worse times in store for all the cancers in the Trump regime when we take the White House away from those demons. It will happen. There is an American resistance that is alive and well and it is We the People.
That, to me, is the question. I am doing some of what is suggested. But do we know where America is. Some of us see where we are. Most prefer blindness. I am 84. Was my era unique? Ŵas the civil rights movement an anomaly, a bright star that has dimmed. Robert did not mention the NAACP. And for good reason. Is it intentionally keeping its head down. The law school deans and faculty should be in constant agitation. They all hope this wave will pass. It’s not a wave. This is what the human condition has typically been. The support for this regime is at astonishingly, disturbingly, high levels. Is the reality, one the Substack community does not want to contemplate, that this is what the majority wants? If so, a different strategy is called for. All one has to see was the CBS News interview of Mr. T. I actually think I saw the new CBS anchor kiss the T backside. Quite a spectacle, wasn’t it? The Democracy community, an inspiring group, has, perhaps, not yet quite grasped the full reality of what has occurred. I can tell you I am pretty tirelessly trying to get the attention of community leaders. They listen respectfully, but I do not see the level of needed to stop the T groundswell. And the worst thing the forces of Democracy can do is to kid ourselves we are making progress and that he is growing weaker. Watch the CBS ass-kissing. Mr T was masterful. The naps are a tactic. He is not to be underestimated. But he has been.
Judy,all because Americans did not want to vote for a black woman and Religion wanted to pay Trump back for his destruction of Roe Vs Wade. So the outcome" No Abortion but a : Nazi Govt' Quiet a tradeoff.
I think we all should know who our real enemies are.
Gary,excellent post.You're right,the supporters Religion,WallStreet,Fox,Supreme Court,Big Tech. It is amazing that so many institutions want to see democracy destroyed,believe in a " Neo Nazi" type of Gov't .
The Democracy advocates are losing,decisively,it is time to admit " DEMOCRACY IS DEAD"What next?
Fay - He’s currently thinking about it (currently being reported this morning) and just trying to figure out a way to do it without getting dragged into court again. Don’t know why he cares since he will lose at the lower courts but his SC will do as he wants on appeal.
Robert - Yes, it’s a lot worse now. What is going on in Minnesota right now does not meet the legal threshold for him to declare the Insurrection Act but I’m sure he will try to anyway.
If that’s truly the case why bother to have the Act in the first place?
Tampon Tim has vaulted past Prickster, Newscombe, and Kotex as meriting immediate charges under the Act, but the cumulative effect of these insurrections is far more serious than school desegregation.
Ceau’s Toronto should come in for similar sanctions. For US readers, imagine the sense of betrayal if the Donald had defected to the Democrats, because that’s basically what Doug Ford has done. You could dig his brother up and use him to power boats on the lake in the summer.
Robert - T was a democrat before he became a republican. I don’t think that he ever had an allegiance to either party unless he personally benefits from it. Same can be said for most politicians. All T has to do to end this is withdraw the federal agents that he has amassed in Minnesota which were sent there on a lie from a now debunked video about child care. The fraud that took place was already being investigated during the previous administration and they already had convictions. ICE agents are the wrong people to do those types of investigations anyway. So there is no need for the Insurrection Act when it was self made.
A modern state is a fragile equilibrium of individual interests. It holds together as long as it delivers predictable benefits; it loses legitimacy when it fails to do so.
Economic crises break the anesthesia of prosperity and reveal what usually remains hidden: under scarcity, survival displaces abstraction, fear replaces trust, and rational individual actions push the system toward collective failure.
This is not an accident, but a structural outcome.
Read the full post to understand how states corrode, adapt, and transform.
He's posturing like the hero of anti-fascist protestors over there, while moving ever closer to a crackdown of anti-trumpers here. Same old, same old...
It makes a LOT of sense. In North America the Donald is battling a Communist insurrection in support of invaders, and uncovering all sorts of corruption in the meantime.
And it’s a lot worse than Fort Sumter, which could be supplied by sea.
In Iran he’s encouraging freedom-hungry people to rise against a C VII death cult from the darkness of heathen Araby.
Donald, Trump knows nothing but hypocrisy. His dementia makes it more noticeable than in the past, perhaps, but it has always been there: his claiming he is for the working person when he has never worked a day in his life; releasing our military on people who do not deserve such actions while he, himself skipped the army because his family had money and he could get a doctor to lie about bone spurs; signing ab ill to get the entire Epstein collection released to Congress while forcing the Dept. of Justice minions to break the law by not releasing them; committing insurrection on January 6th, then wanting to impose the "insurrection act" and release our military against Minneapolis; and on and on. They want us to be afraid, but fear will get us nowhere. We need to use that fear and stand up to Trumpian insanity! There comes a time when We the People have to say "no more" and mean it!
I've been thinking the same thing. In actuality, however, we need to keep in mind that the contradictions are intentional: If they (the current administration) repeatedly act in contradiction, that adds to the chaos and confusion - keeps us "off balance" and confused, trying to make sense out of things that do NOT make sense. They're working hard to make us crazy and put us "in trauma" as stated directly by Russell Vought. It's their plan.
You’re naming the part people keep skipping, Professor that is fascism arrives with permission slips signed by “respectable” institutions.
So yes, call Congress, protest, vote. But also walk the pressure upstream: with boards, donors, alumni lists, professional associations, unions, pastors, presidents hell anybody with a letterhead and a budget. Make’m choose and Make’m them choose out loud.
Because silence is a policy. And policy can be reversed. www.xplisset.com
Too many of the leaders of these institutions are excited about their 401k growth. I fear that activists really need to target the NASDAQ and NYSE. I fear that until the markets tank, too many Americans won't mobilize because so many of the terrible things happening are happening to other people, but THEIR portfolios are just doing great!
This right here. I have a feeling nothing truly significant will be done by those in positions of power until this affects their bottom line. Likewise, most regular citizens don’t care until they are personally affected. I agree that it will likely take the markets tanking before anything happens. Sad to say, but it rings true.
To be honest Janet, I really struggle with this issue. Meaning part of me just wants to scream at all the activists that still spend time on individual politicians and go, "HEY! Listen, the battle against political corruption is over. WE LOST! It doesn't mean the war is over, but that particular battle is done. All of the energy you are spending to try to get one person or another to see things differently or vote in another way is wasted and would be better spent elsewhere, as wasting your time is now their primary role so it keeps the attention off of the donors." Why do we keep pretending the isn't the case? Why don't we cut out the middleman and direct all efforts toward the firms and individuals who fund them and tell them what to do? To me, this is another way that America is entertaining ourselves to death. Even when it is clear as day such efforts are mainly spectacle, we keep at it.
Ah, the Neil Postman reference is so apt, even in the smartphone age.
I have personally been boycotting a lot of the companies funding *waves* all this, and sharing info with people who don’t seem very tapped in, but we need more. A massive walkout/strike and huge no-buy movement? I don’t know. I’m just an artist taking photos to preserve my sanity, but I want to do my part.
That’s what I came to say - how about if we only buy necessary groceries and gas? Trump is really proud of “his” economy; that would definitely send a message.
Wayne, I do not agree. Maybe the "empire" part is true, but this nation is not and we need together to stand up to prove that we are still viable and have something to offer the world that is not dementia, insanity, greed, powermongering, and hate. We need to find ways to get our whole treasonous white house toddler pool out of office along with all the folks the Republican Senate put into offices they were not qualified to hold. How do we actually accuse folks of treason from within and make it stick, then prosecute it?
They must fear the rest of us. They have gained so much power that they have lost all respect for the rest of us and think us weak. We must band together, march i solidarity, and prove them wrong.
The Best of Us, isn't that the plan, gaslight everyone into believing the economy is just fine when in reality it is rotten internally and cannot stand too long. Now, how do we undermine it in a way that only the superrich pay the price?
Well, I don't know if they want everyone believing that, as there will always be a reality-based community. I think the goal is to minimize the voice and power of that community so the propaganda can do its magic on the true believers. But the larger issue is that long ago the mainstream press and political class in this country completely detached how "the economy" is doing from how how most working people are doing. And since those are the classes that now determine elections, no one else really matters. Sadly, you are right that the masses will need to suffer to do what we need to do, but they are suffering anyway, and I truly believe it's just a matter of whether we are willing to accept this and take the steps necessary to reduce the length and scale of our suffering.
Ian, it is true certain people are being targeted, so we need to find out just who they are and work to show them how they are being duped for the cause of a bunch of whiny white child-men who care nothing for them or anything but money and power for themselves, not the people they claim to "love so much."
You have a point, Ian, but prices keep going up, there is significant unemployment, and AI threatens millions of jobs. Young people are looking at a seemingly dismal future. Workers and consumers must unite, organize, and campaign for a better future. Each one of us has a significant, positive role to play. Voters are getting tired and frustrated with Trump's negativity and hyperbole.
Ian,I'm glad you brought this up. That is precisely why there is not more pushback.Trump has enlisted the aid of one company that keeps the market going.Nvdia,Jensen Huang who is a friend of Trump's because Nvidia is able to sell their chips to China,Saudia Arabia,other Arab countries. Nvidia actually provides money to other cos to buy their chips,to goose their earnings. Check out the Michael Burry big put against Nvidia and Palantir.
Interesting that Jensen Huang is advocating for the loss of millions of jobs through AI. and would like to replace plumber,electricans and other manual works with his Robots. I hope americans wake up soon to the future and reject it.
The economy will stay up until the AI bubble pops. The circular financing is the last thing they can do to keep it going. They can't keep it up for too long.
General strike. If every single one of us who has had ENOUGH picked a day, made preparations, and refused to work until every fascist is removed from office, we could shut the country down within weeks. Imagine the roadblock we would create if 10, 20, 50 million of us refused to comply any longer.
Recent popular unrest in the United States reflects more than temporary instability. Persistent economic and social pressures can shift the political system away from its center. As a result, probability mass moves from the middle toward the extremes, increasing the likelihood that political power concentrates in the tails of the distribution rather than among moderate actors.
Markets, that’s a clean way to say it. When the middle gets squeezed by rent, debt, and constant stress, people stop trusting slow institutions and reach for extremes because extremes feel certain. Then the loudest actors end up running the show. Feels like the only real fix is material life with stuff like wages, housing, healthcare, dignity. www.xplisset.com
A modern state is a fragile equilibrium of individual interests. It holds together as long as it delivers predictable benefits; it loses legitimacy when it fails to do so.
Economic crises break the anesthesia of prosperity and reveal what usually remains hidden: under scarcity, survival displaces abstraction, fear replaces trust, and rational individual actions push the system toward collective failure.
This is not an accident, but a structural outcome.
Read the full post to understand how states corrode, adapt, and transform.
Unfortunately, this is all part of Trump’s playbook. He is doing everything he can do to provoke a reaction that he can use to declare an emergency and cancel the midterm elections, I don’t know what can be done to keep us from falling into his trap. People need to understand that what ICE is doing isn’t the mistakes of a few bad apples. Why else would he be recruiting the sort of thugs he is attracting to ICE. He may as well deputize the Proud Boys and the other thugs he called for on January 6th and have them implement his immigration policy.
Dennis,I think he already has deputized the "Proud Boys" and other thugs. One of them apparently called out " Y'all" be careful unless you wish the same fate as Renee" Sounds like a Proud Boy to Me.
Xplisset is calling for us to choose now. Can we not “sell” a clear message from the portfolio, thereby signaling the sanctions available in the hands of WE THE PEOPLE?
Xplisset, you've got this one right!! Go after the folks with the money and power and get them to see there is no future supporting a Trumpian insurrection/coup. Trump and his gang of thugs want to rule the world so they can steal whatever they can from the most vulnerable leaving nothing to the rest of us. There are more of us than of them. We also need to do more to pressure our military leaders past and present to stand against this bunch of toddler-men and a few toddler-women who have no clue but think they are the most brilliant people on earth; they are not even close to that and we need to prove it!
Yes..Watch available videos on the rise of facism in Portugal .. and Italy.. Zalazar and Mussolini given permission by the people devastated their countries as Trump and his cabal will America.
As I witness the events in Minneapolis and the pressure applied by the residents, we are appalled that the "Brown Shirts" are temporarily on the rise. However we are encouraged by the bravery of the Minneapolis residents who risk arrest, possible jail time or even being shot at for the benefit of us all. I believe that the appalling behavior of the ICE thugs are possibly the shots heard around the world.
Tom and others. I read yesterday that Renee's wife Becca was in the car Renee was driving. If true, iv not yet seen more reports about her reactions to the murder of her wife sitting next to her, her reactions to how she's consoling Renee's kids, etc. I'd be in shock for weeks!
That is wrong Jennifer, the dog was in the back seat, no one else was in the car when she was shot, her wife tried to get back into the car just before she was shot but the passenger door was locked and she then encouraged her to drive away from the confrontation, which she was attempting to do when she was shot.
Well it certainly looks like the wheels are about to come off the bus. The lug nuts are loose, making the wheels unstable, but they haven't come off yet. The question may become what will we do when the Trump train has gone off the tracks. Do we try to recreate what was and what got us into this mess in the first place or do we take up the large task to build back better and use the momentum and good spirits created in the resistance to build the better country that we can become.
It does not surprise me that the true resistance to the Trump regime is coming from “we the people.“ Our senators and Congress people who should stand up for us in a firm unyielding manner, may be talking some of the talk, but unlike the Minneapolis protesters, they are not walking the walk. I feel much better represented by the protesters and the resistance in Minneapolis then I do by my own elected representatives.
Many politicians are loathe to give up their great “gig”. Long paid vacations and valuable benefits are worth ignoring their “precious” Oaths of Office. Why vote for people who only care about themselves and not their constituents? Why?
Judy,maybe we should be saying to our local pols who refuse to get involved @ this " Nazi" takeover of our Gov't . We will not only not be voting for you but will encourage a 3rd party candidate to get involved.
Amen to that. Someone yesterday wrote a really excellent explanation about how the Dems and the Repugs are in cahoots. It was about comment #180 if you care to look for it. I tried to write a response thanking that person, but it disappeared before I could hit the Reply button.
Phil.....yes I believe this is the one she is referring to. I read it and thought it was a very excellent explanation of both sides of the aisle and why they want to keep their seats! 💙💙💙🇺🇸
Marc, I agree with you and Dr. Reich that the agency for ousting the 'regime' must come from the citizens by demanding that civic, business, social and religious leaders pick up the resistance from where our woeful elected leaders dropped it.
Trump's method of coercion is powerful and depends upon the ignorance and depravity of a wide swath of the public to carry it out. Evidently according to his ex-wife Ivana, his favorite book was 'My Struggle', the anthology of Hitler's speeches from 1922-1941, and he is executing the timeline to a t. One might place the position of our faltering Republic at the incipient 'Krystallnacht' in 1938 when the Sturmabteilung (SA), Nazi Brownshirts, aligned with complicit local and provincial police, wantonly smashed Jewish businesses and institutions after which the Jewry still residing in Germany were enemies in their own land. To take our corresponding issues to any lesser degree than critical would be like mass suicide. Complicity is not an option.
"the agency for ousting the 'regime' must come from the citizens by demanding that civic, business, social and religious leaders pick up the resistance from where our woeful elected leaders dropped it."
This is totally wrong, if I am reading it correctly. The "woeful leaders" that dropped it and screwed the pooch MUST BE OUSTED FIRST. One at a time, with the dominoes falling faster. Those "woeful leaders" are part of the resistance AGAINST YOU, and it is sheer foolishness to disregard them.
Thomas, evidently in my haste to communicate with readers I have not made myself clear. To define the regime: trump and all his lackeys in the Cabinet, all appointed positions in all three branches of his government (which by default is now the single executive) and all lawmakers who vote for any of his shit to pass or abstain. THEY ALL MUST GO! Members of the military who comply with illegal orders are complicit but it would be of extreme danger for them individually to defy the illicit executive. The line crossing to the totalitarian state is drawn. As far as the Power of the VOTE still has sway, it needs to be employed and enforced without prejudice. I agree with Bob from top to bottom.
Marc, we need to get rid of both political parties and start over with a completely new party for Independents and Progressives. And those who oppose us will just have to create their own new party.
A modern state is a fragile equilibrium of individual interests. It holds together as long as it delivers predictable benefits; it loses legitimacy when it fails to do so.
Economic crises break the anesthesia of prosperity and reveal what usually remains hidden: under scarcity, survival displaces abstraction, fear replaces trust, and rational individual actions push the system toward collective failure.
This is not an accident, but a structural outcome.
Read the full post to understand how states corrode, adapt, and transform.
There is a shift in the winds of change for the good. The shock is wearing off (or numbing us) and in its place, actions of kindness are on the rise. Think of ways to help and encourage each other. There are people who won’t leave their houses due to fear. Find ways to help them by getting donations to them.
I am one of those afraid to leave my house. Declining health, loss of energy makes me wary of people on the road to Walmart or in Walmart. Walmart is my only choice even though I know they are trumpers. I am a minister in the same denomination as the Walmart family. Rich people flock together. I'm just not rich enough to shop elsewhere. Wait, there is no other place for me. At least I attend a church where the minister and members are Progressive Christians. It is a refuge in the midst of a religious wilderness.
You keep calling on people for the wrong thing. We must prepare ourselves for economic protest. You talk about calling on our corporate leaders to stand up. It's never going to happen until they lose our business unless the stand up. In November, when Trump starts seizing voting machines, marching won't help (if anything it will give him the opportunity to order ICE to open fire). We'll need to start putting major corporations our of business by withholding our money.
Couldn't agree more with your call to action regarding business, finance, and civil society institutions, including faith-based groups. They have a civic moral obligation to the public interest that, at least for civil society institutions, is embedded in their corporate charters.
In other words, they're institutional "civic fiduciaries" — institutional trustees of the public interest. In the case of nonprofits, that commitment justifies their tax exemption, too.
As citizens, we are individual "civic fiduciaries," too.
At stake, on behalf of past, present, and future generations, is nothing less than our constitutional Republic. Let freedom ring!
Well, let's see. How many negative adjectives can you name to describe Donald J Trump? Tired of counting? Then try this. How many positive adjectives can you name for the same person? Can't find any? No surprise there. Trump is a walking, talking composition of everything we abhore. He is a malignancy eating away all that America represents for the world to emulate, our honor, integrity, humanity are being destroyed. We can't be free of his control soon enough.
I always thought his values were those of the Seven Deadly Sins and that he was like a funhouse mirror which reflected back at us all of our nation’s vices and none of its virtues.
This is all very disturbing to watch from a European perspective. And I'm alarmed by the apparent lack of alarm among leaders of all kinds in America. I hope they heed your call, and fast.
"To undermine racist policy, Americans must focus their efforts on those who have the power to roll back racist policy. Protesting against anyone or anything else is as much of a waste of time as trying to educate or persuade powerful people. History has shown that Americans who have had the power to roll back racist policy have rarely done so. They have done so, however, when they realized on their own that eliminating a racist policy was in their self-interest, much as President Abraham Lincoln chose to end slavery to save the Union. They have also conceded to antiracist change as a better alternative than the disruptive, disordered, politically harmful, and/or unprofitable conditions that antiracist protesters created.
"Antiracist protesters have commonly rejected those racist ideas of what's wrong with Black people that are used to justify inequity and injustice. The most effective protests have been fiercely local; they are protests that have been started by antiracist organizers focusing on their immediate surroundings: their blocks, neighborhoods, schools, colleges, jobs, and professions. These local protests have then become statewide protests, and statewide protests have then become national protests, and national protests have then become international protests. But it all starts with one petition, or two people, or tiny groups, in their small surroundings, organizing people committed to antiracism; it requires chess-like strategy and adjustments during strikes, occupations, freedom, revolts, campaigns, and fiscal and bodily boycotts, among a series of other tactics, to focus power to eradicated racist policies. Antiracist protesters have created positions of power for themselves by articulating clear demand and making it clearer that they will not stop-- and policing forces cannot stop them-- until their demands are met."
- Ibrahim X. Kendi (2016). Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Kindle Edition. Bold Type Books, 508-509.
And then Professor Kendi emphasizes that there can be no one-and-done revolution.
I am quoting Professor Kendi, and/because I believe that the passage has wider application. Not that anti-immigration is in any case separate from racism.
Racism is instrumental in this regime’s actions, its implementation, and the complicity via silence of people who could, but don’t, speak out against the evil actors. These supremacists in power would love nothing better than a pure “white” nation. (And then the poorest “whites” would be the lowest.) Racial tensions rooted in our country since its inception have been used to divide and distort us into attacking each other, and that fear of the other- now the immigrant, etc- is being used to justify every horrible action.
If you’re quoting Kendi seriously you’ve really lost the battle of ideas and all you’ve got left is the Trantifa Klare-ish violence on display in Minneapolis.
You left out Unitarian Universalists from your list of religious organizations, but that’s ok because they’re already against our Terrorist-in-Chief and Thief, Traitor Trumputin.
A very fine and excellent outline of organizations where we can pressure formal leaders to speak out NOW. Thank you so much, Robert. Almost all of us do need to be re-educated about what we CAN do.
Nothing short of millions of Americans taking to the streets, as is happening in Iran, will bring Trump to heal and stop him from making our country into a fascist police state. Trump called his MAGA minions into the streets on January 6 five years ago and nearly succeeded in overthrowing our democratic form of government. The time has now come to return Trump the favor by marching arm and arm on the National Mall in Washington, withDemocrat leaders and political pundits leading the way.
Pardon me, but I believe you may want to change the word heal to the word heel in your first sentence. Click the 3 dots in the upper right and then on edit.
Twain said that the difference between choosing the right word and the almost right word is the difference between a lighting bolt and a lightening bug.
I find it rather ironic that Mr. Trump is telling the people of Iran to take over agencies, and buildings while demonstrating everywhere they can to show their displeasure for how inhuman their government really is, and at the same time here at home he is mimicking the tyranny he despises over there.
Trump said he would attack Iran if protesters are being executed. He’s always projecting. But protestors might feel Trump will save them. I hope they don’t listen.
What’s happening here isn’t “law enforcement,” it’s the behavior of a security apparatus that’s slipped its leash and started treating the public as an occupied population.
When masked federal agents roam a city with impunity, firing into cars and smearing the dead as justification, you’re not looking at public safety, you’re looking at a domestic intimidation force that’s learned it can operate without consequence.
Call it whatever you want: a parallel police state, a rogue internal militia, an unaccountable enforcement caste. The label matters less than the function, and the function is fear.
And the irony is almost too on‑the‑nose: a country that lectures the world about authoritarianism is now running operations that mirror the very regimes it claims to oppose.
If another nation deployed masked federal units to terrorize its own citizens, Washington would call it a human‑rights crisis. When it happens here, it’s rebranded as “security.” The cognitive dissonance is doing more work than the agencies themselves.
This isn’t drift, it’s design. A state that treats oversight as optional and violence as administrative routine eventually stops resembling a democracy and starts resembling something far more familiar to people who’ve lived under coercive rule.
And the most telling part? The people in power don’t even bother hiding it anymore. They assume the public will adapt to the new normal. That’s the real danger.
I’m working on a new piece about this from a behavioral standpoint that will drop later today. I invite you all to check it out and thank you for writing this piece.
Here it is:
https://open.substack.com/pub/johanuniverseends/p/when-the-guards-become-the-regime?r=490k23&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay
—Johan
Former foreign service officer
ICE is Trump’s version of NAZI Brownshirts-Storm Troopers. Isn’t it a pity that so many people never read their History books?
The “authorities” don’t want the people to read real history.
Plantation owners didn’t want their slaves to be literate.
The Roman Catholic Church hierarchy didn’t want the laity to read, write or speak Latin — the “code” language the clergy, lawyers and “philosophers” (scientists).
The ignorance of the public makes the public easier to control.
Why tRump said early on during his campaigns that he "loves the poorly educated"
Most totalitarians do.
Most employers aren’t too keen about hiring highly educated literate employees who know their legal rights and who know History.
The push for STEM education is from employers who want technically competent servants who are ignorant of History, Philosophy, Labor unions, their legal rights, Politics, Sociology, etc.
I was taught Latin in high school back when the Mass was in Latin.
I don't know what the Catholic church changing the Mass to English and not teaching it in school has to do with Donald Trump and his band of Nazis.
Most of the the Southern states are in the bottom 25% of the educational system because these people don't want to pay taxes to improve their system.
Trump likes his voters poor and stupid. All Republicans do!
Maybe we should all join the Republican Party and run for office. Then we can vote with the Democratic Caucus.
The parishioners and the priests at your church may be very good people doing good works and duly worshipping, but the Church is and was a political force in history with all the trapping of the lay world. That said, I certainly welcome the current progressive and humane voices of the Church.
You were taught Latin long after the Bible and many liturgical texts had already been translated into many other languages and were accessible to most of the world.
The point of my analogy was that the hierarchy of the Church wanted their followers to be poor and ignorant, just as most Republicans do.
Prior to the end of WWII, most of the industrial manufacturing of the USA was done in the Northern states. The Southern states of the former Confederacy were still mostly agrarian that didn’t appreciate the need for an educated working class.
Industrialists of the North supported basic public education because their factories needed workers who had skills in basic reading, writing and arithmetic. With some exceptions, the elites of the South didn’t need workers with such skills. So, there was limited support for good public education in the South.
The elites of the North and South sent their children to exclusive private schools.
After WWII and the Taft Hartley union-busting Act, Northern industrialists began moving their factories into the South, before moving them to Central and Latin America and Asia. The industrialists paid lower wages to the non-unionized Southern workers, and even less to the offshore ones.
The lower-paid workers of the South were less able to afford to pay for good public education. Today, all across the USA, the elites don’t want to pay for a good public education system. Trump’s billionaire Secretaries of Education have been opposed to public schools.
An ignorant public is easier to control via propaganda.
I learned Latin from singing in church. I tell people that it is my 2nd language.
I'm terrified when I hear the "Democratic" leadership is "afraid" to get behind the NO ICE movement. Are they a captive institution? Or do they lack moral courage? I wrote an article about the elimination of the SA which ought to be a warning about compromise. https://hpschrader.substack.com/p/night-of-the-long-knives-political-alliances-warning
The Democratic leadership, by and large, are APPEASERS.
They are latter-day Neville Chamberlains, hoping that if they cede more and more territory to America's Fuhrer, Trump won't turn on them and attack them, too.
Charles Schumer can tuck his forearms against his body, flap his arms and hands and chirp, "We Will Win!" like Tweety Bird; and Hakeen Jeffries can order "another study to investigate this" but we need leaders who will actively CONFRONT Trump and MAGA, and motivate other Democrats to do the same.
Mark,you are so right.How long does it take Dems to realize that the leadership is broken.They have no interest in fighting fire with fire.They are talking about issues in intellectual terms that does not resonate with those who want action.
I commend Robert for noting the various institutions that should be fighting back. Religion will not,they are almost 100% wedded to Trump. Corporations will not,they are making massive amts of money with "regulations" gone. Any organization that depends on any type of Federal Support will not for fear of the funds being cut off.
Just as an observation,we blame Stephen Miller(a Jew who became a Nazi),Russell Voight ,Trump,the big and influential supporters of what is going on is "Big TecH" . Nvdia especially,but,Musk,Cook(Apple)Zuckerberg,Microsoft, and all those cos that wish to impose AI on the our Demcocracy.They do not believe in Democracy and their supporters are Wall Street,CNBC,Fox,who are just waiting for the day when 60 million Americans lose their jobs due to AI.
What will it take to fight back? I don't have a lot of faith that demonstrations will make that much of a difference,but I do participate in virtually every one.
It will also take the 67 million Dems who do nothing ,no demonstations,no letter writing,they do nothing. At the demonstrations I have seen people in wheelchairs,on walkers,on canes who care enough to get out there.70% are women,30% men. No Blacks,No Asians,No Indians and of course no Hispanics.
We have a few: AOC, Bernie Sanders, Mandamiento, but not enough? I think Patty Murray.
You can go into MAGA territory and debate its promoters. Remember that Bernie went to Fox News to educate its audience. Wee must be activist educators.
The “Democratic leadership” is not democratic, and are beholden to extremely wealthy sponsors who feather their beds.
Political campaigns are very costly.
Helena - They got spanked when they started calling to defund the police so they don’t want a repeat when they are going to run on affordability and other issues. They could run on a platform to reform ICE but worry that republicans will twist it and end up gaining when they should be losing. At least that’s how I see it.
I see your point -- I just don't think being 'cautious' and 'tactical' and 'sticking to a playbook' will save the nation from fascism. Dictators don't hold free and fair elections, so focusing exclusively on election tactics misses the point. IF there are elections later this year, armed ICE agents will stand outside the booths -- without curtains on them -- in all Democratic strongholds so that people are "protected" and can "vote safely."
How about a campaign for competence. Even someone who supports ICE is likely to agree that it is not run properly. This is the thing: Nothing in the Trump administration is run properly, competently.
the No ICE movement is premature and counterproductive at the moment. This is what it means to millions: that you are pro-illegal invaders of the country. They will vote Republican. Help ICE discredit itself. Be patient and document everything.
my genetics are screaming. All those family members gone. and for what?
Gone for the profits of the wealthy few.
😡
I know what you mean.
Genetic Trauma. I know this to be true.
Judy,Trump is " America's Hitler" and ICE are the " Nazi Brownshirts"
or '1984'
Unforuntely.
They believe the lies and close their eyes and ears to truth.
And? So anyone with the capability of thinking sees what is happening. Where’s the response? Right now the people of Minnesota are taking it on the chin for everyone, but no one else seems to care. Oh, they care on their keyboards and claiming it’s terrible, but take no concrete action. Where’s the political opposition? Where’s the alleged leadership?
Johan, Thank you for this accurate engaging post. An Anne Frank letter from January 13 1943 was posted yesterday. It was as if she was looking out her window in Minneapolis today. Absolutely chilling. We are in deep trouble. I hope your posts will be read and heeded as I hope Dr Reich’s are. 💔🇺🇸
Thank you.. and yes, that parallel is chilling precisely because it shouldn’t feel contemporary at all. When a letter from 1943 (especially from Anne Frank and knowing of her conditions, the history and seeing it through my travels) reads like commentary on an American city in 2026, it tells you the structure hasn’t evolved nearly as much as the mythology claims.
We’re not “in trouble” because history is repeating; we’re in trouble because too many people still believe it can’t happen here. The warnings are everywhere. The question is whether anyone with power is willing to hear them before the window closes.
My god Johan. My god🥺💔🇺🇸
Yep
Thank you Johan! I hear you and agree with you that "history is repeating right here in the U.S. That is certainly the important question--"whether anyone with power is willing to hear them before the window closes". Keep writing here Johan.
Thank you! Appreciate it
Xenophobia is irrational, inhumane, and destructive. It is unsustainable.
The republican party is a terrorist organization that uses and promotes violence, extortion, bribery, and intimidation to resolve political differences.
The republican party is a terrorist organization that promotes violence against women, children, minorities, and any "other" of the moment as a matter of policy.
The republican party is a terrorist organization that has abrogated the rule of law and the constitution.
The republican party is a terrorist organization that advocates white nationalist christian fascism.
The republican party is a terrorist organization that promotes misogyny, racism, patriarchy, and xenophobia.
The republican party is a terrorist organization that actively promotes the oligarchy and the transfer of wealth from the middle and lower classes to the rich.
The republican party is a terrorist organization that actively promotes, facilitates, and protects pedophiles.
The description of this disaster is the easy part. I hope you will follow up with some solutions and action items. We didn’t get here in a day or a month or a year. The fascist takeover has taken the Republicans 40 or 50 years, and they have been very patient and focused. We need to get going! The window is closing! We need to keep it open!
you are correct. however, the means of communication, therefore the means of organizing are severely at risk. we all need to remember that we live in a digital surveillance state, far more refined and capable compared to what ed snowden revealed in 2013. The techbroligarchs control satellite, internet, cable, and cellphone companies. A simple, simple example: what happens if you don't pay your cable bill? obviously, it's shut off. So now extend that example to vermin like us, traitors and antifas who believe in the rule of law and democracy. People like us who read and communicate these subversive ideas on substacks like this. How long does anyone really think the regime will tolerate this? Pulling the plug on any website is easily and routinely done in China, russia, pakistan, saudi arabia, indonesia, malaysia.
My guess is that sometime this late spring or early summer, progressive websites will start to experience "technical difficulties". Anyone using cell phone or internet to organize resistance to the regime will be easily flagged for further scrutiny and action.
So I'm open to ideas on how to communicate nationwide when they start to clamp down.
This is part of the reason to get going now! If you watch in fascination as the window closes, instead of helping keep it open, what you predict will come to pass. So, now’s the time.
chilling yes how???
GOP/Republican parties were so out dated and run by their elder members.
There was a “need” for leadership and a massive void so the MAGAs fit right in! Trump had been a member in the party of the Democrats forever. Trump persuaded younger members, who knew him from his long-running TV program, that HE was available and able “to lead.” Trump dropped willingly into the opening for leadership so MAGA was create for these dissatisfied folks.
The rest is history! Trump is not interested in our country or democracy or the Constitution, but he is interested in making huge amounts of money, along with power. Trump has found the entrance key and the major “piggy bank.” Please make sure Trump finds the EXIT before our nation is gone!
Paul,I agree and we should repeat this each and every day. However with average american having an attention span of 19 seconds,it won't happen.
Johan - Another little tidbit that I’m sure they don’t want you to know is that as far as I remember federal agents cannot conduct traffic stops on their own. They need to be with actual law enforcement in order to conduct those stops. Maybe things have changed since my day in the job but someone needs to check on it. Just read an article (in Wired I believe) that because they are rushing agents into cities some of their vehicles don’t even have the proper lights and sirens. You all are right that this is not about public safety. What people should do is to continue to check their voting registration status and not wait until right before the elections. Especially since this administration is demanding that states hand over their voting rolls. It is up to the states to determine if their voting records are accurate and not the government. Just exactly what are they wanting with our information other than to make casting a vote more difficult? Some states love to purge their voting rolls right before the election making it harder for people to vote.My state already handed over my private information but I am glad to see that other states are putting up a fight.
Anon,your private information and mine and for 300 million americans the private information has been scooped up by DODGe(Musk favorite entity) for gathering infor for the surveillance state.The company in the forefront of is Palantir( Alex Karp) ,a company endorsed by Trump and the Republicans for identifying anyone who might be against this " NazI' gov't.
David - even more worrisome is the fact that a friend of mine had his social security check deposited last month and 2 days later his account was drained. His bank is dragging its feet in resolving this situation. Thank the supreme court for giving SS and IRS permission to give our data to DOGE. This occurred this past July 2025. I check my balance daily, and keep my direct deposit account only for receiving social security check. then it goes to a different checking account. my credit union has been very helpful
You are wise to take precautions, Paul. The internet is full of phishers looking for seniors. Beware!
Paul,thanks for the headsup. THe SC s part of the : Neo Nazi: movement with the exception of the 3 democratic females. Why would we expect theywould not do this? Do you happen to know the name of the case or did they just do it because Trump told them to.
David - You are correct about Doge’s actions and the continuation of surveillance by Palantir which is why I think they want even more information about us.
When is the new piece and where to find it
First ,start here:
https://open.substack.com/pub/johanuniverseends/p/on-power-morality-and-why-the-immoral?utm_source=app-post-stats-page&r=490k23&utm_medium=ios
In your excellent comment, you wrote, "They assume the public will adapt to the new normal. That’s the real danger." Adapting to the new normal may be their assumption, but increasingly it seems "they" do not care what anyone thinks because, to another of your excellent statements, ""This isn't drift, it's design," they have a plan, an agenda, and they are putting it into effect very rapidly, very pervasively, and- horrific to say - very effectively.
Thank you very much and take a look at my pieces to see where I am coming from…this is the new one:
https://open.substack.com/pub/johanuniverseends/p/when-the-guards-become-the-regime?r=490k23&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay
How Did You Go Bankrupt?” “Two Ways. Gradually and Then Suddenly.”
Extremes creep in quietly. Until one day, they’re all you feel.
Exactly!!
Minneapolis shows federal officers, including ICE and other agents, using military-style tactics like tear gas, flash bangs, pepper balls and less-lethal rounds against demonstrators protesting the federal immigration enforcement presence after recent shootings and rising tensions in the city.
Take a look:
https://open.substack.com/pub/johanuniverseends/p/when-the-guards-become-the-regime?r=490k23&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay
Extremely well stated and very sadly, true!
What?
Nailed it.
Where is your piece, Johan? Scrolled all the way down -- did I miss it? If possible please email it to gkluge@aol.com
Thanks.
Here you go:
https://open.substack.com/pub/johanuniverseends/p/when-the-guards-become-the-regime?r=490k23&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay
Johan, this is such a great description of signposts along the road, but the NOW necessity is to suggest actions! Stand up, speak out. Write your state and federal representatives. Demonstrate at every opportunity. March and sing and wear clown outfits. Blow whistles. Whatever floats your boat, non-violently, of course. Have fun — this is the most subversive of all 🤣. If we are intimidated, we are giving in to their desire that we become passive observers. Their method is to escalate wherever possible, but they look so silly escalating against frogs.
Thank you, and you’re right that passivity is exactly what these systems rely on. My focus in the piece was naming the architecture, because people can’t act effectively if they don’t understand the machinery they’re up against.
Once the structure is visible, the range of actions becomes clearer…whether that’s speaking out, organizing locally, or refusing the role of silent spectator.
Authoritarian systems escalate because they assume the public will retreat. The moment people stop performing fear, the performance of power starts to look absurd.
Try being kind to them. They act like they’re all on a rage filled cocaine bender. Killing them with kindness is a strangely subversive act. I saw a video where a woman was calmly explaining to an agent why she was furious with them for tearing apart their community. He was visibly cold and acknowledged he was not from Minnesota. She put a hand warmer in his hands. He was so relieved. It will be hard for him to other her after that! Of course I’m aware that Reneé Good’s last words were “I’m not mad at you”. This woman said “I am mad at you and here is why”. Then she treated him with motherly kindness.
How do we get in line to see the piece you are working on?
I’m working on it right now! Maybe ready in about an hour.
You can view this first if you’d like:
https://open.substack.com/pub/johanuniverseends/p/on-power-morality-and-why-the-immoral?utm_source=app-post-stats-page&r=490k23&utm_medium=ios
I also have a series going on the world ahead 2026 in my posts section
It's called Fascism, Johan
The fascis, a bundle of rods bound around an axe, embodies the lie that strength comes from forced unity. A single reed breaks; the bound bundle doesn’t. But that “strength” only exists when individuality is erased and obedience is mandatory. That’s why the symbol is both powerful and evil: it turns cohesion into coercion and makes the state’s violence look like virtue.
Strangely, the “Fascis” symbol is hanging on the wall of the United States Congressional Chamber. It’s also on our currency (dimes).
Yesterday I posted a comment on how to RESTRICT Trumps activities; not how to terminate them but to RESTRCT them. I closed by saying POST TRUMP America would never go back to what it was; so it should look to leading a VIGOROUS & OPEN debate on Global Warming; pending Environmental Collapse plus their effects on the TERMS of human existence.
Last night I addressed the reality that I am unlikely to be invited to America to initiate my RESTRICT program. from where I am I can only INITIATE said debate.
Whilst America is now deeply divided over the subject of Trump; my program requires the people to LISTEN to each other rather than automatically condemning each other; so restoring a truly UNITED states.
This is what I am working on at this time.
Yours sincerely.
Ken Maynard. ken.maynard7@gmail.com
I’m appalled by “kettling” as crowd control tactic. If that contributed to Renee Good’s death, does that make it premeditated murder? LA Times did an expose in 2014 and they’ve had a dozen years since then to refine their techniques. “Patrol agents have deliberately stepped in the path of cars apparently to justify shooting at the drivers…according to an independent review of 67 cases that resulted in 19 deaths.” https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-border-killings-20140227-story.html.
Trump defended the execution of protester Renee Good of Minneapolis. Such a hypocritical, brain-fogged liar.
Steve - I wonder if they were relieved when they found out that the man they just shot in the leg was an immigrant from Venezuela? They could go back to their original disgusting rhetoric about how much they deserved it. Now they are arresting/detaining men, women and even children and claiming to be re-vetting them since they had the audacity to come here and follow the laws when Biden was president. They are also pulling people out of their time to be naturalized citizens before they can take their oath.
Yes, that is terrible!
Xenophobia is madness. We must avoid adding fuel to the climate of fear and anger controlling these people.
Steve,you know the Trump model. : Deny,Deny,Deny, Attack,Attack,Attack,Never admit you're wrong. He is all mouth. Half the posters here in a physical altercation would kick his ass.
You've never lied?
Wayne - I believe we all lie in one form or fashion but the scale is probably not on his level. I lie daily when people ask me how I am doing/feeling and I tell them I am fine.
Thank you from BC. Canada
I just restarted the White Panther Movement today.
I'm trxxxmp's age.
If he can single handedly manipulate a nation so can I.
My agenda is to solve the 300 issues of the poor elderly and disabled.
I attended the local Regional government public meeting today.
I was the only person in the gallery.
I was the only person who asked a question at the Q and A, at the end of the meeting about the group who made a presentation at the meeting.
I was polite and the chairperson was polite in her answer.
I have lied, Wayne, but Trump lies in ways that are destroying our country, the rule of law, and even common decency. His followers seem detached from reality. I am not undoing the U.S. Constitution, attacking non-white people, perpetuating hate and division. And Trump is doing all that with relentless lies that have apparently brainwashed his followers. With help from Fox News. Trump is the playground bully, and most Republicans are groveling to the "King." I hope they wake up and end the reign of terror before it's too late.
Thank you from BC. Canada
I just restarted the White Panther Movement today.
I'm trxxxmp's age.
If he can single handedly manipulate a nation so can I.
My agenda is to solve the 300 issues of the poor elderly and disabled.
I attended the local Regional government public meeting today.
I was the only person in the gallery.
I was the only person who asked a question at the Q and A, at the end of the meeting about the group who made a presentation at the meeting.
I was polite and the chairperson was polite in her answer.
Big Botsy Donny has even run out of orange drag queen face makeup. Now what are we going to do.
Does that give us permission to attack him?
My belief system does not allow me to attack anyone individual . But I can attack policy. I can rage against injustice and greed. And- in my belief system- I must.
Your belief system may get you a premature pass into Heaven while you watch your neighbors suffering in Dystopia.
I’m not interested in Heaven. And if need be, I would happily place my 70 year old body in between my neighbors and brutal fascism. I cannot attack anyone. I can however, defend, and have done so from my own front lawn.
Hundreds of thousands of veterans of the armed forces have been killed while defending your right to not attack anyone. Millions more have suffered life-changing injuries in that regard.
THANK YOU
Carolyn,I don't quite understand that. Can you be a little more precise?
Sure. Which part? Not being interested in heaven? Or defending by putting my body in between brutality and my neighbor?
Not attacking anyone individual?
Absolutely at this point. Maybe in the beginning we could have attempted some type of communication between Cheeto Man and the American public, but his administration is now publicly executing American citizens who are: a) exercising free speech, b) standing up for their communities, c) rallying against tyranny and injustice, d) defending the constitutional rights across the board.
If we don’t address those issue now then when? If don’t defend against defiling the constitutional rights of all Americans, then when? If demand accountability now, then when? If we don’t demand the rule of law now, then when?
I want truth, no corruption and the rule of law to be true and honest. So much divisive action between humans. I just don't get why it's so hard to just be real. Every single thing we are experiencing right now is a psychopath's smoke screen to divert our anger from pedophilia to murder. I am sick to my stomach. I love the button my daughter gave me. I wear it with pride. It states: "Ask me how I'd torture Trump". Well guys, just ask me. I have a million ways.
How Did You Go Bankrupt?” “Two Ways. Gradually and Then Suddenly.”
Extremes creep in quietly. Until one day, they’re all you feel.
We lost everything we know to be honest, caring, and good because we have a lunatic running the country in to the ground.
I am tired of his demands, his threats, his narcissism, his corruption, his anger, his cruelty. I am tired of the constant lies. I am tired of the attacks on our democracy and freedom.
How did we get here? The consequences caused by giving to him immunity are showing up everywhere... 🤦♀️
It's past time to impeach Trump again and take him out of power permanently! We should remove him from office after November, when we take Congress back. Then, Trump will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Just got my shirt which reads "We the People" are PISSED OFF! This 👇
https://libtees.dashery.com/products/78782439-we-the-people-are-pissed-off-t-shirt
We have to resist the fear this administration is trying to inflict upon the citizens of the United States! 💪
Trump is not “the” big problem. Trump is a deranged stooge of “Dark Money” billionaires, mega-millionaires and Wall Street corporations that support Fascism in their Capitalistic quest for perpetually increasing short term profits.
Individuality, some of those Dark Money manipulators may argue that “it’s the system” that “requires” them to exploit the people and resources of the Earth without consideration for the long term consequences.
If we allow that system to continue, we are doomed.
But it’ll still help when Trump drops dead.
https://www.songfacts.com/lyrics/the-who/wont-get-fooled-again
Trump’s successor may or may not be better.
JD Vance has negative charisma. That dog won’t hunt politically.
The GOP may replace JD with someone who is worse.
From your lips to all the god's ears.
The billionaires are parasites on the rest of us working people. That’s the purpose and design of unregulated capitalism. To take money from the majority and siphon it to the few at the top. They will to anything to maintain their interests, as can be seen in Minnesota right now. Don’t for a second think that in time it won’t come to your neighborhood. Resist!
Those billionaire parasites live in fear of the unification of the working people, especially if those working people are well-armed.
The current thuggery is the parasites’ attempt to discourage the working people into a sense of helplessness.
Eventually, the working people will overcome their fears when they realize they have little left to lose.
This is the key. The GOP exists now purely on racism and hate, a tool to keep the lower 90% or the people divided. Trump is an out of control maniac now, not sticking to the script. If the Dems were not completely owned by corporate donors, they could seize the issues that are popular and wipe out the GOP. The smarter oligarchs may realize that after they're finished with the immigrants, the MAGA horde is going to turn on them. They would be wise to switch to the Dems, where they'll only face higher taxes, than the GOP, where the gallows awaits them.
CK,I think it time we identified at least 10 of those billionaires and made a concerted effort to go after them. Find a way to destroy their way of living.How about all the millionaire Religious leaders who support Trump.
Some of those billionaires are in Trump’s Cabinet, others own the mass media and the defense contractors.
There are a few hundred of them.
The wealthy religious leaders are all hypocrites.
The most practical remedy is to tax the snot out of those parasites. I suspect that most could live comfortably on net incomes of only $1-million per year.
He isn't a stooge. The corporatists are just taking advantage of his offers to make them even richer, and they do not fear the power of the average American. We must make them fear us. Boycott en masse, general strikes a la Europe, civil disobedience in large numbers and sustained for time never seen before.
“We must make them fear us. Boycott en masse, general strikes a la Europe, civil disobedience in large numbers and sustained for time never seen before.”
Agreed, with emphasis upon “them”. Trump exhibits the traits of dementia and/or senility in addition to psychopathy. He is doing the bidding of others — most of whom are anonymous to the public at large. When he is gone, his wealthy sponsors will replace him.
He currently has the support of a majority of the US Congress and, apparently l, of the SCOTUS, possibly due to many of the same sponsors. They are the true enemies of “the people“.
...except that the presumption that there will be elections in November may be wrong, and the presumption that there will be anything left of the country if we wait until November is wrong.
What happens when the upcoming elections are taken away?
That is up to us to decide. We need a general strike ASAP
Skian,That’s what is on my mind.
He rules on assaulting HOPE.
Heather, I'm right with you. I still do not understand how we could not get him in jail after the insurrection. Oh! WAIT! It was greed, corporations and greed. Why was he still allowed to walk around. He and all is other big money wackfucks should be having fun in solitary confinement for killing and torturing Capitol police! The Hypocrisy of it all makes me ill.
Yes, Donald, everytime I hear him say this in a news report, I think "Huh?? You are telling people in Iran to protest while KILLING PEOPLE HERE IN THE U.S. FOR DOING SO????" Trump is an instigator of murder, mayhem and viciousness. WE HAVE GOT TO GET HIM OUT BY ANY MEANS POSSIBLE!!! AND I MEAN, A-N-Y MEANS!!!
He is TRUE EVIL.
Video from Minneapolis shows federal officers, including ICE and other agents, using military-style tactics like tear gas, flash bangs, pepper balls and less-lethal rounds against demonstrators protesting the federal immigration enforcement presence after recent shootings and rising tensions in the city.
It’s not just Minneapolis. It’s the entire state of Minnesota.
It's really the entire United States of America. Beware!!
Klare,you are 100% on target. BY ANY MEANS,BY ANY MEANS.The fight is going to not end with violence,enough is enough.
Hello Donald... DJT has no Self-Awareness... DJT looks in the Mirror, and sees Nothing...
When the mirror should reflect him and a crowd, he only sees himself...
Unfortunately, following a post by another person this perspective was offered, I paraphrase: his reflection is us. We have allowed this, maybe not you and I and our close friends , but America has failed to recognize this deterioration. Trump reflects the United States Attitudes [oh, my]. When John Boehner and another notable Republican stepped away a few years ago, this may be what they saw. Now we must all own the problem and step out with moral integrity and take action.
This is the collective truth that e all must face. Some caused the problem by voting for Trump; some caused it by working toward bad policies for the last forty years; far too many caused it by staying home from the last election or refusing to vote for Harris, thinking out works was stabile and able to weather any politics.
Skian,thanks for bring up the massive #s of those who did not show up because they could not bring themselves to vote for a black women. The 67 million Dems who are AWOL when it comes to protesting. We all know who to blame,Relgion,Supreme Court,Wall Street,CNBC,Fox,and the list goes on. What action are we going to take?
Trump is the original UGLY AMERICAN.
🎯
Mala tempora currunt…..
…..sed peiora parantur
(These are bad times, but worse ones are being prepared)
...and there are even worse times in store for all the cancers in the Trump regime when we take the White House away from those demons. It will happen. There is an American resistance that is alive and well and it is We the People.
That, to me, is the question. I am doing some of what is suggested. But do we know where America is. Some of us see where we are. Most prefer blindness. I am 84. Was my era unique? Ŵas the civil rights movement an anomaly, a bright star that has dimmed. Robert did not mention the NAACP. And for good reason. Is it intentionally keeping its head down. The law school deans and faculty should be in constant agitation. They all hope this wave will pass. It’s not a wave. This is what the human condition has typically been. The support for this regime is at astonishingly, disturbingly, high levels. Is the reality, one the Substack community does not want to contemplate, that this is what the majority wants? If so, a different strategy is called for. All one has to see was the CBS News interview of Mr. T. I actually think I saw the new CBS anchor kiss the T backside. Quite a spectacle, wasn’t it? The Democracy community, an inspiring group, has, perhaps, not yet quite grasped the full reality of what has occurred. I can tell you I am pretty tirelessly trying to get the attention of community leaders. They listen respectfully, but I do not see the level of needed to stop the T groundswell. And the worst thing the forces of Democracy can do is to kid ourselves we are making progress and that he is growing weaker. Watch the CBS ass-kissing. Mr T was masterful. The naps are a tactic. He is not to be underestimated. But he has been.
I must agree with you and I am quite depressed by having to do so. Isn’t it astounding how QUICKLY this has all happened?
Judy,all because Americans did not want to vote for a black woman and Religion wanted to pay Trump back for his destruction of Roe Vs Wade. So the outcome" No Abortion but a : Nazi Govt' Quiet a tradeoff.
I think we all should know who our real enemies are.
No. It is not astounding. It is revelatory.
Hello Gary... CBS is owned by the Ellisons, who are DJT aligned, and AIPAC aligned...
Gary,excellent post.You're right,the supporters Religion,WallStreet,Fox,Supreme Court,Big Tech. It is amazing that so many institutions want to see democracy destroyed,believe in a " Neo Nazi" type of Gov't .
The Democracy advocates are losing,decisively,it is time to admit " DEMOCRACY IS DEAD"What next?
Will check the CBS-Mr T .
A big Anniversary is coming up.
Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Do as I say, not as I do!
My suspicion is that he also wants USA protestors to escalate, giving him an excuse to invoke the Insurrection Act
Fay - He’s currently thinking about it (currently being reported this morning) and just trying to figure out a way to do it without getting dragged into court again. Don’t know why he cares since he will lose at the lower courts but his SC will do as he wants on appeal.
Yes, I've just had news flashes from NY Times and Washington Post
American Civil War II coming soon
I remember a post somewhere saying he could just invoke it, and shyster corrupt Demsurrectionist judges had no role.
Lincoln, Eisenhower …..
This situation is X times worse than anything they had to contend with ….
Robert - Yes, it’s a lot worse now. What is going on in Minnesota right now does not meet the legal threshold for him to declare the Insurrection Act but I’m sure he will try to anyway.
If that’s truly the case why bother to have the Act in the first place?
Tampon Tim has vaulted past Prickster, Newscombe, and Kotex as meriting immediate charges under the Act, but the cumulative effect of these insurrections is far more serious than school desegregation.
Ceau’s Toronto should come in for similar sanctions. For US readers, imagine the sense of betrayal if the Donald had defected to the Democrats, because that’s basically what Doug Ford has done. You could dig his brother up and use him to power boats on the lake in the summer.
Robert - T was a democrat before he became a republican. I don’t think that he ever had an allegiance to either party unless he personally benefits from it. Same can be said for most politicians. All T has to do to end this is withdraw the federal agents that he has amassed in Minnesota which were sent there on a lie from a now debunked video about child care. The fraud that took place was already being investigated during the previous administration and they already had convictions. ICE agents are the wrong people to do those types of investigations anyway. So there is no need for the Insurrection Act when it was self made.
Fay, I’m with you.
A modern state is a fragile equilibrium of individual interests. It holds together as long as it delivers predictable benefits; it loses legitimacy when it fails to do so.
Economic crises break the anesthesia of prosperity and reveal what usually remains hidden: under scarcity, survival displaces abstraction, fear replaces trust, and rational individual actions push the system toward collective failure.
This is not an accident, but a structural outcome.
Read the full post to understand how states corrode, adapt, and transform.
https://open.substack.com/pub/marketszoon/p/animal-spirits?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
He's posturing like the hero of anti-fascist protestors over there, while moving ever closer to a crackdown of anti-trumpers here. Same old, same old...
It makes a LOT of sense. In North America the Donald is battling a Communist insurrection in support of invaders, and uncovering all sorts of corruption in the meantime.
And it’s a lot worse than Fort Sumter, which could be supplied by sea.
In Iran he’s encouraging freedom-hungry people to rise against a C VII death cult from the darkness of heathen Araby.
Big difference.
Some people see Communists everywhere they look.
Yeah, since MacCarthaigh Mor was driven out by the Deep State and the fake news media blob refuses to admit that JFK was murdered by a Communist.
Donald, Trump knows nothing but hypocrisy. His dementia makes it more noticeable than in the past, perhaps, but it has always been there: his claiming he is for the working person when he has never worked a day in his life; releasing our military on people who do not deserve such actions while he, himself skipped the army because his family had money and he could get a doctor to lie about bone spurs; signing ab ill to get the entire Epstein collection released to Congress while forcing the Dept. of Justice minions to break the law by not releasing them; committing insurrection on January 6th, then wanting to impose the "insurrection act" and release our military against Minneapolis; and on and on. They want us to be afraid, but fear will get us nowhere. We need to use that fear and stand up to Trumpian insanity! There comes a time when We the People have to say "no more" and mean it!
I've been thinking the same thing. In actuality, however, we need to keep in mind that the contradictions are intentional: If they (the current administration) repeatedly act in contradiction, that adds to the chaos and confusion - keeps us "off balance" and confused, trying to make sense out of things that do NOT make sense. They're working hard to make us crazy and put us "in trauma" as stated directly by Russell Vought. It's their plan.
I am thinking the very same thing ... it doesn't make any sense. of course nothing makes sense when it comes to this administration .....
The IRONY is mind-blowing.
He just threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act. He has been itching for it. It is completely incongruous to what he is telling Iranians.
Yes, it's called fascist hypocrisy; and America needs to quickly wake up and put an end to the insanity of Trump!
One of the by-products of any dangerous time is irony.
You’re naming the part people keep skipping, Professor that is fascism arrives with permission slips signed by “respectable” institutions.
So yes, call Congress, protest, vote. But also walk the pressure upstream: with boards, donors, alumni lists, professional associations, unions, pastors, presidents hell anybody with a letterhead and a budget. Make’m choose and Make’m them choose out loud.
Because silence is a policy. And policy can be reversed. www.xplisset.com
Too many of the leaders of these institutions are excited about their 401k growth. I fear that activists really need to target the NASDAQ and NYSE. I fear that until the markets tank, too many Americans won't mobilize because so many of the terrible things happening are happening to other people, but THEIR portfolios are just doing great!
This right here. I have a feeling nothing truly significant will be done by those in positions of power until this affects their bottom line. Likewise, most regular citizens don’t care until they are personally affected. I agree that it will likely take the markets tanking before anything happens. Sad to say, but it rings true.
To be honest Janet, I really struggle with this issue. Meaning part of me just wants to scream at all the activists that still spend time on individual politicians and go, "HEY! Listen, the battle against political corruption is over. WE LOST! It doesn't mean the war is over, but that particular battle is done. All of the energy you are spending to try to get one person or another to see things differently or vote in another way is wasted and would be better spent elsewhere, as wasting your time is now their primary role so it keeps the attention off of the donors." Why do we keep pretending the isn't the case? Why don't we cut out the middleman and direct all efforts toward the firms and individuals who fund them and tell them what to do? To me, this is another way that America is entertaining ourselves to death. Even when it is clear as day such efforts are mainly spectacle, we keep at it.
Ah, the Neil Postman reference is so apt, even in the smartphone age.
I have personally been boycotting a lot of the companies funding *waves* all this, and sharing info with people who don’t seem very tapped in, but we need more. A massive walkout/strike and huge no-buy movement? I don’t know. I’m just an artist taking photos to preserve my sanity, but I want to do my part.
That’s what I came to say - how about if we only buy necessary groceries and gas? Trump is really proud of “his” economy; that would definitely send a message.
Nancy, that's an idea worth pursuing!
america is a dying empire and acts like it.
🇨🇦🇺🇦🚀💥
Thank you from BC. Canada
I just restarted the White Panther Movement today.
I'm trxxxmp's age.
If he can single handedly manipulate a nation so can I.
My agenda is to solve the 300 issues of the poor elderly and disabled.
I attended the local Regional government public meeting today.
I was the only person in the gallery.
I was the only person who asked a question at the Q and A, at the end of the meeting about the group who made a presentation at the meeting.
I was polite and the chairperson was polite in her answer.
MONEY IS ALL THEY CARE ABOUT. MONEY AND POWER.
america is a dying empire
Wayne, I do not agree. Maybe the "empire" part is true, but this nation is not and we need together to stand up to prove that we are still viable and have something to offer the world that is not dementia, insanity, greed, powermongering, and hate. We need to find ways to get our whole treasonous white house toddler pool out of office along with all the folks the Republican Senate put into offices they were not qualified to hold. How do we actually accuse folks of treason from within and make it stick, then prosecute it?
Thank you from BC. Canada
I just restarted the White Panther Movement today.
I'm trxxxmp's age.
If he can single handedly manipulate a nation so can I.
My agenda is to solve the 300 issues of the poor elderly and disabled.
I attended the local Regional government public meeting today.
I was the only person in the gallery.
I was the only person who asked a question at the Q and A, at the end of the meeting about the group who made a presentation at the meeting.
I was polite and the chairperson was polite in her answer.
You are absolutely right - it is terrible but true
They must fear the rest of us. They have gained so much power that they have lost all respect for the rest of us and think us weak. We must band together, march i solidarity, and prove them wrong.
No big deal when it happens to me.
Big fucking trauma when it happens to you.
The Best of Us, isn't that the plan, gaslight everyone into believing the economy is just fine when in reality it is rotten internally and cannot stand too long. Now, how do we undermine it in a way that only the superrich pay the price?
Well, I don't know if they want everyone believing that, as there will always be a reality-based community. I think the goal is to minimize the voice and power of that community so the propaganda can do its magic on the true believers. But the larger issue is that long ago the mainstream press and political class in this country completely detached how "the economy" is doing from how how most working people are doing. And since those are the classes that now determine elections, no one else really matters. Sadly, you are right that the masses will need to suffer to do what we need to do, but they are suffering anyway, and I truly believe it's just a matter of whether we are willing to accept this and take the steps necessary to reduce the length and scale of our suffering.
Ian, it is true certain people are being targeted, so we need to find out just who they are and work to show them how they are being duped for the cause of a bunch of whiny white child-men who care nothing for them or anything but money and power for themselves, not the people they claim to "love so much."
Hey Ruth,
You got the target part right
but who is in the bullseye wrong.😑
You have a point, Ian, but prices keep going up, there is significant unemployment, and AI threatens millions of jobs. Young people are looking at a seemingly dismal future. Workers and consumers must unite, organize, and campaign for a better future. Each one of us has a significant, positive role to play. Voters are getting tired and frustrated with Trump's negativity and hyperbole.
Ian,I'm glad you brought this up. That is precisely why there is not more pushback.Trump has enlisted the aid of one company that keeps the market going.Nvdia,Jensen Huang who is a friend of Trump's because Nvidia is able to sell their chips to China,Saudia Arabia,other Arab countries. Nvidia actually provides money to other cos to buy their chips,to goose their earnings. Check out the Michael Burry big put against Nvidia and Palantir.
Interesting that Jensen Huang is advocating for the loss of millions of jobs through AI. and would like to replace plumber,electricans and other manual works with his Robots. I hope americans wake up soon to the future and reject it.
The economy will stay up until the AI bubble pops. The circular financing is the last thing they can do to keep it going. They can't keep it up for too long.
Great point.
When a Nobel Peace Prize laureate hands over her medal to Trump as an act of flattery, how can we expect American leaders to stand up against him?
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2w94wp4p1o
The whole world is watching and waiting for USA to STOP 🛑 this nightmare 🥵
They are not just watching. They are preparing to defend themselves.
How?
General strike. If every single one of us who has had ENOUGH picked a day, made preparations, and refused to work until every fascist is removed from office, we could shut the country down within weeks. Imagine the roadblock we would create if 10, 20, 50 million of us refused to comply any longer.
Refuse to SPEND is more like it!
Recent popular unrest in the United States reflects more than temporary instability. Persistent economic and social pressures can shift the political system away from its center. As a result, probability mass moves from the middle toward the extremes, increasing the likelihood that political power concentrates in the tails of the distribution rather than among moderate actors.
Markets, that’s a clean way to say it. When the middle gets squeezed by rent, debt, and constant stress, people stop trusting slow institutions and reach for extremes because extremes feel certain. Then the loudest actors end up running the show. Feels like the only real fix is material life with stuff like wages, housing, healthcare, dignity. www.xplisset.com
A modern state is a fragile equilibrium of individual interests. It holds together as long as it delivers predictable benefits; it loses legitimacy when it fails to do so.
Economic crises break the anesthesia of prosperity and reveal what usually remains hidden: under scarcity, survival displaces abstraction, fear replaces trust, and rational individual actions push the system toward collective failure.
This is not an accident, but a structural outcome.
Read the full post to understand how states corrode, adapt, and transform.
https://open.substack.com/pub/marketszoon/p/animal-spirits?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Forced austerity through engineered scarcity and the dilution of responsibility downward at work.
“A Reality Show From Hell.”
Unfortunately, this is all part of Trump’s playbook. He is doing everything he can do to provoke a reaction that he can use to declare an emergency and cancel the midterm elections, I don’t know what can be done to keep us from falling into his trap. People need to understand that what ICE is doing isn’t the mistakes of a few bad apples. Why else would he be recruiting the sort of thugs he is attracting to ICE. He may as well deputize the Proud Boys and the other thugs he called for on January 6th and have them implement his immigration policy.
"I don’t know what can be done to keep us from falling into his trap."
No idea as to how stands much of a chance on this forum. Two seats in the House is all it takes to stop the show.
Dennis,I think he already has deputized the "Proud Boys" and other thugs. One of them apparently called out " Y'all" be careful unless you wish the same fate as Renee" Sounds like a Proud Boy to Me.
Xplisset is calling for us to choose now. Can we not “sell” a clear message from the portfolio, thereby signaling the sanctions available in the hands of WE THE PEOPLE?
Xplisset, you've got this one right!! Go after the folks with the money and power and get them to see there is no future supporting a Trumpian insurrection/coup. Trump and his gang of thugs want to rule the world so they can steal whatever they can from the most vulnerable leaving nothing to the rest of us. There are more of us than of them. We also need to do more to pressure our military leaders past and present to stand against this bunch of toddler-men and a few toddler-women who have no clue but think they are the most brilliant people on earth; they are not even close to that and we need to prove it!
THIS! Keep the pressure ON!
I so appreciate your wise addition to these conversations. Thank you.
Yes..Watch available videos on the rise of facism in Portugal .. and Italy.. Zalazar and Mussolini given permission by the people devastated their countries as Trump and his cabal will America.
This is a Good Post Robert Reich... Time for a General Strike before the November Mid-Terms...
I see there is a general strike on January 20th at 2PM.
Where, Gloria? Please be more explicit. Thank you.
I think she may be talking about the walkout protest organized by the Women’s March. Details are on their website.
“Sanctions” by we the people! People of means can deliver the message incrementally with the call to sell. What are people of means willing to forego?
The crisis is now.
She's talking about this: https://www.freeameri.ca/
How and where? MSM refuses to mention such events.
It's this: https://www.freeameri.ca
The idea is that at 2 pm local time Jan. 20 people walk out for I think an hour.
Judy.,wonder why,They have the platform to get this data out there.
MSM is useless.
Yeah, because their Demsurrectionist gaslighting is becoming weaker and weaker
Where Gloria? Who's organizing it? Thx
JANUARY 20TH WALKOUT
2pm everywhere
Women's march, 50501, Indivisible are promoting this nationwide action
Stop watching legacy media
Stop spending
As I witness the events in Minneapolis and the pressure applied by the residents, we are appalled that the "Brown Shirts" are temporarily on the rise. However we are encouraged by the bravery of the Minneapolis residents who risk arrest, possible jail time or even being shot at for the benefit of us all. I believe that the appalling behavior of the ICE thugs are possibly the shots heard around the world.
Sure: the murder of Floyd cannot be erased, but the friendly face of Renee Good, two seconds before she died will remain in my memory forever...
So will what the murderer said after he shot her…..
Tom and others. I read yesterday that Renee's wife Becca was in the car Renee was driving. If true, iv not yet seen more reports about her reactions to the murder of her wife sitting next to her, her reactions to how she's consoling Renee's kids, etc. I'd be in shock for weeks!
That is wrong Jennifer, the dog was in the back seat, no one else was in the car when she was shot, her wife tried to get back into the car just before she was shot but the passenger door was locked and she then encouraged her to drive away from the confrontation, which she was attempting to do when she was shot.
ICE is Trump’s version of Brownshirts. (Sturmabteilung.) On American streets.
Marc, the shot heard again in Minneapolis (Floyd then Good) is being heard in its own iteration on every continent.
We the people must execute our own unitary “sanctions”.
We the people of relative “means” must put skin in the game.
We must put in the call to sell. Squeeze the portfolio with deliberate calculation.
We are the change to transformation for survival in this moment.
The expression used by marketszoon is apt: “anesthetizing prosperity” does not last.
Human connection must.
And don't forget the disabled woman dragged from her car and the Venezualen man shot yesterday. Kristallnacht, as Steve Brodner reminds us.
🙏🏼
Well it certainly looks like the wheels are about to come off the bus. The lug nuts are loose, making the wheels unstable, but they haven't come off yet. The question may become what will we do when the Trump train has gone off the tracks. Do we try to recreate what was and what got us into this mess in the first place or do we take up the large task to build back better and use the momentum and good spirits created in the resistance to build the better country that we can become.
It does not surprise me that the true resistance to the Trump regime is coming from “we the people.“ Our senators and Congress people who should stand up for us in a firm unyielding manner, may be talking some of the talk, but unlike the Minneapolis protesters, they are not walking the walk. I feel much better represented by the protesters and the resistance in Minneapolis then I do by my own elected representatives.
Many politicians are loathe to give up their great “gig”. Long paid vacations and valuable benefits are worth ignoring their “precious” Oaths of Office. Why vote for people who only care about themselves and not their constituents? Why?
Judy,maybe we should be saying to our local pols who refuse to get involved @ this " Nazi" takeover of our Gov't . We will not only not be voting for you but will encourage a 3rd party candidate to get involved.
Because they are lying to the voters while they are running for office and apparently voters are easily duped.
Amen to that. Someone yesterday wrote a really excellent explanation about how the Dems and the Repugs are in cahoots. It was about comment #180 if you care to look for it. I tried to write a response thanking that person, but it disappeared before I could hit the Reply button.
Hi Klare,
I think this reply by Ron Harold is the one you’re referring to. If not, it’s still spot on.
https://open.substack.com/pub/robertreich/p/office-hours-what-should-we-do-about?utm_source=direct&r=stn1b&utm_campaign=comment-list-share-cta&utm_medium=web&comments=true&commentId=199605942
Phil.....yes I believe this is the one she is referring to. I read it and thought it was a very excellent explanation of both sides of the aisle and why they want to keep their seats! 💙💙💙🇺🇸
« the Dems and RINOs are in cahoots. »
And the Donald’s inexorably defeating both….
Klare.....I read it also and it was excellent! 💙💙💙🇺🇸
Marc, I agree with you and Dr. Reich that the agency for ousting the 'regime' must come from the citizens by demanding that civic, business, social and religious leaders pick up the resistance from where our woeful elected leaders dropped it.
Trump's method of coercion is powerful and depends upon the ignorance and depravity of a wide swath of the public to carry it out. Evidently according to his ex-wife Ivana, his favorite book was 'My Struggle', the anthology of Hitler's speeches from 1922-1941, and he is executing the timeline to a t. One might place the position of our faltering Republic at the incipient 'Krystallnacht' in 1938 when the Sturmabteilung (SA), Nazi Brownshirts, aligned with complicit local and provincial police, wantonly smashed Jewish businesses and institutions after which the Jewry still residing in Germany were enemies in their own land. To take our corresponding issues to any lesser degree than critical would be like mass suicide. Complicity is not an option.
"the agency for ousting the 'regime' must come from the citizens by demanding that civic, business, social and religious leaders pick up the resistance from where our woeful elected leaders dropped it."
This is totally wrong, if I am reading it correctly. The "woeful leaders" that dropped it and screwed the pooch MUST BE OUSTED FIRST. One at a time, with the dominoes falling faster. Those "woeful leaders" are part of the resistance AGAINST YOU, and it is sheer foolishness to disregard them.
Fire Tom Emmer.
Thomas, evidently in my haste to communicate with readers I have not made myself clear. To define the regime: trump and all his lackeys in the Cabinet, all appointed positions in all three branches of his government (which by default is now the single executive) and all lawmakers who vote for any of his shit to pass or abstain. THEY ALL MUST GO! Members of the military who comply with illegal orders are complicit but it would be of extreme danger for them individually to defy the illicit executive. The line crossing to the totalitarian state is drawn. As far as the Power of the VOTE still has sway, it needs to be employed and enforced without prejudice. I agree with Bob from top to bottom.
Well said, Marc
Marc, we need to get rid of both political parties and start over with a completely new party for Independents and Progressives. And those who oppose us will just have to create their own new party.
YES. At the very least, we need a third party. Republicans are RABID and Democrats suffer from a total lack of IMAGINATION.
I’ll take what’s behind door #2.
The latter!
A modern state is a fragile equilibrium of individual interests. It holds together as long as it delivers predictable benefits; it loses legitimacy when it fails to do so.
Economic crises break the anesthesia of prosperity and reveal what usually remains hidden: under scarcity, survival displaces abstraction, fear replaces trust, and rational individual actions push the system toward collective failure.
This is not an accident, but a structural outcome.
Read the full post to understand how states corrode, adapt, and transform.
https://open.substack.com/pub/marketszoon/p/animal-spirits?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
Yes Marc, that is my point as well.
First thing is how to get rid of the regime as fast as possible.
But then? Restauration of the old system? Or a beginning of real democracy?
What would Amanda Gorman say? This:?
We feel not prepared to be the witness of this terrifying time.
But within it we must find the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves.
So, while we ask, how can we survive this catastrophe, now is the time we stand strong and assert: this catastrophe will not prevail over us!
We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be: a country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free.
There is a shift in the winds of change for the good. The shock is wearing off (or numbing us) and in its place, actions of kindness are on the rise. Think of ways to help and encourage each other. There are people who won’t leave their houses due to fear. Find ways to help them by getting donations to them.
I am one of those afraid to leave my house. Declining health, loss of energy makes me wary of people on the road to Walmart or in Walmart. Walmart is my only choice even though I know they are trumpers. I am a minister in the same denomination as the Walmart family. Rich people flock together. I'm just not rich enough to shop elsewhere. Wait, there is no other place for me. At least I attend a church where the minister and members are Progressive Christians. It is a refuge in the midst of a religious wilderness.
You keep calling on people for the wrong thing. We must prepare ourselves for economic protest. You talk about calling on our corporate leaders to stand up. It's never going to happen until they lose our business unless the stand up. In November, when Trump starts seizing voting machines, marching won't help (if anything it will give him the opportunity to order ICE to open fire). We'll need to start putting major corporations our of business by withholding our money.
Couldn't agree more with your call to action regarding business, finance, and civil society institutions, including faith-based groups. They have a civic moral obligation to the public interest that, at least for civil society institutions, is embedded in their corporate charters.
In other words, they're institutional "civic fiduciaries" — institutional trustees of the public interest. In the case of nonprofits, that commitment justifies their tax exemption, too.
As citizens, we are individual "civic fiduciaries," too.
At stake, on behalf of past, present, and future generations, is nothing less than our constitutional Republic. Let freedom ring!
Well, let's see. How many negative adjectives can you name to describe Donald J Trump? Tired of counting? Then try this. How many positive adjectives can you name for the same person? Can't find any? No surprise there. Trump is a walking, talking composition of everything we abhore. He is a malignancy eating away all that America represents for the world to emulate, our honor, integrity, humanity are being destroyed. We can't be free of his control soon enough.
I always thought his values were those of the Seven Deadly Sins and that he was like a funhouse mirror which reflected back at us all of our nation’s vices and none of its virtues.
Except it is no longer fun.
He is a monster.
We can use him. While checking out of Goodwill the other day, I was asked if I would like to top off the charge. I said, "Trump won't let me."
This is all very disturbing to watch from a European perspective. And I'm alarmed by the apparent lack of alarm among leaders of all kinds in America. I hope they heed your call, and fast.
Chris, both parties here are corrupt as hell. We the people need to create a whole new governing body in Washington -- or elsewhere!
"To undermine racist policy, Americans must focus their efforts on those who have the power to roll back racist policy. Protesting against anyone or anything else is as much of a waste of time as trying to educate or persuade powerful people. History has shown that Americans who have had the power to roll back racist policy have rarely done so. They have done so, however, when they realized on their own that eliminating a racist policy was in their self-interest, much as President Abraham Lincoln chose to end slavery to save the Union. They have also conceded to antiracist change as a better alternative than the disruptive, disordered, politically harmful, and/or unprofitable conditions that antiracist protesters created.
"Antiracist protesters have commonly rejected those racist ideas of what's wrong with Black people that are used to justify inequity and injustice. The most effective protests have been fiercely local; they are protests that have been started by antiracist organizers focusing on their immediate surroundings: their blocks, neighborhoods, schools, colleges, jobs, and professions. These local protests have then become statewide protests, and statewide protests have then become national protests, and national protests have then become international protests. But it all starts with one petition, or two people, or tiny groups, in their small surroundings, organizing people committed to antiracism; it requires chess-like strategy and adjustments during strikes, occupations, freedom, revolts, campaigns, and fiscal and bodily boycotts, among a series of other tactics, to focus power to eradicated racist policies. Antiracist protesters have created positions of power for themselves by articulating clear demand and making it clearer that they will not stop-- and policing forces cannot stop them-- until their demands are met."
- Ibrahim X. Kendi (2016). Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Kindle Edition. Bold Type Books, 508-509.
And then Professor Kendi emphasizes that there can be no one-and-done revolution.
Onward.
Mala tempora currunt…..
…..sed peiora parantur
(These are bad times, but worse ones are being prepared)
What are you talking about racism for??? Do you mean IMMIGRATION???
I am quoting Professor Kendi, and/because I believe that the passage has wider application. Not that anti-immigration is in any case separate from racism.
Racism is instrumental in this regime’s actions, its implementation, and the complicity via silence of people who could, but don’t, speak out against the evil actors. These supremacists in power would love nothing better than a pure “white” nation. (And then the poorest “whites” would be the lowest.) Racial tensions rooted in our country since its inception have been used to divide and distort us into attacking each other, and that fear of the other- now the immigrant, etc- is being used to justify every horrible action.
He can’t even define « racist policy »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IriD5x-Vbo&t=85s
If you’re quoting Kendi seriously you’ve really lost the battle of ideas and all you’ve got left is the Trantifa Klare-ish violence on display in Minneapolis.
You left out Unitarian Universalists from your list of religious organizations, but that’s ok because they’re already against our Terrorist-in-Chief and Thief, Traitor Trumputin.
They would not support someone like Trump.
A very fine and excellent outline of organizations where we can pressure formal leaders to speak out NOW. Thank you so much, Robert. Almost all of us do need to be re-educated about what we CAN do.
The silence of many who could use their platform but have not speaks volumes. Cowards? Complicit? Or careless?
Many are petrified of retribution. Not only fearful for themselves, but for their family members.
Sounds like the NAZIS are in control of America.
Nothing short of millions of Americans taking to the streets, as is happening in Iran, will bring Trump to heal and stop him from making our country into a fascist police state. Trump called his MAGA minions into the streets on January 6 five years ago and nearly succeeded in overthrowing our democratic form of government. The time has now come to return Trump the favor by marching arm and arm on the National Mall in Washington, withDemocrat leaders and political pundits leading the way.
Pardon me, but I believe you may want to change the word heal to the word heel in your first sentence. Click the 3 dots in the upper right and then on edit.
"Heel, Donny boy, heel!" and pull up hard on his leash.
Andrew Jackson once said it’s a mighty small mind that can’t think of at least two ways to spell the same word.
Heh! Heh! Along the same line here: "Anyone who can only think of one way to spell a word obviously lacks imagination." Mark Twain
Twain said that the difference between choosing the right word and the almost right word is the difference between a lighting bolt and a lightening bug.
It’s true! And he was a master craftsman at it.