Under Donald Trump and the idiots he is appointing to head departments and hair brained oligarchs in his cabinet, we are watching the end of the capitalistic dominated democracy as it attempts to become an oligarchy and a Kleptocracy. If Donald Trump had the brains and judgment of Putin, then we would be in really deep shite. But now he is turning into a degraded bumbling idiot much like “a baby with a machine gun.“ He will definitely do harm and cause hardship, but he cannot prevail with his deteriorating mind And the idiots behind him.
We will definitely be experiencing hard times and those who are particularly poor and powerless, I can’t even describe the suffering they will feel. There is more than a silver lining to this there is the opportunity to truly reboot, our economy, and our system of government that has as many wormholes in it as RFK’s brain.
A democracy that can be so badly subverted in such a short time is not worth saving, at least not in the form which it has been operating for the past decade or more. And our economy, what can I say? It has permitted the hugest transfer of wealth in decades, if not in the history of our country. There are better forms of economy and government to be investigated, researched and begin to put into place so we are prepared when the current government and economy crumbles into a jumbled mess.
There are groups and Substacks that are not spending their time complaining about how things are deteriorating but instead are looking to plan a better future for the time for planning is now. I hate to say this but… Those behind project 2025 have shown us how effective future planning down to the last detail can be . Unfortunately, this project has been conceived and operationalized by some of the most evil people I can think of. So we must do the opposite. We must plan for a truly new society based on morality and assurances that all can have a well paying job that will take care of their basic necessities and allow for incentives to excel and to be creative. One of the best economic units I have come across are worker owned cooperatives. They have a much greater success rate than individually owned businesses or corporate owned businesses and the employees get the benefit of the profits and not distant shareholders. One of the sub stacks that I follow closely and occasionally have participated in is the crisis and transition Substack.
“It may seem an odd time in our history to suggest such reforms, but this is the best time. Trump and his oligarchy will inevitably overreach. They already are.
The lesson from the last Gilded Age is that when the corruption and ensuing hardship become so blatant that they offend the values of the majority of Americans, the majority will rise up and demand real, systemic change.
We are witnessing the stirrings of such an anti-oligarchic revolution right now. It is the silver lining on this horrific Trump storm-cloud.”
I had the good fortune to live in a housing cooperative in Albuquerque. It was a great experience with costs 1/3 of most apartments in the city plus a community of friends if you were so inclined.
Marc, I agree that there are other and better forms of government and economy available than that with which we are saddled, and some of them go back further than 800 years in history, and some even longer. Governments rooted in a worker-based reward system appear to be among the most successful. The City-state of Sienna, Italy from the 1300's is an example of a state in which power was shared among citizens, and consensus was achieved among nine consuls who represented groups of citizens. This community system of governance was successful in Siena and other city-states for a hundred years or more in each instance in Italy. The birds soon will come for the ones destroying for their personal benefit the lives of
citizens and the working class around us. See 'The Allegory of Good Government' chapter in the book 'The Narrow Corridor' by Acemoglu and Robinson'. Thank you for the Substack reference.
Thank you for this important citation, Dennis. The beautiful city of Siena unfortunately did not fare well because of continued conflicts among the Northern Italian city states, which eventually succumbed to foreign domination.
Marc, I appreciate your link to this excellent Substack. I have become a paid subscriber. Not only do we need to share our misery but it’s vital that we actively plan and engage in solutions.
re: "We must plan for a truly new society based on morality . . ." That sort of society must be based on Love and Acceptance - a hand offered for a handshake, not a hand coiled into a fist.
The reason we find ourselves where we are is that the oligarchs have played a long game. They payed (very well, indeed) reichwing fanatics (think the Heritage Foundation) to parse the Constitution and find all the ways they could subvert it. It really was quite simple. The Founding Fathers simply couldn't imagine a Cabal as bad as the modern GQP or a movement as perverse as tRump and MAGA. Evil people willing to just ignore the constitutional norms. To overcome this onslaught, we need an equally powerful movement to parse not just the Constitution but also the MAGA movement. We need our Political Thought Leaders, People from all walks of civil society, Psychologists, Legal Scholars, Economists and People of true wisdom and Expertise to com together quickly and start to address this. And come up with a counter offer we can make to the Voters. Pete Buttigieg gave a good interview yesterday which goes into some of this. https://substack.com/home/post/p-163489425
Carlton, you are right. This coup, and it is a brazen coup, has been planned for decades. Engaging in wishful thinking at this time is evasion of responsibility.
All began with Citizens United. And the very corrupt supreme court. So much of our misery is on the heads of the supreme court. Citizen's United and then letting that fat orange cat turd run for office as a felon. Supreme? Not any more!
RFK Jr with his brain worm, long history of addiction and dangerous lack of education over that which he presides, should not be taken seriously by anyone
The biggest divide in America today is not between “right” and “left,” or between Republicans and Democrats. It’s between democracy and oligarchy. The old labels — “right” and “left” — prevent most people from noticing they’re being shafted.
It is really important for us to figure out that fundamentally most of us really want the same thing. It is equally important that we understand that egregious inequality will forever keep us divided and teetering on the brink of disaster if we don’t stop it. Reich’s analysis here is our path forward, and we cannot afford to be distracted from it.
I believe reversing Citizens United has to be one of the priorities of any control of oligarchs and restoration of sanity to our political system. The idea of one man, even the richest man in the world, contributing $277 million to the election of one man is insane. The fact that the recipient of this largess is insane may have been a factor. I believe the Robert's Court knew exactly what they were doing when they made the Citizens United decision: Insuring the overwhelming influence of wealth in US elections from that time forward; my voice and your voice be dammed. I see the decision as obscene!
Obscene and CRIMINAL. Roberts and Thomas should be removed, no "due process" bothered with, and sent to federal prison for the rest of their days for high crimes and TREASON!
Klare, I'm not a lawyer but I believe it will be incredibly difficult to remove Roberts or any other SC Justice. They must be impeached, the Articles of Impeachment must then be confirmed in the Senate. You figure out how to reach at least sixty-seven (maybe more) votes to convict. I sure can't see how to accomplish it. Not with this Senate.
I have a second point: The decisions made by the Roberts Court are legal opinions, interpretations of the meaning of the Constitution. I doubt that many Democratic Senators would find any decisions to be either "high crimes and misdemeanors" or treason. Arguably poor partisan decisions in a number of cases? Absolutely! Impeachable? Almost certainly not, at least as long as the Constitution is the basic law of the land.
I agree on the CU decision, which to me means Roberts and those justices who voted with him should be treated as harshly as possible if the opportunity ever arises. Royalist traitors against our Constitution, plain and simple.
Citizens United was a huge accelerant to the far-right campaign to take over the country that had gradually been building influence and momentum since about the late 1950s. Funded by the Koch family and numerous other extremist billionaires, the far right understood that they needed to capture not just a couple hundred politicians -- easily enough done in any era -- but also the courts, the schools that would eventually churn out the lawyers and judges who populated the courts, and the public square. To accomplish that last item, the far right created and continually funded any number of "think tanks" and "research institutes" as well as the notorious Federalist Society, specifically to legitimize and promulgate ultra-conservative ideology.
Reagan's election in 1980 marks a sharp inflection point in the acceleration of the imposition of far-right conservatism, with attendant ascendant corporatism. Citizens United blew the doors off of any remaining constraints, norms, or pretense of honesty in politics and, sadly, much of the judicial system. And here we are in 2025, with an openly and flagrantly corrupt, dim-witted, malevolent convicted felon somehow re-elected as president, at least two Supreme Court justices who have accepted very large gifts from people with business before the court, five or six Supreme Court justices who are bitter, overt partisans, one political party completely cowed and neutered by the aforementioned convicted felon, the other political party rudderless on its best days, and a self-interested, out-of-control mega-billionaire who has pushed the notion of greed beyond anything society has ever known smashing and plundering the mechanisms of government for his own strategic and financial gain.
The Supreme Court should be dismantled, those removed who participated in that WORST RULING EVER MADE. I guess that would be Roberts and Thomas. Was Alito on the Court at that time? No one else on the Court now participated in that dreadful, dastardly decision.
Without his family's reputation and money RFK, Jr. could have ended up an overdose victim. He's nothing more than an opportunist and egotistl who attached himself to Trump's posterior like a remora, and in return Trump has given this totally unqualified hack the chance to ruin the health of millions of Americans.
Bitchy..., I hate to point this out, but Trump has surrounded himself with "totally unqualified hacks" who are ruining the health and the lives of millions. That's not just millions in the United States but around the world. The biggest problem is that neither Trump or his ten ring circus of clowns could care less.
I have no doubt RJK, Jr has some form of narcissism and/or other severe personality disorder. Among the many negative characteristics suffered by narcissists, is the "do gooder" mantle. They take on worthy causes because they want the attention and accolades, not because they actually care about doing good deeds. I once read a comment from an insider who stated that when RFK Jr. started doing the environmental events circuit (way back), no one in that milieu took him seriously. They all knew it was an act, he was called the "show pony".
It's ironic, given his father was esteemed and genuinely committed to worthy causes.
RFK Jr.....simply a grotesque, broken down, inept, pretender and extremely dangerous "show pony", in the trump circus.
OBVIOUSLY, Trump has the mental acuity and intelligence of a gnat! Either that, or Trump just doesn’t give a flying fuck that he is destroying America, destroying our relationships all over the world, cowtowing to abject criminals and genocidal murderers (Syria, Russia, Bin Salman, Netanyahu, Orban, etc.), and We the People are allowing him to get away with all this destruction! WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY?????
To the bottom of the Marianas Trench and still digging. Very much like his boss, the Republican President of the United States. It truly hurts to say that.
WHAT happened to him??? Is he the mentally disabled/destabilized result of Ethel having too many kids (eleven)? Did he not get enough attention when he was growing up???
I think RFK Jr. actually believes this. His view is an idolized version of an all powerful Trump who is not afraid of anyone. They are both nuts and they both dream of commanding respect and authority.
How long do you think it will be before this happens? The supreme court are still there and they are the ones putting in laws like citizens united which devastated the country allowing dark money to flood our elections. The democrats seems to be still suffering under the illusion that this is just a right wing agenda--nothing more. There are many heroes but the rest are doing nothing as far as I can tell. Are they benefitting financially from what is going on? It is a valid question. I think the dems are done. We need a forceful progressive party that isn't afraid to stand against people like Trump and JD Vance.
I see this being at least a decade away--probably more like two. We need a zillion laws to keep this from happening again, we need men and women of character to be our leaders. How will we contend with the maga attitude? It isn't going away. I wish I could glean some hope from your words but I am older and don't see this happening in my lifetime. There's just too much to do.
You don't have to give us a chapter-and-verse rebuttal of RFK, Jr.'s ridiculous statement about Trump v. oligarchs. The guy took his grandkids swimming in Rock Creek Park, which The New York Times describes as " ... flow[ing] with sewage and bacteria." Only somebody who isn't playing with a full deck does that - and only somebody of the same ilk appoints RFK, Jr. to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Ellen, I would like to "like" your comment, but the facts contained therein are so horrific. We need an additional response that we can use, such as "appreciate" or "acknowledge" or "in complete agreement" . . . I like the latter.
I keep wondering if this corrupt and incompetent regime will last 4 years? Not only because we resist, but because they're so blindingly incompetent and greedy that they'll sink their own boat!
This is a powerful breakdown of how deeply entrenched oligarchy has become in American politics and how figures like Trump masquerade as populists while handing the keys to billionaires. His so-called ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ is a perfect example: sold as pro-worker, but in reality it’s a Trojan horse packed with tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, rollbacks on environmental protections, and austerity measures targeting the poor. I wrote a piece diving into exactly how this bill functions as a payout to donors and corporate giants under the guise of patriotism. If you’re interested, here’s the link:
I read those rfk remarks yesterday and wanted to throw up. I bet his dad was rolling over in his grave. Even one sentence woulda been too much. Gag me. He's a worse idiot than we thought he'd be ............... besides, AS USUAL, CONGRESS, NOT THE PRESIDENT, is responsible for negotiating this kind of expense. (Not only that, but trump "tried" to pull this same stunt re drugs during his first term and, as usual, was only big talk and no walk [action]. Not holding my breath over this.)
There are none so blind as those who can not see. RFK can’t see what’s going on nor comprehend his part in all this . We are by law a democracy we want our democracy back.
I am a Harvard trained physician. That doesn't make me better than any other doctor, it just means that I was trained well. Robert Kennedy Jr. is a hot mess. Dumb. D U M B !!! As a physician who has worked in many different environments ( inner cities, Indian Health Service, Cambodian refugee camps, head of the AIDS program for the State of New Jersey, private practice) I have seen a thing or two in health care. I also hold a fellowship in Virology and infectious Diseases from Yale. Kennedy's response to the Measles outbreak has been child like. He has opinions but little to no knowledge of what he is dealing with. Sad, pathetic. His nominee for Surgeon General does not even hold an active medical license. Seriously?? People, we a dealing with amateurs throughout the Trump Team. Kennedy is not necessarily wrong in all things he says, but he IS woefully inexperienced and, well, foolish. Dangerous too. His father will be rolling over in his grave and the rest of his family, currently living, will wonder what type of worm got into his brain.
What do you expect from a guy who goes wading in e. coli soup? RFK Jr. is nuts. You can't believe him any more than you can Trump.
Under Donald Trump and the idiots he is appointing to head departments and hair brained oligarchs in his cabinet, we are watching the end of the capitalistic dominated democracy as it attempts to become an oligarchy and a Kleptocracy. If Donald Trump had the brains and judgment of Putin, then we would be in really deep shite. But now he is turning into a degraded bumbling idiot much like “a baby with a machine gun.“ He will definitely do harm and cause hardship, but he cannot prevail with his deteriorating mind And the idiots behind him.
We will definitely be experiencing hard times and those who are particularly poor and powerless, I can’t even describe the suffering they will feel. There is more than a silver lining to this there is the opportunity to truly reboot, our economy, and our system of government that has as many wormholes in it as RFK’s brain.
A democracy that can be so badly subverted in such a short time is not worth saving, at least not in the form which it has been operating for the past decade or more. And our economy, what can I say? It has permitted the hugest transfer of wealth in decades, if not in the history of our country. There are better forms of economy and government to be investigated, researched and begin to put into place so we are prepared when the current government and economy crumbles into a jumbled mess.
There are groups and Substacks that are not spending their time complaining about how things are deteriorating but instead are looking to plan a better future for the time for planning is now. I hate to say this but… Those behind project 2025 have shown us how effective future planning down to the last detail can be . Unfortunately, this project has been conceived and operationalized by some of the most evil people I can think of. So we must do the opposite. We must plan for a truly new society based on morality and assurances that all can have a well paying job that will take care of their basic necessities and allow for incentives to excel and to be creative. One of the best economic units I have come across are worker owned cooperatives. They have a much greater success rate than individually owned businesses or corporate owned businesses and the employees get the benefit of the profits and not distant shareholders. One of the sub stacks that I follow closely and occasionally have participated in is the crisis and transition Substack.
https://open.substack.com/pub/crisistransition?r=bj2wi&utm_medium=ios
This Substack has no paywall and it is not necessary to be a subscriber, but they do appreciate subscriptions.
Here is a link to the Mondragon cooperative in Spain. It is made up of over 200 cooperatives and involves over 80,000 people as employee/owners.
Https://www.corporate-rebels.com/blog/lessons-from-the-mondragon-cooperative-movement
“It may seem an odd time in our history to suggest such reforms, but this is the best time. Trump and his oligarchy will inevitably overreach. They already are.
The lesson from the last Gilded Age is that when the corruption and ensuing hardship become so blatant that they offend the values of the majority of Americans, the majority will rise up and demand real, systemic change.
We are witnessing the stirrings of such an anti-oligarchic revolution right now. It is the silver lining on this horrific Trump storm-cloud.”
-Robert Reich.
Marc, for such entities to develop people must organize and workers must unionize. Try to do that under a Republican controlled government!
I had the good fortune to live in a housing cooperative in Albuquerque. It was a great experience with costs 1/3 of most apartments in the city plus a community of friends if you were so inclined.
Marc, I agree that there are other and better forms of government and economy available than that with which we are saddled, and some of them go back further than 800 years in history, and some even longer. Governments rooted in a worker-based reward system appear to be among the most successful. The City-state of Sienna, Italy from the 1300's is an example of a state in which power was shared among citizens, and consensus was achieved among nine consuls who represented groups of citizens. This community system of governance was successful in Siena and other city-states for a hundred years or more in each instance in Italy. The birds soon will come for the ones destroying for their personal benefit the lives of
citizens and the working class around us. See 'The Allegory of Good Government' chapter in the book 'The Narrow Corridor' by Acemoglu and Robinson'. Thank you for the Substack reference.
Just for another perspective read, "The Ecology of Commerce" by Paul Hawken.
Thank you for this important citation, Dennis. The beautiful city of Siena unfortunately did not fare well because of continued conflicts among the Northern Italian city states, which eventually succumbed to foreign domination.
Marc, I appreciate your link to this excellent Substack. I have become a paid subscriber. Not only do we need to share our misery but it’s vital that we actively plan and engage in solutions.
re: "We must plan for a truly new society based on morality . . ." That sort of society must be based on Love and Acceptance - a hand offered for a handshake, not a hand coiled into a fist.
The reason we find ourselves where we are is that the oligarchs have played a long game. They payed (very well, indeed) reichwing fanatics (think the Heritage Foundation) to parse the Constitution and find all the ways they could subvert it. It really was quite simple. The Founding Fathers simply couldn't imagine a Cabal as bad as the modern GQP or a movement as perverse as tRump and MAGA. Evil people willing to just ignore the constitutional norms. To overcome this onslaught, we need an equally powerful movement to parse not just the Constitution but also the MAGA movement. We need our Political Thought Leaders, People from all walks of civil society, Psychologists, Legal Scholars, Economists and People of true wisdom and Expertise to com together quickly and start to address this. And come up with a counter offer we can make to the Voters. Pete Buttigieg gave a good interview yesterday which goes into some of this. https://substack.com/home/post/p-163489425
Thank you, Marc. I agree with you wholeheartedly! I have subscribed to your recommendation too. 😀
Carlton, you are right. This coup, and it is a brazen coup, has been planned for decades. Engaging in wishful thinking at this time is evasion of responsibility.
All began with Citizens United. And the very corrupt supreme court. So much of our misery is on the heads of the supreme court. Citizen's United and then letting that fat orange cat turd run for office as a felon. Supreme? Not any more!
He also seems to be getting worse by the day.
Really? I can't tell. 😀
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/us/politics/rfk-jr-rock-creek-bacteria.html
what's sickening is that he had his grandchilren in there with him. any mandatory reporters of child endangerment in the DC area?
K Jr is a fraudster and a mercenary. This is why he is in the Trump administration.
RFK Jr., are you referring to?
Rock Creek is full of poop and paper.
Then they should all feel right at home.
I believe there are prominent signs identifying hazards posted at every public access spot. probably can't read, or figures rules don't apply to him
What is Rock Creek?
He may be more nuts that Trump It is the brain worms and all the heroine
They are all crazy, and especially Trump.
Exactly
Funny!
RFK Jr with his brain worm, long history of addiction and dangerous lack of education over that which he presides, should not be taken seriously by anyone
I’m hoping that Robert Reich is not being too optimistic. I know the rest of his analysis is correct.
Outstanding column. Especially:
The biggest divide in America today is not between “right” and “left,” or between Republicans and Democrats. It’s between democracy and oligarchy. The old labels — “right” and “left” — prevent most people from noticing they’re being shafted.
It is really important for us to figure out that fundamentally most of us really want the same thing. It is equally important that we understand that egregious inequality will forever keep us divided and teetering on the brink of disaster if we don’t stop it. Reich’s analysis here is our path forward, and we cannot afford to be distracted from it.
As Senator Booker stated during his 25+ hour speech, it's not "right vs. left", it's right vs. wrong!
We are now experiencing the full blossoming of Citizens United. Are we Great Again Yet?..
I believe reversing Citizens United has to be one of the priorities of any control of oligarchs and restoration of sanity to our political system. The idea of one man, even the richest man in the world, contributing $277 million to the election of one man is insane. The fact that the recipient of this largess is insane may have been a factor. I believe the Robert's Court knew exactly what they were doing when they made the Citizens United decision: Insuring the overwhelming influence of wealth in US elections from that time forward; my voice and your voice be dammed. I see the decision as obscene!
Obscene and CRIMINAL. Roberts and Thomas should be removed, no "due process" bothered with, and sent to federal prison for the rest of their days for high crimes and TREASON!
Klare, I'm not a lawyer but I believe it will be incredibly difficult to remove Roberts or any other SC Justice. They must be impeached, the Articles of Impeachment must then be confirmed in the Senate. You figure out how to reach at least sixty-seven (maybe more) votes to convict. I sure can't see how to accomplish it. Not with this Senate.
I have a second point: The decisions made by the Roberts Court are legal opinions, interpretations of the meaning of the Constitution. I doubt that many Democratic Senators would find any decisions to be either "high crimes and misdemeanors" or treason. Arguably poor partisan decisions in a number of cases? Absolutely! Impeachable? Almost certainly not, at least as long as the Constitution is the basic law of the land.
I agree on the CU decision, which to me means Roberts and those justices who voted with him should be treated as harshly as possible if the opportunity ever arises. Royalist traitors against our Constitution, plain and simple.
". . . [I]f the opportunity ever arises" ??? We need to MAKE the opportunity arise, ASAP . . . Federal prison awaits!
Citizens United was a huge accelerant to the far-right campaign to take over the country that had gradually been building influence and momentum since about the late 1950s. Funded by the Koch family and numerous other extremist billionaires, the far right understood that they needed to capture not just a couple hundred politicians -- easily enough done in any era -- but also the courts, the schools that would eventually churn out the lawyers and judges who populated the courts, and the public square. To accomplish that last item, the far right created and continually funded any number of "think tanks" and "research institutes" as well as the notorious Federalist Society, specifically to legitimize and promulgate ultra-conservative ideology.
Reagan's election in 1980 marks a sharp inflection point in the acceleration of the imposition of far-right conservatism, with attendant ascendant corporatism. Citizens United blew the doors off of any remaining constraints, norms, or pretense of honesty in politics and, sadly, much of the judicial system. And here we are in 2025, with an openly and flagrantly corrupt, dim-witted, malevolent convicted felon somehow re-elected as president, at least two Supreme Court justices who have accepted very large gifts from people with business before the court, five or six Supreme Court justices who are bitter, overt partisans, one political party completely cowed and neutered by the aforementioned convicted felon, the other political party rudderless on its best days, and a self-interested, out-of-control mega-billionaire who has pushed the notion of greed beyond anything society has ever known smashing and plundering the mechanisms of government for his own strategic and financial gain.
And that ain't the half of what's happening...
The Supreme Court should be dismantled, those removed who participated in that WORST RULING EVER MADE. I guess that would be Roberts and Thomas. Was Alito on the Court at that time? No one else on the Court now participated in that dreadful, dastardly decision.
Without his family's reputation and money RFK, Jr. could have ended up an overdose victim. He's nothing more than an opportunist and egotistl who attached himself to Trump's posterior like a remora, and in return Trump has given this totally unqualified hack the chance to ruin the health of millions of Americans.
Bitchy..., I hate to point this out, but Trump has surrounded himself with "totally unqualified hacks" who are ruining the health and the lives of millions. That's not just millions in the United States but around the world. The biggest problem is that neither Trump or his ten ring circus of clowns could care less.
Sadly true. The elimination of USAID has already led to preventable deaths overseas.
See my comment/reply above to bitchybitchybitchy . . .
His cousin Caroline told us- he is a predator, a monster
Not only doe "Bobby" lie, he endangers lives.
I have no doubt RJK, Jr has some form of narcissism and/or other severe personality disorder. Among the many negative characteristics suffered by narcissists, is the "do gooder" mantle. They take on worthy causes because they want the attention and accolades, not because they actually care about doing good deeds. I once read a comment from an insider who stated that when RFK Jr. started doing the environmental events circuit (way back), no one in that milieu took him seriously. They all knew it was an act, he was called the "show pony".
It's ironic, given his father was esteemed and genuinely committed to worthy causes.
RFK Jr.....simply a grotesque, broken down, inept, pretender and extremely dangerous "show pony", in the trump circus.
OBVIOUSLY, Trump has the mental acuity and intelligence of a gnat! Either that, or Trump just doesn’t give a flying fuck that he is destroying America, destroying our relationships all over the world, cowtowing to abject criminals and genocidal murderers (Syria, Russia, Bin Salman, Netanyahu, Orban, etc.), and We the People are allowing him to get away with all this destruction! WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY, WHY?????
Bobby, there was a time when I respected you; it was a very long time ago. How far you have fallen.
RFK Jr.
To the bottom of the Marianas Trench and still digging. Very much like his boss, the Republican President of the United States. It truly hurts to say that.
Which “Bobby” are you referring to?
RFK, Jr., obviously.
curious, fallen from what?
ohhh 👍
WHAT happened to him??? Is he the mentally disabled/destabilized result of Ethel having too many kids (eleven)? Did he not get enough attention when he was growing up???
I think RFK Jr. actually believes this. His view is an idolized version of an all powerful Trump who is not afraid of anyone. They are both nuts and they both dream of commanding respect and authority.
To them I say, "Dream on you pieces of excrement! You will never have my respect and your authority can be shoved where the sun don't shine!"
How long do you think it will be before this happens? The supreme court are still there and they are the ones putting in laws like citizens united which devastated the country allowing dark money to flood our elections. The democrats seems to be still suffering under the illusion that this is just a right wing agenda--nothing more. There are many heroes but the rest are doing nothing as far as I can tell. Are they benefitting financially from what is going on? It is a valid question. I think the dems are done. We need a forceful progressive party that isn't afraid to stand against people like Trump and JD Vance.
I see this being at least a decade away--probably more like two. We need a zillion laws to keep this from happening again, we need men and women of character to be our leaders. How will we contend with the maga attitude? It isn't going away. I wish I could glean some hope from your words but I am older and don't see this happening in my lifetime. There's just too much to do.
I, too, am old. But I have engaged children and astute grandchildren.
They teach me daily why I'm still alive.
It probably will take generations. But the two I see before me are stars.
You don't have to give us a chapter-and-verse rebuttal of RFK, Jr.'s ridiculous statement about Trump v. oligarchs. The guy took his grandkids swimming in Rock Creek Park, which The New York Times describes as " ... flow[ing] with sewage and bacteria." Only somebody who isn't playing with a full deck does that - and only somebody of the same ilk appoints RFK, Jr. to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.
I'm surprised they all didn't come down with hepatitis.
Are his children so brainwashed or spineless that they allowed RFK Jr. to take their kids swimming?
It probably takes time to incubate.
It does take time !
Give it a minute...
Ellen, I would like to "like" your comment, but the facts contained therein are so horrific. We need an additional response that we can use, such as "appreciate" or "acknowledge" or "in complete agreement" . . . I like the latter.
I keep wondering if this corrupt and incompetent regime will last 4 years? Not only because we resist, but because they're so blindingly incompetent and greedy that they'll sink their own boat!
!!!! Omfg, I can't take anymore. We're on a real Truman Show.
Don't we WISH that were all it is...
I know, lol! I almost said that. 😄 Ours has worse production values, that’s for sure. 😜🤪
This is a powerful breakdown of how deeply entrenched oligarchy has become in American politics and how figures like Trump masquerade as populists while handing the keys to billionaires. His so-called ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ is a perfect example: sold as pro-worker, but in reality it’s a Trojan horse packed with tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy, rollbacks on environmental protections, and austerity measures targeting the poor. I wrote a piece diving into exactly how this bill functions as a payout to donors and corporate giants under the guise of patriotism. If you’re interested, here’s the link:
https://open.substack.com/pub/devinmccune/p/why-the-big-beautiful-bill-is-actually?r=5jlujj&utm_medium=ios
Thank you, Devin, both for writing it and making it available to us.
Thank you Klare, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I read those rfk remarks yesterday and wanted to throw up. I bet his dad was rolling over in his grave. Even one sentence woulda been too much. Gag me. He's a worse idiot than we thought he'd be ............... besides, AS USUAL, CONGRESS, NOT THE PRESIDENT, is responsible for negotiating this kind of expense. (Not only that, but trump "tried" to pull this same stunt re drugs during his first term and, as usual, was only big talk and no walk [action]. Not holding my breath over this.)
Ass kissing anyone????
There are none so blind as those who can not see. RFK can’t see what’s going on nor comprehend his part in all this . We are by law a democracy we want our democracy back.
Exactly, Jan, and right NOW!
He's so far up trumps ass right now he could manipulate his prostate.
Funny!
He took it to an entirely new level. UGH.
Definitely
Another brilliant American analysis!
I am a Harvard trained physician. That doesn't make me better than any other doctor, it just means that I was trained well. Robert Kennedy Jr. is a hot mess. Dumb. D U M B !!! As a physician who has worked in many different environments ( inner cities, Indian Health Service, Cambodian refugee camps, head of the AIDS program for the State of New Jersey, private practice) I have seen a thing or two in health care. I also hold a fellowship in Virology and infectious Diseases from Yale. Kennedy's response to the Measles outbreak has been child like. He has opinions but little to no knowledge of what he is dealing with. Sad, pathetic. His nominee for Surgeon General does not even hold an active medical license. Seriously?? People, we a dealing with amateurs throughout the Trump Team. Kennedy is not necessarily wrong in all things he says, but he IS woefully inexperienced and, well, foolish. Dangerous too. His father will be rolling over in his grave and the rest of his family, currently living, will wonder what type of worm got into his brain.