Trump’s attacks on the four pillars of civil society will succeed unless the pillars demonstrate courage and take collective action against the attacks.
So true, Michael! This is why totalitarian regimes do not want you to remember, and this is why teaching history is becoming a risky profession right here in the USA..
Here is our dilemma. This was presented on Grey’s Anatomy and other medical series.
Two people are rushed into the emergency room, where they immediately triage patients.
One man is a victim of a stabbing, he is seriously injured.
The other shot by the police, losing copious amounts of blood and is in worse shape than the stabbing victim, only he is the perp who stabbed the man.
The triage team tends to the guy with the bullet wound first, the stabbing victim dies.
The same moral dilemma plays out with transplants
The viewer is asked to play judge and jury.
This happens in international affairs as well, and in general the decision is cast based on one’s own bias, and predisposition. And I don’t mean humanitarian bias, but political, religious, ethnic bias.
Such are the case with campus demonstrations, and all human affairs.
Ah, yes, the classic trolley problem, used in many TV shows and movies. It never loses its punch, and it never fails to make you feel hollow inside. Making the logical but gut-wrenchingly awful choice challenges our humanity like nothing else can.
Robert is right, and we need those who would be leaders, like those people who beg for money so they can be elected to office, to be leaders, and that means stalwart, strong and aggressive.
Too bad so many are self serving grifters and opportunists, sans a spine, Like my representative who is a Democrat, useless as teats on a boar hog, and quiet as a church mouse until it is time to send out donation emails.
We are dealing with an enemy with which there is no compromise, to compromise with the devil is to become a cohort of the devil.
William,we're on the same page. I have asked this question several times,no answer.Where are the churchs and synongogues in this fight?Do they support a Fascist or Nazi gov't? Will they take a position in this turning pt in our history?
When one realizes that Churches, Mosques, Synagogues are the sectarian equivalent of a corporation, one sees more clearly what religion is all about.
It is about numbers, more congregants, supplicants, the more socially acceptable and more wealth and power. Like living organisms, their one imperative is to survive and prosper.
All religions start as cults, but it is a numbers game, with their are enough members the cult becomes a religion. Politics.
The LDS started as a cult founded by Joseph Smith, who was, per their myth, had a limited education, but an Angel Moroni led him to Golden Tablets in a foreign language which he could read, and formed the basis of his cult.
David, you raise an issue of fundamental importance. Religious institutions are also pillars of civil society, and, unlike the secular pillars, they can reach to the uneducated. My understanding is that many religious leaders are quiet as church mice because they are afraid of their own parishioners, who have become tribal and completely intolerant. What we must convey to "real Americans" is that they are being played by greedy billionaires.
I have reached the stage of my life where I can say, with Nathan Hale, "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country." I think often of the fear and terror that my forefathers Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and John Hancock must have felt when they, by signing the Declaration of Independence, signed their own death warrants were they to be captured by British forces. And I think of the Scholl siblings whose example shines a light for us all:
Charles, all thinking citizens by now should have a clear view of what one-party rule looks like, following a pattern of autocratic seizure of power of nations, especially over the past 100 years. A pattern of lying and ruthless intimidation is central to the destruction of democratic norms, and to the brutal repression which is sure to follow.
Unmistakably, our newly minted dictator has envisioned this debacle over his lifetime and will revel in his iron-fisted rule for as long as he is enabled. Thanks to Dr. Reich for chronicling the rupture of civil society, and for offering us a voice to stand up to this evil.
I am still aghast and dumbfounded that he has turned the US into a fascist dictatorship so quickly. The killings haven't started yet, but they will have to be in the mix for him to keep power. I'll be out there protesting - on my bad knees and ankles.
We were warned by those who had read Project 2025, and could see that this entire dictatorial direction had been carefully planned and is now being executed rapidly.
What the hell are the Republicans gaining from this? They will go down with the rest of us and wonder why. What fools are they to think they will be spared?
Paula, the speed of execution of this "project 2025" is what makes me close to certain that the election was "rigged" by computer specialists for Trump and his crazies, working out algorithms that changed the way the votes were tallied. The fact that the results of all the races in the "swing" states were a victory, just at the level above the line where a recount would not be automatic. That takes some planning and was carried off with no protest, hardly a whimper from the Democrats who were afraid to be seen as just mimicking Trump's bad behavior since 2020, claiming election fraud for which there was absolutely no evidence. We can't say that now, though. Just looking at the results would indicate some shenanigans. If we could find the fraud and prove it, maybe we could cut the power grab and keep Trump/Vance/Musk as lame ducks waddling around with nothing to do.
What many of us underestimated was the enormous influence Fox News and other conservative media's fear mongering was having on the American public. Now fear runs rampant, and Trump knows how to use it.
We don't know the Russians killed her. What we know is that they have done such things and so might have killed her. It's a big world and all sorts of unusual unlikely things happen regularly!
Convenient, too, with a person living a short hop across the river from a vindictive administration unabashedly and publicly hell-bent on retribution against all who have stood against the spider in charge of the web. No cause for suspicion that. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Right!
Besides, I used the term "Putinesque." I'm not saying Putin had anything to do it. Someone just across the Potomac who holds him as a role model, perhaps? And just getting started.
A little something that may be helpful to some of you in these dark times. It's a list of traits that a certain kind of person tends to exhibit. Be informed by the piece, which isn't so much about the traits it lists, but in the description of those traits:
I woke up today feeling anxious and afraid. This is a wonderful reminder and a huge help in turning around those awful feelings, and replacing them with conviction and strength to resist/protest/fight this unbelievable turn of events in our country in every way I am able to do so. Thank you.
I agree. Simply continuing to live our lives without making concessions to the Nazi bullies is a kind of resistance. It takes a lot to keep going when every day brings a new outrage, illegal act, or despicable measure, but simply refusing to let that stop us from resisting--whatever form that takes, from donating to marching to simply NOT SHOPPING, is a win.
I so agree. There are mornings when I just want to shut down and curl up, but I then have to remind myself that we are all in this together, and that there are many forms of resistance. Just reading the many insightful writers, commentators and journalists here is resisting. Posting comments is an added risk and is also a part of the resistance.
With yesterday’s debacle regarding the release of classified information from the defense department, it’s like we are watching a Laurel and Hardy comedy act. This Trump administration is a kakistocracy. They are totally unqualified and should be removed immediately if we are to survive as a respectable nation.
Brian Terry : they ARE unfit for their positions and therefore, threaten our well being and security/ defense. The current "remedies" are slow and ineffective. Also, we have a cabal of disabled people in charge of utilizing any remedy. The enemies with power will not follow the Constitution and the rule of law. The 14th amendment section 3 disqualification clause would X them out. If only!
I apologize for my earlier comment Keith, it was uncalled for. I have no excuse for my previous words and sincerely apologize. I have utmost respect for Professor Reich and am not a troll - I am ashamed and can only say I’m really sorry. Anne M in MD
Who do you mean Anne? My sleep patterns are messed up right now so I am often online in the early morning and I see Roberts Substack come up. I really never care about being first and I don't think I have ever been. I care about the exchanges. My sleep is freeform now. Nighttime and daytime naps.
I see what Anne has done. She has now made you think that you should step aside and let others be first. It's kind of like what Trump is doing. It would make me step back and not comment when compelled to. Words do matter.
Anne, with all due respect, I do not understand why you would say something like this about Professor Reich. Many of us look forward to this start to our day. That was a very unkind remark.
Professor Reich: i am terrified -- not of speaking out (which i shall continue to do until i can no longer formulate a coherent rant) -- but for the future of the country. i am so sick with worry that i almost lost my cookies this morning when i awakened and realized that this nightmare (everything you mentioned PLUS the yemen war plans spill and the growingly serious environmental, climactic and ecological damages that we are unable to escape now) is an inescapable daymare, too. a reality-mare. this kakistocratic administration is not for the weak-of-heart. or stomach.
everything is getting SO MUCH WORSE and in ways i've never even thought of ... !!
by the way, does anyone out there think this looks like a hostile corporate take-over, where the corporate raiders steal abso-fucking-lutely everything, right down to half-used rolls of toilet paper, kick everyone out of their jobs and leave them unemployed and uninsured, and watch the company collapse into a pile of rubble?
And we now have absolute proof that destroying our country -- the ultimate vengeance-fantasy of both the Christonazis and the Neoconfederates -- is the Trump Regime's true purpose. The infinitely damning, irrefutable declaration of the Regime's collective intent is the unprecedented, obviously intentional security violation that wantonly gives forbidden "aid and comfort" to every present-day enemy of the U.S.
Knowing something of security protocols from my Regular Army service (active duty 1959-1962 including 16 months in Korea; honorable discharge 1965), it is utterly implausible such politically motivated adults as these are accidental perpetrators of such ruinously subversive behavior.
The Christonazis seek revenge for our role in shortening their messiah Hitler's ecogenocidal frenzy; the Neoconfederates despise us -- as I know first-hand from my (involuntary) years in the South – because our ancestors rescued the nation from the slave-master tyrants the Southrons yearn to emulate.
That both groups are out to destroy us has been from day one the implication of their run-amok gutting of the federal government. But deliberately revealing classified military information -- and thereby wantonly jeopardizing who knows how many human lives -- makes their destructive purpose unmistakable.
Indeed it is now evident their mindset was never that of the reactionary reformers they claimed to be. Instead it is the mindset of hateful invaders intent on inflicting maximum ruin -- a modern version of the apocalypse Rome inflicted on Carthage.
Let us then hope this episode will prove to be the wake-up call We the People of this sorely afflicted nation so obviously needed.
Comfort yourself as best you can -- I know how gravely difficult it can be to acknowledge we are beset by Absolute Evil -- but given the magnitude of the Trumpites' earlier battles with the government over classified documents, it is impossible they did not know exactly what they were doing. Indeed it is as if they are giving us all the finger and saying, "See? We gotcha now! And you can't stop us. Not ever again."
I agree. And the outcome of the hostile take over is to let the perpetrators accumulate more wealth, which is usually more than they need even for the extravagant way they live. Their actions and motivations define themselves. Yet, our society has given them the position to act this way. As Franklin warned in a letter to Priestley, science/technology might make advances, while moral philosophy progressed slowly (people are still wolves, only ours kill more than they can eat). Virtue in the populace and government is receding.
We can agree on the problematic situation, including the rapid decline of civil society and the trajectory, but we need response. I wear a black arm band to symbolize my mourning for the harm being done to the American Experiment and the Enlightenment Ideals at its roots, but await the leadership that is needed immediately. As an old scientist I have nothing in my training or experience to allow me to come up with a hypothesis of hope. I await the political scientists to devise a path forward. Time is of the essence.
wealth is more than yachts and mansions. wealth is power. power to humiliate, crush, destroy. and thus, no one can ever have enough money.
like white male slave masters who punish everyone in their sphere of influence who does not toe the party line, as they say. to them, we all are the hated masses, consisting of the nameless faceless rabble who will submit and die in the most imaginatively and excruciatingly painful way possible.
DJT is tearing down the USG, and US Society to his Demented Level... DJT will eventually pass, but DJT is determined to inflict as much damage as possible...
It can’t be soon enough before it happens. Look what is coming up after him, Vance, maga mike, his sons, and anybody crazy enough to destroy our rule of law, Constitution, Democratic Republic, freedom, for their own financial gain and power. They will do the same dirty work for the Federalist Society, Heritage Foundation, Billionaires , and corporations unless we find a way to convince Americans to stop believing their lies and vote them out of office!
And only if we can end hacked elections with no investigations. 2024 was hacked. Kamala Harris did not dare to request an investigation or recount by IT election security professionals. She conceded before all votes were in and counted. The Mob Boss in Chief has a reputation of threats to anyone and everyone. Judges, lawyers/ prosecutors especially. It makes me feel ill. And ANGRY.we need to shit or get off the pot! It is starting. Large crowds push back.we need brave judges who are well protected. Respected lawyers who have integrity also protected. This MOB must be held to account, like any other citizen would have been during saner times. I'm tired of seeing the left pushed around. It is unfair! It is wrong!,they threaten innocent immigrants, They take away our childrens' rights to an education. They want to end free speech and control of our 0wn bodies. Their evil henchmen and women can apparently do "whatever the hell they want" and get away with it. Where is the military that is charged with ' defending US "against all enemies, foreign and Domestic"? It is unfair! If Democrats did any of this they would be locked up. Indeed they try to do this now, just for freely speaking the truth using first amendment freedom.
Yes, the military is supposed to defend the USA/Constitution against enemies. It's become apparent the trump regime IS the enemy. Given they are openly treating veterans as "trash", I wonder if military allegiance to trump's "fascist" America might be on the wane.
As a Canadian, I would put it out there that if trump (and his band of halfwits) decide to invade Canada, those troops enlisted to conquer our nation might consider DEFECTING to our side - turn their efforts to fighting alongside Canadians to "restore democracy" to the US and reclaim their country from the clutches of the orange menace madman dictator.
They got away with it, like their leader has. The billionaires who enable the criminals, who Are complicit with the criminals should face justice, because what they are doing and have done is a crime.or should be a crime again. Elections were not supposed to be bought! The rich should not steal from the poor and the workers. We paid for our Social Security all our working lives. It is not an "entitlement" like their untaxed stolen billions.
I agree with what you say. I think Trump and his cohorts need to go for the law to be observed adn then the presidents powers should be limited. If he exceeds them he should be fired. The supreme court should be fired and replaced with panel of non political appointees. They should be well versed in law and should never be able to rescue anyone facing charges.
I agree Lawrie, people should not be fired from jobs if they haven’t done anything wrong. The only point I am making is that the entire justice system should be as free as possible from political influence. In the UK the Prime minster has a lot of power, but he can’t decide who sits on the bench.
Here, in the U.S. Presidents can appoint a nominee, but the confirmation process is supposed to weed them out. tRUMP is behaving as a dictator.He thinks the Court works for him only. Constitution be damned .
I am terrified too. Watching Americans get surrounded by ICE with guns drawn. Hearing that tourists from allied countries are getting whisked away to detention facilities. Reading that green card holders are getting stripped searched and humiliated. There is no due process. They can do whatever they want. It felt like game over when I watched the powerless members of congress standing outside the Department of Education. George Moose put up a fight until armed DC police escorted him out of the building the government doesn't own. When will the Feds and the DC police show up at News Hour and NPR? DOGE will take them apart this week. How do we stop it? Get shot? Get disappeared? I need to be around for my children. I make my calls to my senators and reps. I lived in China for 11 years. I recognize what he's doing and what's coming. He still has support. I had a nightmare that ICE came to my work to take me away. Hiding in my office I called 911 to see if there was anyone who would help me. No answer.
Let’s put the torch to the chill and sweep the five elections happening in the next week. Imagine if Dems control the House after April 1. Let the subpoenas and investigations begin, starting with #TeflonMusk.
Any citizen can phone the police and report a crime. Which one of us will do that? In these times I fear it would be myself who would be arrested. Unhappily, at my advanced age, I'm not prepared for the degree of distress that would bring.
Oh my word, Achieving Honorable Democracy, that would be so grand and so glorious! My heart did a little flutter when I read your comment! If we could win and control the House after April 1, our hope and our resistance would get even more fuel to get these traitors out of our government! You just made me sing and do the happy dance! Thank you for that little bit of cheer this morning!
Seldom, I'm glad you can only imagine it! If you actually saw it, you'd probably laugh out loud! Anyway, I'm glad that I could make you smile today! We need to hang on to our humor right now!
Glad I could tickle your hope! When you’re a glass-1/16-full kind of guy like me, you’re always looking for the light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how small.
Imagine if red districts in Florida could be what saves democracy. If they do, I will gladly give them their due.
I don't know if you subscribe, but Scott Dworkin has a substack and he always posts the good things that are happening much to the orange man's chagrin! For a glass-1/16-full kind of guy, you would really enjoy it!
We need help from people like comedian John Mulaney who was at The Kennedy Center for Conan O’Brien to receive the Mark Twain Award. Mulaney remarked that The Kennedy Center would soon be known as “The Roy Cohn Pavilion for Big, Strong Men Who Love “Cats.” Hard to find anything funny about the two psychopaths dismantling our entire way of life. But people are enraged…and the protests are growing like a tsunami covering our country. We will overcome. We did it in 1776. We can do it again. Get off social media and get out on the streets!
We should ALL be in the streets on April 5! There need to be numbers that the regime and its supporters can’t ignore. We the people are the last guardrail and we should be the strongest one!
I doubt any of these big players are going to make a peep. The time to act, prosecute, report was years ago. It’s not as if this hasn’t been coming for a long time. I am seething.
There are plenty of villains in this piece. In my view, one of them was failure of the Obama administration to prosecute the members of the previous regime who committed war crimes.
Also, the bank bail outs that left people homeless and jobless, while the big banks were showering their CEOS with golden parachutes with that bailout money?
Right now we ARE NOT a respectable nation because we have a bully, mob boss president who is out for vengeance against any country or person who dis'ed him at any time in any way. He has minions to do his dirty work...and they're doing it. Out here we're doing the 'one hand clap' against our foreheads. Somewhere between having a sense of humor and outrage I continue to resist as I see the movement growing. I'm making signs to hold as I go out with my collapsable stool and choose different spots to 'sit for a bit'. I'm planning to go alone sometimes and when I see a good spot, I'll sit a bit or join in when there are folks already there. That's my plan...what's yours?
I love your plan. I also feel moved to go out and stand (or sit on a collapsible stool), if necessary, by myself. The important thing is to make our voices heard in any way we can!
I think when people see one person doing this it will be an inspiration to others. I have a light, easy to carry, collapsable stool that's perfect for this activity. I've pretty much been a loner my whole life so doing this will just be another adventure for me.
Sometimes the folks out there who look just a little different are the sane ones. That's the way I see myself and perhaps you have that same quality. I'll think of you, Fatarae, when I'm out there and I'll know somewhere there's another 'sit a bit' resistance person doing the same thing.
Remember the Soviet Union? Remember East Germany? Back during the Cold War, this is exactly the kind of thing we used to hear. People dare not talk to each other. You never know who's listening. And now it's come to America.
Michael Shapiro, during the McCarthy era, my grandfather said "I don't talk about politics or religion". I was an elementary school kid at the time. And mostly unaware of politics, but I remember my parents being concerned/worried. I knew it was bad.
It would be satisfying to finally see him be accountable and go DOWN in history.
I too am 'seldom seen' but now with my signs I'm going to be 'seen lots' on corners all over the place around here. Nobody will know where they'll see me next...sort of like Where's Elmo...but Where's Dee?
Oh, he's. already going down as the worst in history. Unless he can create a dynasty that controls the history books, which looks eerily like the plan with Don Jr. waiting in the wings.
I think I’d call this a freeze—as in ‘fight/ flight/freeze’— rather than a chill. And that fear response will need to be checked at some point in order for real courage to be shown, otherwise any acts of courage are not going to be sustainable over the months, and probably years that it’s going to be needed.
Thanks for writing about this. I think some people recognized this tyranny as far back as 2015. I did, and started using the word “Resistance” then, although others thought it ridiculous. The “chill” is not new. It’s just become a more immediate, scarier problem. I check my writing before publishing. If there is something I think could cross a line, I will edit it out. I don’t think I am alone.
True, if any of those who were disappeared were killed. How would we know? tRUMP refuses to give numbers, or names. As usual he wants deniability. But we all know that he is a " criminals" criminal".Backed by the criminal billionaires who support him.
Laurie,if we all decided to boycott the Wall Street firms who support Musk,the firms that advertise on CNBC and Fox advertisers,it might make a difference. Europeans are boycotting Musk and Tesla sales are down between 48-74%. If Americans did the same it would make a a huge difference.
When I was a Civics teacher in 1985, I taught demographic trends. One trend that was most concerning to me, and to a democracy, was voting demographics in the United States. For a nation, who was supposed to be the beacon of democracy for the world, to only have less than half of the eligible voters actually vote in a national election was a red flag. I told my students that we MUST increase this number because democracies cannot survive without healthy active voter participation. This was 1985. Today, we now see the United States, the beacon of democracy, go by the way of Hungary. Victor Orban and our fascist leaders are following the same playbook. Since 1985, our nation, in general, took voting, politics, and democracy for granted. Our lack of participation has led to Donald Trump and Project 2025. I see no evidence that our nation can turn this around again without a media based on facts and truth. In addition, the Supreme Court's decision on presidential immunity put the nail in the coffin for us. Hope I am wrong, but even back in 1985, I saw this day coming.
I was also very worried, especially when Ronald Reagan attacked the Air traffic controllers union.
As a union member myself, I tried to warn my fellow workers about how dangerous Reagan and his policies were. It appears my colleagues were too oblivious then, and this is the result.
Trump is the logical consequence of Reagan-Bushism (in much the same way that Lenin declared fascism a degenerate form of capitalism).
When 1% of the populace controls 40% of the country's wealth (and 10% of the populace control 80% of the wealth), fascism to maintain the system is inevitable. But kudos to your predictive powers!
Cause or consequence? Perhaps the onion needs peeling. Lack of virtue in elected officials (greed greater than empathy/understanding), poorly educated populace (a race between education and catastrophe, HG Wells), structural issues (senate not deliberative but bought and sold)etc. I am not wise enough to even see anything but a complex group of difficult to unravel questions. But, it is clear we need a new path. Perhaps we need to look through the lens of the shambles that are being created and seize any possible opportunities of chaos rather then analyzing the ruins. For a start we do need to be often seen and stand together. Sitting in front of screens and talking to each other will give us little but encouragement to do the same (the life of that society is well described in "The Machine Stops" a century ago). Hold a sign, wear a black arm band of mourning to let others know we stand together, contact your "representatives" (not helpful without a checkbook these days). Teach your children there is more to living than greed and corruption. Lets "get together"
The other demographic trends, that the country was becoming less white, and that the young were going to trend more and more Democratic--and the Republicans would be finished in a few election cycles if they did not change: that all turned out to be wrong.
Black, Hispanics, Asians. and younger voters have been trending more Republican than anticipated. It was unwise to view Trump 45 as a one-off phenomenon. Same goes for Trump 45 and 47 put together. Trump will be gone but we will still have big problems with the antidemocratic GOP.
I blame the strength of the parties to a degree. They've created extra-constitutional "rules" about how to run the legislature that goes against the idea that elected officials should work to support all citizens. Now it's about not going against the party and getting "primaried." The Trump party is full of people who are just in lock-step.
Trump's entire legal team, and that includes that Hubba-Hubba chick, should be indicted on charges of aiding and abetting a convicted criminal's efforts to overthrow our government. Trump's entire administration is an inapt joke.
Although Trump is a terrible, spiteful narcissistic individual, I put just as much blame on the Republicans in Congress. More specifically the Senate republicans since that is supposed to be the “elite” branch. They have the power to stop this runaway train but they don’t. The republicans in Congress are complicit with this disaster! If/when we make it through this Trump era disaster I hope that the voters in this country remember all of the republicans that rubber stamped everything that the wannabe king wanted!
More blame to the Repubs in Congress. A lunatic in the Whitehouse, one person, was always a possibility that the Constitution was designed to guard against.
But a political Party in the majority in both houses that have lost their mind --that is the big story here.
Yes don’t forget how Mitch McConnell betrayed us all and set the stage for this disaster. All he had to do was allow a conviction after impeachment - and he had not one but TWO chances! WTF were you thinking, McConnell?
The Business Community and Labor Unions are 2 other pillars of civic society that could be mobilized to also take collective action against Trump's attacks.
Ben Ferencz, who died in 2023, was the last remaining Nuremberg prosecutor and had this pithy message to pass on to our Trump-infested world:
“It takes courage not to be discouraged.”
I remind myself of that on the many days I wake up feeling afraid.
Thank you. Another one of those times when just remembering is an act of resistance.
So true, Michael! This is why totalitarian regimes do not want you to remember, and this is why teaching history is becoming a risky profession right here in the USA..
Here is our dilemma. This was presented on Grey’s Anatomy and other medical series.
Two people are rushed into the emergency room, where they immediately triage patients.
One man is a victim of a stabbing, he is seriously injured.
The other shot by the police, losing copious amounts of blood and is in worse shape than the stabbing victim, only he is the perp who stabbed the man.
The triage team tends to the guy with the bullet wound first, the stabbing victim dies.
The same moral dilemma plays out with transplants
The viewer is asked to play judge and jury.
This happens in international affairs as well, and in general the decision is cast based on one’s own bias, and predisposition. And I don’t mean humanitarian bias, but political, religious, ethnic bias.
Such are the case with campus demonstrations, and all human affairs.
Ah, yes, the classic trolley problem, used in many TV shows and movies. It never loses its punch, and it never fails to make you feel hollow inside. Making the logical but gut-wrenchingly awful choice challenges our humanity like nothing else can.
So true Gail. Truly being impaled on the horns of a dilemma
I often find myself holding two opposing opinions.
I
Good for you! This is a sign that you are a rational, sane human being.
Imo being “on the horns…” is ok as long as the dilemma stands still. Once it starts moving, we have to choose.
1. Do we hang onto a horn or jump off and look for another path?
2. If we hang on, which horn do we choose?
Oh thank you Michael...that will be a good sign! I think you had another one some time ago...can't find it now.
IT TAKES COURAGE NOT TO BE DISCOURAGED! I like it.
We should all give ourselves permission to be afraid occasionally — and then show courage in spite of it.
Courage does not mean you don't feel fear; it means you act anyway.
Robert is right, and we need those who would be leaders, like those people who beg for money so they can be elected to office, to be leaders, and that means stalwart, strong and aggressive.
Too bad so many are self serving grifters and opportunists, sans a spine, Like my representative who is a Democrat, useless as teats on a boar hog, and quiet as a church mouse until it is time to send out donation emails.
We are dealing with an enemy with which there is no compromise, to compromise with the devil is to become a cohort of the devil.
William,we're on the same page. I have asked this question several times,no answer.Where are the churchs and synongogues in this fight?Do they support a Fascist or Nazi gov't? Will they take a position in this turning pt in our history?
When one realizes that Churches, Mosques, Synagogues are the sectarian equivalent of a corporation, one sees more clearly what religion is all about.
It is about numbers, more congregants, supplicants, the more socially acceptable and more wealth and power. Like living organisms, their one imperative is to survive and prosper.
All religions start as cults, but it is a numbers game, with their are enough members the cult becomes a religion. Politics.
The LDS started as a cult founded by Joseph Smith, who was, per their myth, had a limited education, but an Angel Moroni led him to Golden Tablets in a foreign language which he could read, and formed the basis of his cult.
David, you raise an issue of fundamental importance. Religious institutions are also pillars of civil society, and, unlike the secular pillars, they can reach to the uneducated. My understanding is that many religious leaders are quiet as church mice because they are afraid of their own parishioners, who have become tribal and completely intolerant. What we must convey to "real Americans" is that they are being played by greedy billionaires.
Many catholics are disappointed with our bishops.
IAgree, Mary.
courage is acting in spite of fear.
Courage is the antidote to fear and hate.
I have reached the stage of my life where I can say, with Nathan Hale, "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country." I think often of the fear and terror that my forefathers Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and John Hancock must have felt when they, by signing the Declaration of Independence, signed their own death warrants were they to be captured by British forces. And I think of the Scholl siblings whose example shines a light for us all:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rose
Charles, all thinking citizens by now should have a clear view of what one-party rule looks like, following a pattern of autocratic seizure of power of nations, especially over the past 100 years. A pattern of lying and ruthless intimidation is central to the destruction of democratic norms, and to the brutal repression which is sure to follow.
Unmistakably, our newly minted dictator has envisioned this debacle over his lifetime and will revel in his iron-fisted rule for as long as he is enabled. Thanks to Dr. Reich for chronicling the rupture of civil society, and for offering us a voice to stand up to this evil.
Amen.
I am still aghast and dumbfounded that he has turned the US into a fascist dictatorship so quickly. The killings haven't started yet, but they will have to be in the mix for him to keep power. I'll be out there protesting - on my bad knees and ankles.
https://handsoff2025.com/about
We were warned by those who had read Project 2025, and could see that this entire dictatorial direction had been carefully planned and is now being executed rapidly.
What the hell are the Republicans gaining from this? They will go down with the rest of us and wonder why. What fools are they to think they will be spared?
Paula, the speed of execution of this "project 2025" is what makes me close to certain that the election was "rigged" by computer specialists for Trump and his crazies, working out algorithms that changed the way the votes were tallied. The fact that the results of all the races in the "swing" states were a victory, just at the level above the line where a recount would not be automatic. That takes some planning and was carried off with no protest, hardly a whimper from the Democrats who were afraid to be seen as just mimicking Trump's bad behavior since 2020, claiming election fraud for which there was absolutely no evidence. We can't say that now, though. Just looking at the results would indicate some shenanigans. If we could find the fraud and prove it, maybe we could cut the power grab and keep Trump/Vance/Musk as lame ducks waddling around with nothing to do.
Stephen: I think we are all surprised,I guess we really weren't paying attention. The killings will start and the mainstream media won't report it.
What many of us underestimated was the enormous influence Fox News and other conservative media's fear mongering was having on the American public. Now fear runs rampant, and Trump knows how to use it.
I saved this for just such an occasion:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/18/2311048/-Cartoon-Metaphor?detail=emaildkcc&pm_source=DKRE&pm_medium=email
Does this not strike anyone but me as Putinesque:
https://youtu.be/i5SYZ5B4u7Y?si=x9zAeF9T79HOoFHx
Friends and family members say she suffered from a "long-standing medical issue."
Foul play is not suspected.
Not that such knowledge could be useful to someone who meant her harm. Right?
We don't know the Russians killed her. What we know is that they have done such things and so might have killed her. It's a big world and all sorts of unusual unlikely things happen regularly!
Convenient, too, with a person living a short hop across the river from a vindictive administration unabashedly and publicly hell-bent on retribution against all who have stood against the spider in charge of the web. No cause for suspicion that. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Right!
Besides, I used the term "Putinesque." I'm not saying Putin had anything to do it. Someone just across the Potomac who holds him as a role model, perhaps? And just getting started.
A little something that may be helpful to some of you in these dark times. It's a list of traits that a certain kind of person tends to exhibit. Be informed by the piece, which isn't so much about the traits it lists, but in the description of those traits:
https://youtu.be/PIOWUrUd128?si=x3QTlCr6duYOx9Ej
Thank you DZK for giving us that link that describes those traits! Such important info and makes total sense.
👍
These traits are the opposite of Trump.
Good one!
Michael. I appreciate the quote and its reminder that discouragement is what the toddler tyrants want so they can keep doing harm at will. Thanks!
I woke up today feeling anxious and afraid. This is a wonderful reminder and a huge help in turning around those awful feelings, and replacing them with conviction and strength to resist/protest/fight this unbelievable turn of events in our country in every way I am able to do so. Thank you.
I agree. Simply continuing to live our lives without making concessions to the Nazi bullies is a kind of resistance. It takes a lot to keep going when every day brings a new outrage, illegal act, or despicable measure, but simply refusing to let that stop us from resisting--whatever form that takes, from donating to marching to simply NOT SHOPPING, is a win.
I so agree. There are mornings when I just want to shut down and curl up, but I then have to remind myself that we are all in this together, and that there are many forms of resistance. Just reading the many insightful writers, commentators and journalists here is resisting. Posting comments is an added risk and is also a part of the resistance.
With yesterday’s debacle regarding the release of classified information from the defense department, it’s like we are watching a Laurel and Hardy comedy act. This Trump administration is a kakistocracy. They are totally unqualified and should be removed immediately if we are to survive as a respectable nation.
Yes. A kakistocracy. Simultaneously a tragedy and a farce.
Impeached, do you mean? Or do we have to pass a new law giving us "authority" to remove Trump-Vance-Musk who should hang together!
Brian Terry : they ARE unfit for their positions and therefore, threaten our well being and security/ defense. The current "remedies" are slow and ineffective. Also, we have a cabal of disabled people in charge of utilizing any remedy. The enemies with power will not follow the Constitution and the rule of law. The 14th amendment section 3 disqualification clause would X them out. If only!
Literally.
"kakistocracy"! Damn right! I learned a new word today!!!
Kinda late now. But the sooner the better.
I apologize for my earlier comment Keith, it was uncalled for. I have no excuse for my previous words and sincerely apologize. I have utmost respect for Professor Reich and am not a troll - I am ashamed and can only say I’m really sorry. Anne M in MD
Who do you mean Anne? My sleep patterns are messed up right now so I am often online in the early morning and I see Roberts Substack come up. I really never care about being first and I don't think I have ever been. I care about the exchanges. My sleep is freeform now. Nighttime and daytime naps.
I see what Anne has done. She has now made you think that you should step aside and let others be first. It's kind of like what Trump is doing. It would make me step back and not comment when compelled to. Words do matter.
Well, I don't know if she meant me. Maybe she's a troll, who knows?
"....dear Professors blog on Substack" Phrasing sounds trollish especially the use of the word 'dear'. If not trollish, just plain rude.
Yeah, that's me, too. Up at 2am sometimes, 3am sometimes, and none of your fuckin' business anytime, Anne.
Anne, with all due respect, I do not understand why you would say something like this about Professor Reich. Many of us look forward to this start to our day. That was a very unkind remark.
Professor Reich: i am terrified -- not of speaking out (which i shall continue to do until i can no longer formulate a coherent rant) -- but for the future of the country. i am so sick with worry that i almost lost my cookies this morning when i awakened and realized that this nightmare (everything you mentioned PLUS the yemen war plans spill and the growingly serious environmental, climactic and ecological damages that we are unable to escape now) is an inescapable daymare, too. a reality-mare. this kakistocratic administration is not for the weak-of-heart. or stomach.
I share your pain. Just when I think it can't get any worse, it does.
everything is getting SO MUCH WORSE and in ways i've never even thought of ... !!
by the way, does anyone out there think this looks like a hostile corporate take-over, where the corporate raiders steal abso-fucking-lutely everything, right down to half-used rolls of toilet paper, kick everyone out of their jobs and leave them unemployed and uninsured, and watch the company collapse into a pile of rubble?
Absolutely. Trump is Putin's puppet and that's the whole story. Destroy our country and parcel off whatever remains to the highest bidder.
And we now have absolute proof that destroying our country -- the ultimate vengeance-fantasy of both the Christonazis and the Neoconfederates -- is the Trump Regime's true purpose. The infinitely damning, irrefutable declaration of the Regime's collective intent is the unprecedented, obviously intentional security violation that wantonly gives forbidden "aid and comfort" to every present-day enemy of the U.S.
Knowing something of security protocols from my Regular Army service (active duty 1959-1962 including 16 months in Korea; honorable discharge 1965), it is utterly implausible such politically motivated adults as these are accidental perpetrators of such ruinously subversive behavior.
The Christonazis seek revenge for our role in shortening their messiah Hitler's ecogenocidal frenzy; the Neoconfederates despise us -- as I know first-hand from my (involuntary) years in the South – because our ancestors rescued the nation from the slave-master tyrants the Southrons yearn to emulate.
That both groups are out to destroy us has been from day one the implication of their run-amok gutting of the federal government. But deliberately revealing classified military information -- and thereby wantonly jeopardizing who knows how many human lives -- makes their destructive purpose unmistakable.
Indeed it is now evident their mindset was never that of the reactionary reformers they claimed to be. Instead it is the mindset of hateful invaders intent on inflicting maximum ruin -- a modern version of the apocalypse Rome inflicted on Carthage.
Let us then hope this episode will prove to be the wake-up call We the People of this sorely afflicted nation so obviously needed.
I'm going with gross stupidity and incompetence as the explanation of their use of Signal ILO SCIFs.
Comfort yourself as best you can -- I know how gravely difficult it can be to acknowledge we are beset by Absolute Evil -- but given the magnitude of the Trumpites' earlier battles with the government over classified documents, it is impossible they did not know exactly what they were doing. Indeed it is as if they are giving us all the finger and saying, "See? We gotcha now! And you can't stop us. Not ever again."
loren,great post.Never thought about the pts you brought up.
Thank you.
Nicely stated.
Yes, burn it down and then have a fire sale.
I agree. And the outcome of the hostile take over is to let the perpetrators accumulate more wealth, which is usually more than they need even for the extravagant way they live. Their actions and motivations define themselves. Yet, our society has given them the position to act this way. As Franklin warned in a letter to Priestley, science/technology might make advances, while moral philosophy progressed slowly (people are still wolves, only ours kill more than they can eat). Virtue in the populace and government is receding.
We can agree on the problematic situation, including the rapid decline of civil society and the trajectory, but we need response. I wear a black arm band to symbolize my mourning for the harm being done to the American Experiment and the Enlightenment Ideals at its roots, but await the leadership that is needed immediately. As an old scientist I have nothing in my training or experience to allow me to come up with a hypothesis of hope. I await the political scientists to devise a path forward. Time is of the essence.
wealth is more than yachts and mansions. wealth is power. power to humiliate, crush, destroy. and thus, no one can ever have enough money.
like white male slave masters who punish everyone in their sphere of influence who does not toe the party line, as they say. to them, we all are the hated masses, consisting of the nameless faceless rabble who will submit and die in the most imaginatively and excruciatingly painful way possible.
Yes, exactly.
And steal their pension funds.
DJT is tearing down the USG, and US Society to his Demented Level... DJT will eventually pass, but DJT is determined to inflict as much damage as possible...
It can’t be soon enough before it happens. Look what is coming up after him, Vance, maga mike, his sons, and anybody crazy enough to destroy our rule of law, Constitution, Democratic Republic, freedom, for their own financial gain and power. They will do the same dirty work for the Federalist Society, Heritage Foundation, Billionaires , and corporations unless we find a way to convince Americans to stop believing their lies and vote them out of office!
And only if we can end hacked elections with no investigations. 2024 was hacked. Kamala Harris did not dare to request an investigation or recount by IT election security professionals. She conceded before all votes were in and counted. The Mob Boss in Chief has a reputation of threats to anyone and everyone. Judges, lawyers/ prosecutors especially. It makes me feel ill. And ANGRY.we need to shit or get off the pot! It is starting. Large crowds push back.we need brave judges who are well protected. Respected lawyers who have integrity also protected. This MOB must be held to account, like any other citizen would have been during saner times. I'm tired of seeing the left pushed around. It is unfair! It is wrong!,they threaten innocent immigrants, They take away our childrens' rights to an education. They want to end free speech and control of our 0wn bodies. Their evil henchmen and women can apparently do "whatever the hell they want" and get away with it. Where is the military that is charged with ' defending US "against all enemies, foreign and Domestic"? It is unfair! If Democrats did any of this they would be locked up. Indeed they try to do this now, just for freely speaking the truth using first amendment freedom.
Yes, the military is supposed to defend the USA/Constitution against enemies. It's become apparent the trump regime IS the enemy. Given they are openly treating veterans as "trash", I wonder if military allegiance to trump's "fascist" America might be on the wane.
As a Canadian, I would put it out there that if trump (and his band of halfwits) decide to invade Canada, those troops enlisted to conquer our nation might consider DEFECTING to our side - turn their efforts to fighting alongside Canadians to "restore democracy" to the US and reclaim their country from the clutches of the orange menace madman dictator.
Maybe a mob will turn up in DC. With a rope.
They got away with it, like their leader has. The billionaires who enable the criminals, who Are complicit with the criminals should face justice, because what they are doing and have done is a crime.or should be a crime again. Elections were not supposed to be bought! The rich should not steal from the poor and the workers. We paid for our Social Security all our working lives. It is not an "entitlement" like their untaxed stolen billions.
I agree with what you say. I think Trump and his cohorts need to go for the law to be observed adn then the presidents powers should be limited. If he exceeds them he should be fired. The supreme court should be fired and replaced with panel of non political appointees. They should be well versed in law and should never be able to rescue anyone facing charges.
Colin: yes, and the three liberal justices should not be fired, as they did not decide things with the tRump sycophants.
I agree Lawrie, people should not be fired from jobs if they haven’t done anything wrong. The only point I am making is that the entire justice system should be as free as possible from political influence. In the UK the Prime minster has a lot of power, but he can’t decide who sits on the bench.
Here, in the U.S. Presidents can appoint a nominee, but the confirmation process is supposed to weed them out. tRUMP is behaving as a dictator.He thinks the Court works for him only. Constitution be damned .
I am terrified too. Watching Americans get surrounded by ICE with guns drawn. Hearing that tourists from allied countries are getting whisked away to detention facilities. Reading that green card holders are getting stripped searched and humiliated. There is no due process. They can do whatever they want. It felt like game over when I watched the powerless members of congress standing outside the Department of Education. George Moose put up a fight until armed DC police escorted him out of the building the government doesn't own. When will the Feds and the DC police show up at News Hour and NPR? DOGE will take them apart this week. How do we stop it? Get shot? Get disappeared? I need to be around for my children. I make my calls to my senators and reps. I lived in China for 11 years. I recognize what he's doing and what's coming. He still has support. I had a nightmare that ICE came to my work to take me away. Hiding in my office I called 911 to see if there was anyone who would help me. No answer.
Let’s put the torch to the chill and sweep the five elections happening in the next week. Imagine if Dems control the House after April 1. Let the subpoenas and investigations begin, starting with #TeflonMusk.
Any citizen can phone the police and report a crime. Which one of us will do that? In these times I fear it would be myself who would be arrested. Unhappily, at my advanced age, I'm not prepared for the degree of distress that would bring.
Hard to do when a criminal runs the police department.
Oh my word, Achieving Honorable Democracy, that would be so grand and so glorious! My heart did a little flutter when I read your comment! If we could win and control the House after April 1, our hope and our resistance would get even more fuel to get these traitors out of our government! You just made me sing and do the happy dance! Thank you for that little bit of cheer this morning!
Smiley face here!
I hope Achieving Honorable Democracy's words put a big smile on a lot of faces this morning!!
The idea of you singing and doing a happy dance is what made me smile :)
Seldom, I'm glad you can only imagine it! If you actually saw it, you'd probably laugh out loud! Anyway, I'm glad that I could make you smile today! We need to hang on to our humor right now!
Glad I could tickle your hope! When you’re a glass-1/16-full kind of guy like me, you’re always looking for the light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how small.
Imagine if red districts in Florida could be what saves democracy. If they do, I will gladly give them their due.
I don't know if you subscribe, but Scott Dworkin has a substack and he always posts the good things that are happening much to the orange man's chagrin! For a glass-1/16-full kind of guy, you would really enjoy it!
Two important elections in Pennsylvania today. One of them should provide a good bellwether. (State senate race in Lancaster County.)
Achieving Honorable Democracy : YES!
As much as I applaud your comment, we cannot afford to forget how the post-JFK Democrats have repeatedly betrayed us.
We need help from people like comedian John Mulaney who was at The Kennedy Center for Conan O’Brien to receive the Mark Twain Award. Mulaney remarked that The Kennedy Center would soon be known as “The Roy Cohn Pavilion for Big, Strong Men Who Love “Cats.” Hard to find anything funny about the two psychopaths dismantling our entire way of life. But people are enraged…and the protests are growing like a tsunami covering our country. We will overcome. We did it in 1776. We can do it again. Get off social media and get out on the streets!
We should ALL be in the streets on April 5! There need to be numbers that the regime and its supporters can’t ignore. We the people are the last guardrail and we should be the strongest one!
Social media, indeed, caused problems by spreading disinformation. Zuck, with his Facebook and Instagram are dangerous to a healthy society.
I have my 'sit a bit' plan...and I'm really looking forward to it. You can look forward to stories from the corners I find.
Susan,so right.Get off social media,get out in the streets3/29 " Take down Tesla movement"
Bravo, Susan A. The only ting we can do now is make noise and be seen. But next year we can vote the evil clowns out!
I doubt any of these big players are going to make a peep. The time to act, prosecute, report was years ago. It’s not as if this hasn’t been coming for a long time. I am seething.
There are plenty of villains in this piece. In my view, one of them was failure of the Obama administration to prosecute the members of the previous regime who committed war crimes.
Also, the bank bail outs that left people homeless and jobless, while the big banks were showering their CEOS with golden parachutes with that bailout money?
Or at least stand up to them!!!!!!
Michael,remember Dems are not fighters,they are talkers.
Right now we ARE NOT a respectable nation because we have a bully, mob boss president who is out for vengeance against any country or person who dis'ed him at any time in any way. He has minions to do his dirty work...and they're doing it. Out here we're doing the 'one hand clap' against our foreheads. Somewhere between having a sense of humor and outrage I continue to resist as I see the movement growing. I'm making signs to hold as I go out with my collapsable stool and choose different spots to 'sit for a bit'. I'm planning to go alone sometimes and when I see a good spot, I'll sit a bit or join in when there are folks already there. That's my plan...what's yours?
I love your plan. I also feel moved to go out and stand (or sit on a collapsible stool), if necessary, by myself. The important thing is to make our voices heard in any way we can!
I think when people see one person doing this it will be an inspiration to others. I have a light, easy to carry, collapsable stool that's perfect for this activity. I've pretty much been a loner my whole life so doing this will just be another adventure for me.
Sometimes the folks out there who look just a little different are the sane ones. That's the way I see myself and perhaps you have that same quality. I'll think of you, Fatarae, when I'm out there and I'll know somewhere there's another 'sit a bit' resistance person doing the same thing.
Oddly enough, I also have a small 3-legged collapsable stool which was given to me. I'll have to try it out. I'll be thinking of you too.
Dee,thank you so much for being involved. If everyone thought like you,we could create a real movement.
Remember the Soviet Union? Remember East Germany? Back during the Cold War, this is exactly the kind of thing we used to hear. People dare not talk to each other. You never know who's listening. And now it's come to America.
We must continue to talk with each other. Be the brave one and others will follow suit.
Michael Shapiro, during the McCarthy era, my grandfather said "I don't talk about politics or religion". I was an elementary school kid at the time. And mostly unaware of politics, but I remember my parents being concerned/worried. I knew it was bad.
"Sex, politics, and religion" is what I was taught by my parents.
Wars had destroyed institutions both in Russia and Germany. Our institutions are still strong, even if corrupted. Do not despair!
What on God's green earth will it take for people to wake up and realize we have an actual *psychopath* as President of the USA and treat him as such?
He needs to be in a nuthouse, also known as a mental hospital.
I think we're all on the same page as far as that goes. Now -- what do we do about it?
It would be a shame to take Donald down before he screws up something so blatantly that he goes down in history as "the worst ever".
Historians have long ago declared Trump the worst US President ever.
It would be satisfying to finally see him be accountable and go DOWN in history.
I too am 'seldom seen' but now with my signs I'm going to be 'seen lots' on corners all over the place around here. Nobody will know where they'll see me next...sort of like Where's Elmo...but Where's Dee?
I see you read HCR. What is that? Since you read it, I'd like to check it out. Thanks.
Oh, he's. already going down as the worst in history. Unless he can create a dynasty that controls the history books, which looks eerily like the plan with Don Jr. waiting in the wings.
they need to be adversely impacted. That is coming but will take a while I suppose.
I think I’d call this a freeze—as in ‘fight/ flight/freeze’— rather than a chill. And that fear response will need to be checked at some point in order for real courage to be shown, otherwise any acts of courage are not going to be sustainable over the months, and probably years that it’s going to be needed.
Robert,
Thanks for writing about this. I think some people recognized this tyranny as far back as 2015. I did, and started using the word “Resistance” then, although others thought it ridiculous. The “chill” is not new. It’s just become a more immediate, scarier problem. I check my writing before publishing. If there is something I think could cross a line, I will edit it out. I don’t think I am alone.
Amy
I hope we’re not going to see another Kent State.
I fear what we will see will make Kent State pale by comparison.
True, if any of those who were disappeared were killed. How would we know? tRUMP refuses to give numbers, or names. As usual he wants deniability. But we all know that he is a " criminals" criminal".Backed by the criminal billionaires who support him.
Laurie,if we all decided to boycott the Wall Street firms who support Musk,the firms that advertise on CNBC and Fox advertisers,it might make a difference. Europeans are boycotting Musk and Tesla sales are down between 48-74%. If Americans did the same it would make a a huge difference.
If it happens it won't be just 4.
When I was a Civics teacher in 1985, I taught demographic trends. One trend that was most concerning to me, and to a democracy, was voting demographics in the United States. For a nation, who was supposed to be the beacon of democracy for the world, to only have less than half of the eligible voters actually vote in a national election was a red flag. I told my students that we MUST increase this number because democracies cannot survive without healthy active voter participation. This was 1985. Today, we now see the United States, the beacon of democracy, go by the way of Hungary. Victor Orban and our fascist leaders are following the same playbook. Since 1985, our nation, in general, took voting, politics, and democracy for granted. Our lack of participation has led to Donald Trump and Project 2025. I see no evidence that our nation can turn this around again without a media based on facts and truth. In addition, the Supreme Court's decision on presidential immunity put the nail in the coffin for us. Hope I am wrong, but even back in 1985, I saw this day coming.
I was also very worried, especially when Ronald Reagan attacked the Air traffic controllers union.
As a union member myself, I tried to warn my fellow workers about how dangerous Reagan and his policies were. It appears my colleagues were too oblivious then, and this is the result.
Trump is the logical consequence of Reagan-Bushism (in much the same way that Lenin declared fascism a degenerate form of capitalism).
When 1% of the populace controls 40% of the country's wealth (and 10% of the populace control 80% of the wealth), fascism to maintain the system is inevitable. But kudos to your predictive powers!
Cause or consequence? Perhaps the onion needs peeling. Lack of virtue in elected officials (greed greater than empathy/understanding), poorly educated populace (a race between education and catastrophe, HG Wells), structural issues (senate not deliberative but bought and sold)etc. I am not wise enough to even see anything but a complex group of difficult to unravel questions. But, it is clear we need a new path. Perhaps we need to look through the lens of the shambles that are being created and seize any possible opportunities of chaos rather then analyzing the ruins. For a start we do need to be often seen and stand together. Sitting in front of screens and talking to each other will give us little but encouragement to do the same (the life of that society is well described in "The Machine Stops" a century ago). Hold a sign, wear a black arm band of mourning to let others know we stand together, contact your "representatives" (not helpful without a checkbook these days). Teach your children there is more to living than greed and corruption. Lets "get together"
The other demographic trends, that the country was becoming less white, and that the young were going to trend more and more Democratic--and the Republicans would be finished in a few election cycles if they did not change: that all turned out to be wrong.
Black, Hispanics, Asians. and younger voters have been trending more Republican than anticipated. It was unwise to view Trump 45 as a one-off phenomenon. Same goes for Trump 45 and 47 put together. Trump will be gone but we will still have big problems with the antidemocratic GOP.
I blame the strength of the parties to a degree. They've created extra-constitutional "rules" about how to run the legislature that goes against the idea that elected officials should work to support all citizens. Now it's about not going against the party and getting "primaried." The Trump party is full of people who are just in lock-step.
It's the second law of thermodynamics alive in politics.
We're watching US Gov't fall into disorganized chaos.
I hate to think of it...
No, Dee, the chaos is organized, but you are right about the physics of it. Entropy cannot be avoided.
Maybe that would be a good sign...TRUMP ORGANIZED CHAOS.
Once the Draft was abolished young men had nothing to worry about, or so they thought.
Very well said.
Christopher,great insight. I hope more people respond to post.
Trump's entire legal team, and that includes that Hubba-Hubba chick, should be indicted on charges of aiding and abetting a convicted criminal's efforts to overthrow our government. Trump's entire administration is an inapt joke.
Now you got me searching for that "Hubba-Hubba" chick!
Did you mean Alina Habba?
Although Trump is a terrible, spiteful narcissistic individual, I put just as much blame on the Republicans in Congress. More specifically the Senate republicans since that is supposed to be the “elite” branch. They have the power to stop this runaway train but they don’t. The republicans in Congress are complicit with this disaster! If/when we make it through this Trump era disaster I hope that the voters in this country remember all of the republicans that rubber stamped everything that the wannabe king wanted!
More blame to the Repubs in Congress. A lunatic in the Whitehouse, one person, was always a possibility that the Constitution was designed to guard against.
But a political Party in the majority in both houses that have lost their mind --that is the big story here.
Truth!
Yes don’t forget how Mitch McConnell betrayed us all and set the stage for this disaster. All he had to do was allow a conviction after impeachment - and he had not one but TWO chances! WTF were you thinking, McConnell?
The Business Community and Labor Unions are 2 other pillars of civic society that could be mobilized to also take collective action against Trump's attacks.