If Trump aims to turn America into a police state, these are the officials he will utilize. After only 10 days as president-elect, he appears to be on his way.
Professor Reich: i think a reasonable first step along the way towards our fight against fascism is to release the complete, unredacted muller report and for jack smith to release everything he has on trump (so far) as the result of his investigations. i think it is important that the american people know what they are dealing with, they deserve the complete, unvarnished truth of what trump looks like (on paper). once we have a better idea of what the dealio is, i think we can begin to plan our resistance.
Click Dr. Stephen Hassan. He's a licensed mental health professional. He wrote the book "The Cult of Trump." Get a copy now because it might be banned.
OMG Mike can we put this on bumper stickers, post to multiple social networks and get millions of Americas to read this and digest this simply stated truth and maybe help snap their adoration for this anti christ and his enablers with their plans that are going to save America (NOT).
Go ahead and try such unvarnished truth, but consider the following:
I encourage you all to spend the 23 minutes required to absorb the message from this episode of a 1957 TV series that is eerily prophetic. No. Downright spooky! Notice the setting location where the action takes place, and make sure to listen closely to the name of the bald, mustachioed antagonist:
Also pay close attention to the disclaimer at the end of the episode saying the story was adapted for TV from the cases and files of the Texas Rangers.
Years ago, I came across a statement saying that in order for a real, truly effective conspiracy to be successful, it must be so insane that >nobody< would believe it, were it actually exposed.
So go ahead and try exposing such unvarnished truth.
As an afterthought: How closely do you think this episode reflects the social/political conditions we now face? If there's a character in this episode that embodies the role of the SCOTUS, who do you think it is? Do you see any equivalence in the results with tactics the antagonist implements to accomplish his objective? How is it like what we've seen has influenced a following on TV and in casinos?
So go ahead and try exposing such unvarnished truth if you think it'll help and makes you feel better.
OMG! He even promised to build a wall!!! And the townspeople are just like Magas!! The writer of that episode had visions! This is so crazy. And the fact his name is TRUMP and says only he can fix it. It's sad that so many Americans are no more advanced or knowledgeable than people in the 1800s. Are all grifters called "trump"? Could this one have been based on one of donnie's ancestors?
I've seen this years ago. It is ironic that his name is Walter Trump and he's a snake oil salesman. It resurfaced in 2016 during Trump's first run for fuhrer... I mean president.
Ironic, perhaps. Have you considered the possibility that someone in the know back then, having had dealings with the convict elect's father may have written him into an episode as a distant early warning to not have dealings with that family? It's a terribly literary thing to do. Hell! Murder mysteries have been written that revolve around the practice.
It has nothing to do with what's going on now directly and how would anyone know that Fred Trump's would one day be president. In the 50's Fred Trump was known as real estate profiteer. The New York Times included Trump on a list of 35 city builders accused of profiteering from government contracts. He and others were investigated by a U.S. Senate banking committee for windfall gains. As there were a lot of real estate crooks in New York and Trump was one of many it's anyone guess if the snake oil salesman was based on Fred Trump.
Sinclair Lewis wrote his dystopian novel "It Can't Happen Here" in 1935. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell was written in 1949.
I didn't say it has anything to do with current conditions. I said it was a possible "Distant early warning" - that few remembered, except for a few old TV fans.
I already want to die this mess is already to much to deal with and it is absolutely going to get worse! If he is telling us who he is BELIEVE HIM HE DID I AM BELIEVING HIM AND I AM MORE THAN HORRIFIED ALREADY!!
Said the pot to the kettle. The government is full of people making $90 an hour serving power that makes thousands an hour, all to keep people who blindly follow credentials compliant.
Like so many others here, I applaud your short, succinct observation that would make a good bumper sticker. However, in the non-bumper sticker, simple words for complex events world, I think it has the potential to oversimplify, and thus to mislead. What is missing, ALWAYS missing, so far, are valid explanations for why and how this has happened, is happening because the categories of "explanation" encompass every known idea: age-ism (Biden was bad because of age, an idea that ignored the gazillion exceptions to "age" being the inevitable cause of decline like that observed in him - exceptions like Robert Reich, like Noam Chomsky, like Bernie Sanders, et al, etc al); classism (so many examples)...sexism, racism, and on and on......but the fact is, or facts are, that it remains a baffling and horrifying mystery that, so far, cannot fit on a bumper sticker.
How and why did so many Americans CHOOSE the overthrow of our government, CHOOSE to endorse doing real harm to everything and everybody.
I see neighborhoods/areas every single day where the range of properties is visibly, observably, measurably across every known level of economic status: trailers (immobile "mobile" homes) that should very likely be deemed unhabitable, virtual shacks, multi-million dollar "estates, suburban expensive sub-divisions, gated "resort" enclaves, condos, apartment buildings, ramshackle "multi-family" apartments, public housing areas, college housing neighborhoods, farms, cities, towns, little village by the tracks......and no matter the indicators of prosperity or population, over and over again, the Trump/Trump-Vance signs, flags, banners were everywhere! The homes of those $700/hour people and those $25/hour and those $7.50/hour people displayed SOMETHING, SOME "unifying" something that Trump/MAGA addresses. WHAT is it?
So-called "answers" are all over all kinds of media, but none of it explains the wide, pretty diverse range of Americans choosing to dismantle, destroy, endanger EVERYTHING they have known as American citizens. And, it should be emphasized, with a shudder, what a sizeable number of MAGA/Trump enthusiasts are young. That is its own horror.
These issues, huge problems, seem to be waaay beyond wages, income, student loan debt, affordable housing, race, gender, and if we keep picking out each single one of those as the reason "why" Americans chose a criminal, corrupt, fascist path, I don't think it will ever get better.
Here's a very simple but also mystifying question: what in the world did Biden and Trump have to talk about for TWO hours?! And WHY don't American tax-payers, citizens, voters KNOW the answer?!
People that make $25 hour which is the majority of America colored in Red from this election sees through the BS narrative of the corporate mouthpieces. Print Money>collect taxes>siphon off to doner industrial complex> open borders>cheaper labor>fail audit once again>groceries costs 2X more from 4 years ago
If you have an investment that doesn't require much time to manage, then you too can 'make' $700 per hour quite easily. I assume your definition of 'making' must include investments, because golfing for fun is not work. The issue then is having enough wealth to 'make' $700 per hour, at least 8 hours a day , and 250 days a year of appreciation, or $1.4 million a year At 7% interest, that would require $20 million earning 7%. If you eliminate compound interest (you spend the interest), to make it more like 'earning', that would require 714 years to reach $1 billion. If you don't spend the interest, letting it compound, you could reach $1 billion in 58 years.
But if you actually work to earn your $700 per hour, then you have exceptional talent. I read that Miley Cyrus is worth about $1 billion, and I think she actually earned it, and she didn't have to wait 58 years, and I doubt she is complaining about taxes going to the poor.
That distinction I believe belongs more to Trump and Musk, and some of the other multi-billionaires, few of which actually earn their great wealth. Rather, they get it by finding ways to milk the system or actual crime, or perhaps inheritance.
and whilst i'm thinking about it, the complete matt gaetz investigations (there's more than one, according to my sources) must also be released. otherwise, people like me might begin to suspect that rape and child trafficking-and-rape are prerequisites of this government, and we wouldn't want childless parrot ladies like me to think indecent things like that, would we?
No, Not at all. I agree on the Mueller Report and Jack Smith's evidence being released. All of it ought to be released. Because there is a boatload of not only criminal behaviour but treason. And ditto on the Matt Gaetz investigation.
I doubt if these people are loyal to Trump. But loyalty to Trump serves them and their needs.
Trump is an avatar, but he is also a tool. The Christians know what he is, but because he courts them, they see him as a tool by which to gain dominance.
The racists, misogynists the same.
He is as charismatic and appealing as a slug crawling across the ground, but he represents a path to power. therefore he is a tool
Sure there are fools who worship him. Fandom is big business and people are fools, that is why there is advertising
The problem, the human capacity for belief driven by fears and needs.
Despite our large brains, we are scared little feces slinging monkeys.
And Gaetz, Trump rescued him from the findings of the ethics committee, enabled him to resign with an excuse, he won't be ratified and will back out, and rejoin for the next congress, he was re elected and will be sworn in on Jan 3rd.
Even the Republicans want nothing to do with Gaetz, and as AG he will be ineffectual for their agenda. They want a lawyer who knows what he is doing, not a clown, an oaf like Gaetz.
The Senate still has a chance to keep Trump leashed, but given the character of Senate Republicans I don't know whether that would be good or bad. They really deserve each other, and as a team they would do more damage than Trump acting alone.
Trump or rather his base, is in full control of Congress, a bunch of pansy assed, greedy careerists, without the job and the title they are nothing, and the job and title secures their access to financial security and social prominence.
Trumps base has two sides, like a coin, the obverse are the MAGAts, the cult, the reverse are the financiers, the billionaires and corporations that have been financing his coup.
They delude themselves like Fritz Thyssen did, that they, with their money, can control them, but once he has his cabinet and full control of the government, meaning legislative as well as judicial, they will quickly learned who is in charge.
And I am not sure that Trump is in charge, or just a tool by some grise eminence
The man is evil, the man is clever, but unless his dottering, clumsyy act was just that, an act, he isn't a strategist, a long term thinker, nor a tactician, but he is a tool, flatter him, shower him with money and he is yours.
IMO there is an alliance using him, billionaires, corporatists, religious and they met or meet at the annual prayer breakfast.
Lights Seiferlein, you are right. I also think the others up for important positions should have their investigations put out here too. A total Russian operative for our Intelligence chief, that is insane and just what one would expect from Trump and Kump as they try to break us down. I still think Putin has something damning on Trump, forgetting that no matter what they found, people here don't care; Republicans love their Baby Donnie and will protect him from anyone who would say mean things about him. It's the toddler bullying club. Disgusting!
It took Putin 2-Days to call DJT in order to Congratulate DJT on his 'Victory'... Russian State TV has been showing Nude Pictures of Melania... Putin, thru his Minions, controls everything in Russia... This Behavior sounds Contemptuous to me... Is Putin Flexing His Power Over DJT?
That's what I think. He is saying to Trump "I OWN you, Byatch!". Notice that Orange idiot has said nothing in return. That's not taking the high road, that's knowing that Putin is his daddy. Look at those pictures of Trump with Putin--that whipped puppy demeanor. Classic dom-sub and Trump is not the "top" if you get my meaning.
Apache, in short, the answer is yes. Putin wants to be in charge of everything and everyone and can't bear to have Trump calling any shots because Putey is a total jerk and knows just what Trump is too. Trump and Putin both are easily flattered but Putin has bamboozled an entire country and some of its neighbors, well, North Korea's Kim too, while Trump has only bamboozled less than half of America. The whole thing is insane, but seems to be what human beings, particularly male human beings want, conflict whenever they can make it happen, and power-grubbing when they can do it. It seems often, men don't have to grow up and be responsible for being a human being with other human beings; they want to control everything because they are scared they won't get whatever they want. We have seen that throughout history and the American electorate decided they would prefer a Toddler-man Trump to an intelligent, caring, competent woman in charge. They want chaos so they can whine about something and how they are being used and abused by the Democrats who aren't even going to be in charge. Amazing just how easily it is to trick a bunch of white people and white wannabees.
Hello Ruth... Not all Men... A number of Indigenous Nations are Matriarchies... Women own the Household, and Children... For Us there are Spiritual Reasons for that...
Thanks for the information... Russian Money has been floating the Trump Organization for Decades... DJT is a Superb Con Artist, and a Terrible Businessman... Truth Social's Parent Company was rescued last Year by Russian Money operating out of the Bahamas... Let's see how Putin makes his Puppet Dance...
Gaetz is a loyal fanboy of Trump, he has been a big help to him.
However Trump's AG is going to be his personal lawyer and Gaetz is no lawyer, dumb as bag of hammers, knows jack squat about the law or the constitution.
Trump is not serious abut Gaetz, but wants to help him, so they cooked up this scheme.
Trump says he is going to make Gaetz AG at a time when the House Ethics committee is going to release a scathing report on Gaetz that will ruin him, the only escape he has is to resign from Congress, but he needs an excuse that salvages his ability to return to congress. So Trump selects him as AG.
They know that he will not be approved by the Senate, not even the Republicans respect much less like him.
Gaetz will hang on until the last minute then back out of the nomination, and since he was re elected and there is no time to replace him in a special election, he will be sworn in to office in a New Congress, with new committees on Jan 3rd, 18 days before Trump is sworn in, and with Trump as president, he has power over Congress and you could even see him as Speaker in the new congress.
Actually those who know Matt Gaetz - Rick Wilson, for example, - say he is very smart, but that he is a very "bad guy." He is that horrifying combination of mental and moral rot and intelligence.
As for Gaetz being confirmed or not, tRump will name him in "recess appointment" and that gives Gaetz some 200+ days as AG before needing confirmation; plenty of time to do the most evil deeds percolating in tRump's vile mind, a mind equated by the sick depravity of Matt Gaetz's mind.
Tim Miller and Rick Wilson held a conversation on "The Bulwark" which you can see on YouTube, a conversation that was terrifying in part because they know these people and have known them for a long time, not only Gaetz and tRump, but also those called "Republicans" and the MAGAts. It's a terrifying future.
Annie, I can't help but ask, where were those guys who supposedly knew Trump so well when he was running for office, when they should have been shouting to the world just what they knew about Trump. A conversation among friends doesn't cut it. Maybe it would have helped, though I suspect the Trumpers and Trumpettes would have voted for the jerk anyway because they couldn't possibly vote for a woman, and a Black/South Asian woman at that. They would rather have a white male criminal who proposes to destroy our nation than a great woman. It is startling the hatred people, mostly white people, have for women and people of color in general. Those folks aren't even slightly ashamed of the behavior of their chosen Republican leaders, guys and a few women who are willing to stand against our Constitution to defend a whiny toddler-man, Trump, and his cadre of sycophants who would do their voters harm if it meant they would gain something from the act. It really is disgusting and very depressing.
Re-reading your post, Ruth, and I will add that I think the "Trumpers" and "Trumpettes" have shown quite decisively that they do not care whether Trump or Gaetz or Vance or Cash Patel or any of the crowd of pirates, criminals, predators and con-artists have done the disgusting, illegal, sadistic and obscene things they have done. In fact, they seem to celebrate it. It is beyond the comprehension of most of us and I continue to wonder how it came to be that some 50% of this country's voters in 2024 think all of that is OK and hate the country that is their and our, home so much to want to destroy it. The problems are deeper than most of us want to even consider.
I am not an expert on those guys, but from all I can tell Tim Miller and certainly Rick Wilson HAVE been speaking out against Trump from before 2016. Rick Wilson wrote the book entitled, perfectly, "Everything Trump Touches Dies" and he is from Florida and has spoken out about the Gaetz power and influence in that state for some time apparently. Tim Miller, an ex-Republican - "ex" since Trump - has been involved in The Bulwark which has been outspoken and active against Trump, albeit populated by Republicans. I think they were mostly distressed by what Trump and his crime organization have done to the party they once were dedicated to, but they are also alarmed and disgusted by what that change has done to the country.
I think, but am not sure, that Rick Wilson is also involved in The Lincoln Project, a Republican (or erstwhile Republican) campaign against Trump and MAGA.
Your question is a good one, and it is peripherally related to what (to me anyway) is an even bigger question NOW and that is, for just one example, how can the weasel Mike Johnson, with his ever-present unctuous "touched by an angel, ain't I" smirk, continue to defend, protect, and deceive on behalf of the lowest of the low - and still pose as some pious beatific representative of celestial goodness. Translation: a quintessential creep, hypocrite and one who would have been thrown out of the temple, if one believes in such things (which Mike Johnson claims he does as he hides behind his phony, phony sanctimonious BS.)
Back to Tim Miller and Rick Wilson, I don't think they were just having a conversation between friends and neither did they avoid speaking out against Trump back during his political campaigns, and likewise for other MAGA candidates; they have been speaking out from the get-go and I only mention them because they were early "adopters" and long-time Republicans. Same with Stuart Stevens, a very smart long-time Republican, who has minced no words from the get-go of Trump and MAGA. I think they are as disheartened and infuriated as any of us non-Republicans are.
Again, I'm no expert on ex-or current Republicans and certainly MAGA (which sounds a lot like a disease that needs treatment. "Got MAGA? Talk to your doctor!" and ask for MAGAxyermterofibia!"
Yep, it is all disgusting. Trump wants to degrade and degrade and degrade and push everything and everybody to get them to be as low, vile and despicable as he is. I think his self-loathing is killing us all. We must not let him drag us down. Hang in there, Ruth Sheets. Disgusting, yes. Try not to let the "very depressing" win out!
Smart or not, who ever is AG has to have some gravitas, some background in the law, Gaetz has none.
Think about this. Trump and Gaetz were on the plane together, The plane lands and Trump announces Gaetz as AG, Gaetz resigns. The House committee is about to release it's report on the results of the investigation of the ethics committee. The ethics committee is f Republicans, 5 Democrats, The chair is a Republican, the Ranking committee member a Democrat (Susan Wild)
Gaetz resigns, the report is no released it is now under the control of the Speaker. It will stay "secret", parts have been leaked of course, but nothing official.
Trump needs someone of the calibre of Bill Barr as AG, to shepherd his dictatorship through the corridors of DC, and the consitution, and the institution.
Gaetz is not that man, he needs someone with experience in that matter, not someone with a law degree and no connections.
No one in DC, not even in Congress, likes or respects him, except Trump
The only congress critter that Trump can really depend on is Gaetz, and he makes a perfect Speaker of the House, he knows the routine.
I could be wrong, I am marking November 15 on the calendar as the day I predict Gaetz will withdraw from nomination as AG, be sworn in again on Jan 3rd as a member of the 119th Congressional Congress, and with Trump pushing it, be elected Speaker of the House.
It was all plotted aboard AF One, on Nov 13th
If I am wrong I will admit it
Yes if the Senate Democrats don't agree to speedy nominations, and they are saying that they will, there will be recess appointments.
The Senate Democrats know that Trump will get his picks anyway, so why further antagonize him by holding them up, they are after all politicians, looking out for themselves.
By agreeing to speedy confirmations they are participating voluntarily in the speedy deconstruction of our Democratic Republic., and givin the fascist dictatorship smooth waters to sail over.
William, I hope you do prove wrong about Senate Democrats. It seems to me every single one of them needs to do everything in their power to prevent incompetent a-holes from being in charge of anything in our government. If they put up no resistance, Trump will know for sure he can walk all over them and break as many laws as he chooses. Our media still isn't getting the word out strongly enough about who and what Gates is, who and what RFK,Jr. is and what he could do to their health, and who and what that Fox big mouth scheduled for Dept. of Defense is and how little knowledge he has about anything beyond whining about Democrats and in favor of his Baby Donnie. Then, there's Musk and the group of men who are too rich for their own good and ours. What can Congress do about them? They should take away Musk's contracts with the government especially since he supposedly will be working with the government. That is a massive conflict of interest, but I am guessing Republicans won't care one bit about that and will be OK with Musk taking over our government, a whiny one-time illegal immigrant who bought his way into citizenship, but clearly cares nothing for this nation, unlike the desperate people crossing our southern border, people who actually do care about this nation. Ugh!
It's hard to know what these criminals are plotting, but we know that revenge is a driving force for the narcissistic sociopaths now in control of our government. tRump may use Gaetz via a recess appointment to do his dirtiest of dirty work and then at the end of the 200+ days, knowing that confirmation would be highly unlikely, dump Gaetz and nominate some other criminal. Let the low-life Gaetz do his bidding, Gaetz avoids the report of his degenerate behavior, resigns - and then what? Governor of Florida? Re-elected to the House or Senate from Florida? Appointed to something else by tRump?
As for Gabbard and Putin - your guess is a reasonable one; there seem to be several "transactional" things going on with Putin and tRump and the MAGAts; Melania might be part of that whole "arrangement" given all of the history, murky, shady, full of deceptions.
My hope is that the idiocracy - to use that silly word - that put these people in power, aka effected the coup, the overthrow of our government - have to suffer more than the rest of us do as this whole horrific set of events unfolds, but that is the nature of stupidity: the stupid make us all suffer for their stupidity.
William - I don’t see how any of them can be sworn into office and swear to the Constitution but then sh*t all over it. Are they crossing their fingers behind their back? Must have been a hell of a conversation on the plane between gaetz and trump. No medical records from trump and they have never released the video from the Arlington Cemetery incident. If they have nothing to hide then show us. Including the House investigation.
You are engaging in projection. Assuming that others are as morally grounded as you.
Also there is more than one version of the Constitution. SCOTUS has one version, which among other things declares Bump Stocks on AR-15's don't turn a semi automatic fire arm into an automatic weapon, and which declares that the president can do basically whateverhe wants to do and it is not illegal (Nixon's statement that if President does it is not illegal)
As regards Gaetz and Trump. They are gaming a scenario where Gaetz will be seated on Jan 3rd when the new congress is seated (he won re election) and Trump will back him for Speaker.
Get back to me in January if I am wrong, I will admit it.
William - I don’t have any allusions about them having any morals. To them it is just about power and money as well as trying every dirty trick in the book to stay out of trouble/prison. They “change” the constitution to fit their narrative and ignore the rest.
I was just curious about how gaetz can go back to his seat if he already resigned? If his state calls for a special election isn’t he out? I’m not trying to sound like I am arguing at all - I am truly interested in how it will work. If he does get to retain his seat then doesn’t he still have to face the Ethics Committee? If there’s nothing in the investigation then why did he run away? Many people thought that Johnson would fall on his face and thankfully Jordan didn’t get the votes but Gaetz? That might be a big hell no from even his own party ;) At least I would hope so.
I value your opinions and enjoy my conversations with you. I come here to engage in dialogue and to learn from others.
Anon, Republicans don't think an oath means anything. They proudly claim they are patriotic while behind everyone's backs, they work to undermine our democracy, hoping to get some kind of financial or power reward for their bad behavior. Trump has proven his oath means nothing. I am guessing this time, he will swear in on one of his ridiculous Trump bibles. That will, of course, immediately in his mind, negate any oath since he is god and swearing to himself, well, in his own mind and in the minds of some appalling evangelicals, at least.
Personal opinion, Gabbard nomination is a fulfillment of an obligation made to Putin.
Trump shared Netanyahu's intelligence and plans with Putin. Iran is a player, because the Iran planned and supported Oct 7th attack was a birthday present to Iran.
Iran and Saudi Arabia have been at odds since the death of Muhammad over the proper succession to Muhammad, Abu Bakr, the most powerful leader of his flock, named himself the successor, kicking out the Exalted son of the father of the Student (Ali ibn abi Talib), muhammads cousin and first "student" (Talib)
At that time Persians were Zoroastrians, not Muslim, the Arab conquest of Persia well let me quote Sandra Mackay, the Iranians
Islam originally belonged to the Iranians, Yet, when the faith of Muhammad swept across the border of Ian,it fell under the influence of Persian culture. Ad it was Persian culture which led the Islamic empire into its golden age. p .41
The conquest of Persian began in 1637 in Qadusuya, a small town on th e west side of the Euphrates, an estimated army of well armed Persians faced 10,000 Arabs-sun drenched, dustry men in sandals and worn, dirth clothes, swords sheathed in rags, and it took four days, but that band of ragged Arabs beat the Sassanian general Rustam.
p 49 ibid.
The Iranians pride in the Persia of the Archaemenians and the Sassanians rejected the Arabs contention that the past before Islam was a time of ignorance. To the Iranians Islam became Islamonly when it treached the Sassanian settlements betwen the Tigris and Euphrates,beyond that it was nothing but the jahilyat (ignorance)and the badiyat (Becouism of the Arabs)
Therein is the source of the Arab Iranian conflict
Even today a learned Iranian can recite the words of the poet Ferdowsi
From feeding on desert lizards and camels milk,
so have the affairs of the Arabs prosperered
That they long for the empire of Khorosan,
Shame on ther. O circling heaven, shame.
And
Damn pm this World. Damn on this Time,, Damn on Fate,
that uncivilized Arabs, have come to force me to be Muslim.
Saddam, a Sunni Arab, played on this ethnic conflict, in his war with Iran, in which the fighters on both sides were Shia.
Iran can't renounced Islam, as it is ruled by Ayatollahs, so it rejects the rule (caliphate) of the followers of Muhammad, the Sunnah, and adopted instead the cousin and first student of Muhammad, Ali (the name means Exalted, Muhammad means Praised, think of Arab names like Indian, Broken nose son of Crazy Horse.
MBS (Mohammad bin Salman is the son of Mohammed is the first child of King Salman bin Abdulaziz)
For a short less than five years after the assasination of the third caliph, Uthman, Ali reigned as caliph, but was murdered departing a mosque.
Ali evidently evinced those qualities the Persians associated with Persian Tradition of a Just King, and his followers, Shia means followers of Ali)
have made of him a martyr and Aryanized Ali. Ali an Arab is depicted on Mosque walls and posters as an Aryan.
Shia Islam became a distinct set, after the battle of Karbala.
In 680ce Hussein the second son of the grandson of Muhammad, arrayed his forces against Yazid, now the Caliph and the lost and badly, it was from this blood filled field, that the Battle of Karbala changed Schiism from a loosely knit group of Ali's devotees into a separate sect inspired by the t"hem's of sacrifice, guilt and death."
And is from the Battle of Karbala that an eternal hostility exists between Sunni and Shia Islam.
A hostility that was on the brink of rapproachment, until Oct 7, 2023
I doubt that the Saudi ruling class is religious, or even real Muslims, they don't act like it when in the west, and they don't live like it at home. Islam is how they keep their people under their thumb, Saudi Islam is a result of an alliance between a Bedouin Chief Saud, and an ascetic Imam named Wahabb.
Ian on the other hand are ruled by the clerics directly, the Ayatolloahs whose base of operations Qom,Iran.
Saudi Arabia (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon for that matter) want nothing to do with Palestinians and any who try to sneak in are quickly ejected.
The Saudis, Egyptians, Syrians et al are more interested in maintaining their own status quo, their wealth, high living and privileges. The Ayatollahs preside over a depressed and depressing country, dissatisfaction runs high, the young are protesting and population control is kept by the morality police and Republican Guard
Israel is a foil. The Jews occupying sacred Muslim soil, and the third holiest site in Islam is an afront to Muslims, but it provides the Ayatollahs an excuse to distract the people.
Just like the sudden experience of a mother ship in the skies over Russia, China, Europe and America would distract the people and unify nations, except those nations which would strike a deal with the aliens. Musk would be the leader in America, followed Peter Thiel, Jame Dimon and of course Trump and even Mike Huckabee and his ilk, claiming that theyare messengers from god.
All of these documents need to be released so that they become the foundation of the third and final impeachment trial of Trump. Data gathering begins now; the Democrats must regain control of the House and Senate. Trump will commit treason soon enough.
Susie Wiles admitted that the she is aware of this. She said as much when disclosed that Trump has about 18 months to make the changes he wants.
Gaetz, should he become the AG, will have the main job to create diversions so that Trump can do what he wants.
Where is all the Joe Biden money laundering info? How does one own and maintain three homes on a Senator’s income. Oh I forgot, he worked at a ice cream shop
Do you think that the main stream media would publish anything at this point that Trump would dislike? They have been cowardly for years and changing now would be deadly.
You will be surprised what the tech companies feel compelled to do when confronted by authoritarian countries. They dropped Alexei Navalny’s voting app, they dropped an app the Hong Kong protesters were using.
I read that The Guardian and also the largest newspaper organization in Spain have both ceased their involvement with X/Twitter because of X/Twitter's content. Therefore, subscribe/contribute to The Guardian; support those media that are doing all they can to fight and resist the destructive forces in media and otherwise!
People criticize X/Twitter, Facebook, etc. BUT continue to use them. The word for that is hypocrisy. Support those entities, like The Guardian, and get a great source of journalism as well as showing support for their resistance to these terrible forces like X/Twitter.
I fear the only way to cancel out Fox News/TV and X is to shut down or nationalize those Big Lie machines, and go after their obscenely wealthy owners for treason against the mental health of theAmerican people.
Nope. I never saw the Epstein tapes played by MSM so why would they start now. They r trembling in their proverbial boots waiting for the retribution hammer to fall. Although I know that SNL cold opening appealing to that orange POS was meant to be parody it was disgusting and unfunny because I suspect that is the rollover attitude MSM will take. Some will pretend like MSNBC to resist but the fact that we rarely get useful actionable information and instead are drenched in crap infotainment tell me nothing will change on that front.
About Jeffrey, it has come out that Jeffrey and Donald were thick as thieves, but he so conveniently committed suicide, before evidence could come up at trial. Suicide in a suicide proof jail cell at that.
And what of his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, a quiet trial, not covered by the media (suspicious isn't it), where the prosecution could have and should have brought out evidence that would indict the rich and powerful.
We are mushrooms, kept in the dark and fed manure.
I think Gaetz was nominated to 1) get the news to look away from the upcoming ethics report and his resignation to avoid punishment and 2) as soon as Trump is in office he’ll pardon Gaetz and nominate someone else.
Gaetz will back out of the nomination, just before the new congress is seated on Jan 3rd, and then be sworn in the new congress, he was re elected in 2024.
Gaetz is a Trump loyalist, and has aided and abetted him. The House Ethics committee was going to release a report that would have indicted him, but given an excuse to resign saved his bacon.
I even expect him to challenge Mike Johnson in the new Congress, he is even more reliable as Speaker than Johnson. And Gaetz will have the full force of the weight of Trump behind him.
Trump uses the AG as his personal lawyer, and Gaetz is a fools lawyer, Trump wants an AG that knows his shit, and the way around the constitution and who has some gravitas and there are plenty of those in the beltway that have or are ready to fellate Trump
I just finished watching the conversation between Tim Miller and Rick Wilson on "The Bulwark" and am more terrified than any other discussion of what is coming - and soon - than ever. Those two know whereof they speak and Rick Wilson, in particular, knows Matt Gaetz - and Gaetz's father - and their history very well from his long history of Republican activities in Florida. He kept repeating that Gaetz is smart, is a sociopath, and is a very "bad guy." He cited many of the despicable facts about Gaetz, some from his time in D.C., some from his time from a young age in Tallahassee. Miller and Wilson discussed the coming "retribution" against tRump's enemies list, Wilson being on it and already having been the object of terrible threats, but even more pointedly against those who worked on the tRump impeachments and January 6 committee.
They also talked about Tulsi Gabbard and the extreme danger she is TO our national security - and she has been nominated to be the National Security head!!
You want to talk about the Mueller Report, Jack Smith's charges? Merrick Garland and Joe Biden brought us to this place. Why hasn't William Barr been indicted - FOR what he did TO the Mueller Report! And where has Mueller been since then, by the way? And by the way, I thought it was sickening, truly sickening, that Biden sat with tRump - and for TWO hours?!! - in OUR White House, "welcoming" him, congratulating him. Give us a break, Joe! Would you have invited Hitler to the White House; you know he, too, was "elected" in a democratic election! For God's sake, Democrats: stand for something!
I mean, really, folks: this is not the time to be chatting about what Harris did or did not do. This is red alert time and we need to know what to do because the MAGA coup happened and is now in effect. Are we helpless?!
GrrlScientist - I was going to add the House Ethics Report but I am glad that you brought it up. Funny how they tried to make a big deal out of trying to find anything on Biden and his family members but they found nothing and they quietly closed it. They have been investigating gaetz for a long time so why did they drag their heels? Rhetorical question of course but we still deserve to see it. Also, why is it that musk can talk with and make deals with foreign countries? How is it not illegal for the quid pro quo between having RFK Jr stop his campaign for the promise of a high level job? We should not be surprised that a convicted sexual predator would put other alleged sexual offenders in his cabinets. The Fox News guy and gaetz are the two that we know of but how many other people are there?
I agree that all of these relevant documents should be released, however I suspect that doing so will not move the wall of psychotically indoctrinated Trump supporters. It might be important for future history books,, but for now it will just increase anxiety and outrage for the rest of us.
Great idea Ms Scientist! And not all evidence at once; give each mountain of travesty a chance to be digested by the general public before the next pile of Trumpian bile is released.
There were crimes in the Mueller report that were not referred to the AG because Trump was the sitting president. Say… Why don’t we give Garland the boot and bring in Stacey Abrams as our next AG. She could take them up in a heartbeat.
And the cases against Trump are loaded with co-conspirators. Wouldn’t it be nice if Abrams indicted those in Congress, then site the 14th Amendment as a reason for them to give up their seats until cleared by a court?
And shucks, all those empty seat seats on the congressional floor would allow for Chuck Schumer’s No King’s Act to be passed, clawing back all the presidential immunity powers that SCOTUS wanted Trump to have. Let’s take away their attempt to completely transform America from a democracy to an oligarchy on the basis of a twist in semantics.
Mighty ambitious thought! Unfortunately, we are talking about the same Democrats that thought Biden should run for a second term. I am not sure these octogenarian party leaders have the agility to execute your ambitious plan within the sixty-day window. Chuck Schumer specifically would much rather lose the country, than hurt anyone's feelings. We need someone like Tim Ryan to either run for President or lead our party - a fighter not afraid of the fallout.
Liberty, I applaud your courage re your comment. I am an independent who voted for Harris. I have often wondered how Biden would have fared against Trump in 2016. I vote the person. I vote the issue. Democrats in the 60s and 70s pilloried me and some of my generation who served rather than leave for Canada. Republicans disappointed me when that war did not conclude until Nixon’s second term. I often wish there was a viable third party. I suppose it is the independents who, to some degree, form that constituency. I think focus needs to be 2028.
Ah Nixon, only an anti communist Republican could have gone to China and met with Mao. Democrats, those days, were branded as commies, LBJ signed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution because of that, and to shed that image.
When I was in Vietnam, even the Vietnamese thought the Democrats were commies. I had an ordinary civilian tell me that they would lose the war, when I asked why she said there are more communists in America than in Vietnam, her news source was the Saigon Post
Nixon pulled out our troops in large part because Americans were tired of seeing their sons and brothers come home in caskets, in part because there were deals with China in the offing and in part because our Skyraiders dropped unexpended originance Cuu Long Basin and Nam Con Son Basin in the East Sea. These bombs acted as seismic detectors which are used to prospect for oil.
ExxonMobil currently holds a petroleum production-sharing contract (PSC) for blocks 117-119 offshore central Vietnam, primarily focused on developing the "Ca Voi Xanh" (Blue Whale) gas project, which is Vietnam's largest offshore gas field; this contract allows them to explore, extract, and produce natural gas from this area in partnership with Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP).
Nixon went to China on Feb 21,1972, during his first term. He ended American combat involvement in Vietnam in 1973 and the military draft the same year.
His second term started Jan 21, 1975, the year that Saigon and Vietnam fell to the forces of Bach Viet. (North Vietnam)
Protecting "the American way of life" and defending democracy are not the same thing, Actually, protecting "the American way of life" undermines democracy and our national security. Alas, many Americans join the Marines to protect "the American way of life." Quite a few of the survivors then become corporate mercenaries.
I respect Tim Walz, but the VP choice should have been an imposing very macho table banger in order to please the meathead misogynists. Arnold Schwarzenegger?
You have a point, Richard. Voters hanker for an anti-establishment leader. Harris/Walz were "more of the same."Now voters will get their wishes fulfilled. I doubt they will like the outcome.
You mean Schwarzenegger, the serial adulterer and abuser? You may be right about appeal to the meatheads, but then you'd lose most of the women, plus the men who like a practical planner of a guy who meets people where they are.
Back in the days when we actually enforced the 14th Amendment, it was established that Schwarzenegger was unqualified for high office because he's foreign born.
I was with you until the Ryan reference, Liberty. Observing him from his last senate run here in Ohio, he doesn't know which way is up. He ran a completely inept campaign, trying to cater to the MAGAs and the macho wannabes, and lost everybody in the process.
Denise - Agree. Ramaswarmy was even worse and now look where he’s at. At least the governor won’t nominate him for Vance’s seat but the alternatives are just as scary. We just lost Brown to a car salesman for goodness sake. LaRose took away disability rights by changing ballot drop box rules right at the end. And don’t get me started on the republicans who changed the wording on Issue One to get it to fail - and it worked. I originally had high hopes for Ryan but he let us down.
You mean the same Ryan who blasted the democrats for helping migrants in large cities when others bitched that these people were getting something for free when they had to work for it ?
Ryan was seriously angry at people (democrats?) in certain cities for being so foolhardy as to shelter and feed these migrants. And ignoring how this looked to others.
But, as shown by the recent elections,most of the public doesn’t care. Having to pay less for goods is really all they care about. And that is not the Democrats in congress’s fault.
They don’t care because they attended corrupt schools that didn’t teach citizenship. Check out WhiteChalkCrime.com. Listen to five teacher whistleblowers tell you how great called to teach teachers have been banished. That podcast was done in 2019. We tried to warn people we’d lose our democracy but people don’t listen to teachers. When I taught it was just like what’s before us now - an autocratic system based on loyalty, not competence. Half of society is other centered. People like you didn’t need schools as much. Teachers used to help people who couldn’t access their better angels learn to access them. Now they are on their own. Learn about this and get on a school board on the save democracy platform. Boards control schools but now administrators control board members. We have the power to change that.
We can’t blame people for not being taught citizenship. We must blame administrators and the teachers unions for going along to get along and government and the media doing nothing about this. However, once you learn how much power administrators have you’ll even forgive the unions and all the teachers who remained silent.
I’ve been trying to expose this since 1995. I’ve made no money. It cost me my job and then money to stay on this path. People don’t listen to teachers. I wrote a memoir describing my journey and it included Oprah’s researcher calling me with my 2008 book in hand. She did nothing.
It’s our schools that brought us to the altar of Trump. Our only chance to save democracy is people becoming educated about this.
Humans are tribal, Or let me put it this way, most humans are dogs, a few are cats. Cat people are not tribal, that's why JD Vance hates Cat Ladies,
Among dog people, the outsider, anyone who is not like me, is perceived as a threat.
I read quora.com daily, and there is one thread that is dominated by Christians and Muslim who are threatened by non believers.
Christianity doesn't have an scripture that commands to kill or convert non believers, or at least allow them to live if they accept subjugation as second class citizens, Islam does.
Could it be confirmation bias, William? The Bible commands the killing of idolaters, apostates, and witches, just as the Quran does. The Quran states that it is Judaism and Christianity written in Arabic. The bloody Crusades, blessed by popes and bishops, were not violations of Christianity. Antisemitism has its roots in the Bible. To be appreciated and understood, religious scriptures must be read in their proper historical context. Their use to promote political agendas is the cause of much suffering.
Forgot to mention, the Muslims believe that the Quran was written by Muhammad, an illiterate camel driver and thief, not from Christian and Jewish sources in fact in Medina, he had the entire tribe of Quaryza, a Jewish tribe. banu Quaryza, beheaded because he wanted their wealth, well it doesn't say exactly that in the Quran, but one can read between the lines.
Yeh I guess I forgot the slaughter of the Amelkites and Jericho, and the command by Moses to his brother Aaron to gather his cuthroats and slip through the tents at night slitting the throats of half the tribe, because they laughed at him and reject his story about god giving him commandments (not just 10, but 613 of them in Leviticus, but after that there is nothing said or done forcing people to convert, in fact Judaism eschews conversion.
The Quran does not state that it is Judaism and Christianity written in Arabic.
I have studied the Quran, and it is cribbed from Judaism and Christianity, but that actually took place during the Umayyad and Abassid Dynasties.
What the writers of the Quran and hadiths did was to legitimize themselves by incorporating aspects of Judaism and Christianity into it.
IMLO. Muhammad was a moon worshiper, The pre Muhammad Arabs worshiped al Lihah (the moon, contracted into Allah), the vestiges of that are seen atop minarets, the Turkish flag and other flags as the New Moon and the planet Venus (al Uzza) as a star. The worshiped three planets, but Venus was chief. Salman Rushdie wrote about it and has a death fatwa on his head.
But there is nothing in the Quran that states it is Judaism and Christianity writen in Arabic.
The passing mention, a nod to Christianity is a woman named Miriam, who is seduced by the Angel Gabirel appeaing as a handsome and glowing man, and her giving birth to Issa.
The idea of a son of god being Crucified is abhorrent to Islam, their messiah or mahdi is yet to come.,but you will know the hour and the day, when all of the Jews are wiped out in a final pogrom, Book sahih 1295/1296 book 56, hadith 139 al Bukhari, also para 7, article 7 of the HAMAS covenant.
"The stone will cry out, there is a Jew behind me, kill him" Quran 32: 26.35 I believe.
I don't have to read religious scripures in their proper context when I have examples in front of me at this moment, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Malyasia, Indonesia, Libya, Morocco, and even Egypt and Gaza/WestBank.
Well, how many of the American people would actually take the time to read these reports? I mean, people like us only, most likely. The rest, the ones to actually convince, will just say it's lies and that Faux Newz warned them the radical left would try with all their might to make Trump look bad. Until the Trump cult is broken, I am not sure it make any difference.
Please understand that their spider network is something to behold—their content is of course reprehensible but that’s not the point…they manage to get their propaganda into every crevice of small-town and large-town America.
That's right. It's exactly what they did and the only way to fight back. I honestly don't know why "progressives" lack a spine; especially the rich ones. SMFH
Not going to do anything. The vast majority of the Americans who voted for Trump either simply do not read (seriously, this is one element of what I learned by engaging Trump supporters this summer & autumn) or they are totally brainwashed to believe that Trump is the BIG VICTIM, and ANY & ALL reports of Trump's wrong doing come from "haters" who despise conservative and/or the working class. This brainwashing is a HUGE hurdle for us to overcome if we want to wrest our country from this fascist con-artist.
Exactly. Brainwashing helped trump to win. How do you combat that?
But it must be analyzed as to how to combat because it is a crucial issue.
There are so many reasons why trump won, and I don’t think it would’ve mattered who the Dems nominated, they would have been up against the same tactics the trump people use that were very effective.
RFK Jr.-----This guy isn't stupid, he's operating on Trump's playing field, which is positioned somewhere just South of dumb. If young Bobby is responsible, even remotely, for interfering with the inoculations given to our children to ward off communicable diseases, their deaths will rest squarely upon his shoulders. How ignorant can a man be? Well, he left his party of suck up to a fascist pig, that sure sounds stupid to me. The destruction this man could wield upon our country, during his association with Trump, is beyond anything Heinrich Himmler ever dreamed of while orchestrating the extermination of the Jews in Europe. Well, perhaps not quite that bad, but pretty close. This jerk is shaping up to become Trump's "Drano," which Donnie Boy will employ to dislodge our Democracy, like a clog from an old sink. All done with the willing assistance of a "Kennedy," no less.
The Senate will not consent to his appointment, and even if he gets it Trump will likely remove him in short order. Trump nominated him to reward him, and his billionaire backer (T. Mellon) for their support. Trump is not suicidal.
GrrlScientst : Great idea, but it would have to happen fast. Anyone who does not see who tRUMP is , has not been paying attention . He has used speed as his tactic, when he isn't slowing justice to a stand still. Warp speed at this point. Or it will not happen. No fooling around
I agree with you but many of the people would never see. The right wing networks would not carry it. For the first time in our history we will have a president, vice president, cabinet, much of congress and many right wing networks more dedicated to Putin and Russian than to our country.
I agree that it should all be released, but I doubt any of the Americans who voted for him will bother to read it. However, it needs to be preserved somehow for history, because I’m sure Trump will have all of the evidence destroyed.
Yes. Someone made the point the other day that, even if (when) Jack Smith shuts down his cases, all of his evidence should be made public, so there's a record for posterity.
Agreed. BUT the true believers believe that the Mueller and Smith and Congressional ethics report are fictional hack jobs promoted by The Libs aka TEW..the enemy within. Those who believe free public education is perverting their children, that science-based public health causes ??, that South Dakota is being overrun from the Mexican border (ask the Sioux tribes what they think about immigrants), that everyone has a right to an AR-15 or 23 or 47 to "defend" themselves from??. Do you really think they would read much less believe ANYTHING not from their own echo-lab? Those us who come here would likely be even more appalled...would it strengthen our hand now?
Release by what means? Surely the chicken-hearted, bought and paid for MSM won't pick up on it. The only option is sites like this and MTN, which the diehard Trumpists will refuse to look at anyway. Hell, a good many of them will fall all over themselves lining up to sign up for DHS. At least under the benign directorship of Noem, we'll be safe from frolicking puppies.
I'm skeptical about whether the USonian public cares. We've had a decade to see who/what Trump is, but he's still elected with a congress & court system to back him up.
I doubt that this is news to any of your readers. We are all well aware of what he's trying to do and most of us--at least I did--expected him to move like lightning. A blitzkrieg works because the speed of the attack is so shocking people give up.
So now that you've listed all the ways this will result in Fascist America, how about some solid, actions we can take to stop this. I think we will end up in the streets (again) and at age 79 that doesn't sound like much fun, but I've marched before. You're very good as asking "What do you think?" while presenting few solutions or options.
One thing I'd like to see you work on is bringing all the voices (you, HCR, Joyce Vance) together to speak with one voice to drown out Fox News, and the rest. We need to cut through the noise. I have no doubt that when things get really awful, and people are dying without medical care, or are contracting listeria and E. Coli because food is no longer inspected, or the next pandemic hits, Trump voters (at least some of them) will join us to make society work. But do we really have to wait until millions are dead?
we need a media source where the facts on a whole host of issues get published. Many of the post in this blog have excellent information the rest of the country should know. We indeed need an alternative to fox news and X
If Fox is put up for sale, what are the odds that Elon Musk would buy it? In any case I don’t think it would happen as long as Trump is in office. He’s a cash cow they feast on.
Yes! We need an effective speaker to lead the charge and a vehicle to disseminate the incontrovertible truths. Perhaps The Onion’s purchase of Info Wars would be a starting point?
People are already dying without medical care because they lack insurance or the ability to maneuver through the complicated insurance they are paying for. People are already dying of listeria and e. coli although I know a hardworking, dedicated person who was fired for trying to get the food company she worked for to follow the testing regulations.
I voted for Harris, but I understand why frustrated people gave up on the Democrats.
I guess I don't understand why people gave up on Democrats unless they simply didn't understand what each party stood for...... Totalitarian v. Democracy. Dictator v. Constitution.
The Democratic Party became a party of the rich or the panderers of the rich. Biden did do some good things, but mostly to please the progressives. He still is giving anything Netanyahu wants although he is a murdering thug!
Many people have UV protection from polarized lenses that show different values: family-values means Christianizing sharia-like measures against women. It means keeping "the government" out of your business but not out of your body. In the absence of a single documented case of somebody "standing their ground" with an AR-15 against illegal alien home invaders, 2nd Amendment rights outweigh voting rights in their minds.
This will take a generation to fix. I think we're lookin' at 40 years in the desert. I hope not.
In speaking with some of my younger friends who are raising families and working 2-3 jobs despite having masters degrees…it came down to the price of milk and eggs. In the ‘90s, James Carville came up with a simple slogan: “it’s the economy, stupid.” That won the WH for Bill Clinton.
Many voters dismissed Trump as not being serious, as being funny, as just being…Trump. “Nothing will happen,” was the common mantra. There was no convincing otherwise. We’ve been effectively dumbed down and beaten down from years of right wing propaganda, an increasingly ineffective Fourth Estate, and price gouging.
It looks like most people finally did understand what each party stands for. Democrats stand for Totalitarianism and Dictatorship, and Republicans stand for representative government (a republic - not a democracy) and adhering to the Constitution. It was Democrats who ordered the FBI to pressure social media companies to limit free speech on their web sites. It was Democrats who tried to censor and ban "misinformation" instead of just presenting credible arguments in the marketplace of ideas. It was Democrats who weaponized the Federal government against political opponents. That's just scratching the surface. Leftists lack self-awareness, knowledge of the truth, and basic reasoning skills. Leftists need to look at reality instead of their (false) talking points.
Well, more people are going to be dying from these problems and more under Trump. Yes, let's keep dumping on the Democratic Party and ignore the fact that many Americans are ignorant and bigoted, and voted accordingly.
The progressive fantasy of a virtuous populace that will vote rationally never ceases to amaze.
No, the few extra votes Trump got this time came from those who did not trust the Democrats to improve their economic situation. He already had the racist and misogynist vote in his pocket. People ignored the evil for the false idea that their pocket book would fatten.
Not exactly. My childhood friends are in their 70’s. Their own kids are in their 40’s. Sadly, they all sacrificed our democracy for some income tax savings and gleefully support the MAGA rhetoric. These folks used to be normies & have lost their way.
Do you know what caused them to lose their way? I’m interested to know.. is it because they got brainwashed by right wing media? And if so, how does one go from being a normie to gleefully supporting MAGA rhetoric? I just don’t get it. I guess this is how cults are formed but I’d really like to understand the actual mechanisms.
I heard AOC on The Reid Out last night, and one thing she said really struck me. She said those who are working 3 jobs to make ends meet, or 3 shifts, aren’t sitting around in the morning drinking coffee and reading the news. Their days are all about work and taking care of kids, etc. I truly believe that many of the ones who voted for him had no clue what they were unleashing on this country.
From conversations I’ve had with people I know who voted for Trump, it was a one issue decision for them, either Israel, or the economy, neither of which should supersede the importance of maintaining a strong democracy on our own soil. Israel is certainly a vital ally, but as long as it’s government remains corrupted by right wing fanatics, its power as an ally is tragically hobbled. I am no economist, but I know enough to understand that our economy is always unbalanced by the uneven distribution of wealth among us. The people that voted for him truly do not understand that not only does he not care about Israel except as a future lucrative location for yet another Trump resort or golf club, but he will continue to do his best to damage our country and maintain the welfare queens that comprise the wealthy classes.
In a word, yes. By the thousands. The guy at the orange-man rally who said his candidate could murder someone on the White House steps and still get his vote, wasn't alone.
This right here👆🏻 Karla, you are 100% correct in your assessment. What a waste of precious energy to play “the world will end” card over and over again. I mean, just look at the alarming image Robert including in the OP. Stand up and do something. Join Indivisible, volunteer for the ACLU, do something instead of adding to an already volatile environment.
@OM, Thank you for writing. I was about to post a similar comment, but chose first to read the ones already posted. I simply would add that SwingLeft, on November 19th 8:00pm ET, will hold a 2025-2026 strategy Zoom, replete with an analysis of how we got here and a plan for how we proceed. swingleft.org
Please detail what specific actions to take. I’m all for doing something but until I have an idea of what to do, that will move the needle in a significant way, I am not convinced. I just poured my energy and dollars into Kamala’s campaign and we lost. . I’m sure lots of people feel exhausted and dispirited, and rightfully so. If you have specific suggestions that you know will counter what is coming, please lay it out in detail
Meidas Plus is planning on doing just that, as is Mary Trump. Independent non profit media has been doing it but need more support to get the word out.
My Gen Zs don't get the reference: "Always look on the bright side of life," and "Bring out your dead...I'm not dead yet." From the same movie. We need a new way of talking to them. They don't remember Life Before Trump (no G no Q no T.) They do not remember our history or how we knew who to trust.
White anxiety is what fuels Republicans. Trump's presidency may calm them down. Trump's failures will woke some of them. It is a good thing that Reps now have a trifecta, for they will not be able to blame Dems for their blunders.
Hi Karla - I'll bring you a big fluffly coat and a hot chocolate for the march. There is much we can do and will do. A media channel to gather all of the amazing LEAD THE FUTURE people would be great and give hope to millions of us. We need a counter point to Fox etc and MSNBC can only do so much. I go every day from reading Professor Reich's to reading HCR to Timothy Synder to Lucid with Ruth Ben-Giat and Joyce Vance. We are powerful and a force that millions here and around the world are counting on. Together we can protect each other and gain strength and support to keep going. These people are dangerous - but the lack of knowledge running these big organizations will be of consequence. Incompetence was part of Don's failure before - and now he has more help... but he's still picking wildly outrageous people ill suited to really do the job. Let us pray that this all contributes again to his not being able to do so much. He is taking action towards the outlines of 2025 but he's choosing people who lack the implementation backgound to do so. That's my silly hope so far.
We need to talk about the police state, because in a very real sense we already live in one. The internet is "policing" us 24/7. The fascists will have all that information in hand if they manage to gut our laws and institutions. Corporations will gladly sell them that information.
I would never go or a march and put myself in harm's way. My town's having a big anti-abortion march tomorrow. I have no interest in freak shows and will not attend the counter-demo.
I'm seeing protests sprout up all over. Guess they'll do it while they still can without being rounded up or shot at. Wish they had done it (for more than just Israel-Gaza) on the leadup to this election.
I think that's fine. We can only do what we feel we can do without endangering our lives. And no blame to anyone for NOT sticking their neck out. Will he shoot protestors? I don't know but I'm guessing not. He has no mandate despite claiming one, and shooting down protestors isn't going to work the way he thinks it will. It may stop people from getting into the streets, but my guess is that efforts will just go underground. I honestly have no idea what's going to happen, and the uncertainty is perhaps the most crippling thing of all.
Some of these people do not even bother to try and hide who they are. They are totally fine with themselves…knowing they have the necessary power. What has become of politicians who love America?
They love money, control & power. They're about what America can do for them, not what they can do for America. People don't vote in local elections, let alone scrutinize who they're putting in there. Every 4 years I'm screaming about voting locally and people act like I'm speaking another language. Gone are the days of civics where people took the time to know their local politicians, school officials, city officials, etc.
Actually we need to play hardball. We still have the military until January. We need to get serious and dismantle this fascist movement immediately! Once Trump controls the military it’s all over.
This. Why does no one understand the nature of the threat? How has the “transition” become so normalized? Is anybody in the US government paying attention? What. The. FUCK. These sociopaths are going to have nukes in 2 months.
Well, nobody is worried about nukes. These bad characters aren't either. Why use nuclear weapons when they can blow up this country from the inside-out and not have to worry about themselves in the process? That is their aim.
I agree! As the days go by I feel that I'm watching some slow motion hostile takeover of the US, yet I must be mistaken, because WTF....why is NO ONE in the current administration or mainstream media displaying any sense of urgency!?
No, I think you've hit it square on the head. Trump is only interested in fealty. To him. In the last 24 hours I've seen ruthless comments from his minions about eviscerating Veterans Health Care, NASA, and I'm sure Medicare, ACA and Social Security will soon be on the block. I'm fairly certain that in the end, the goal is to gain as much money and power as his boyfriend, Putin, and if the rest of us starve or die in the streets, oh well. He loves Kim Jung Un who starves his own people. He loves Victor Orban who ruthlessly rules Hungary with his so-called Christian nationalism. He loves that these men have absolute authority and he wants that too. I wonder how the folks here in Florida who fly flags praising him will feel when they have nothing.
I'm on Social Security and Medicare and have no idea what to do if he cuts those. Although I don't see how he can simply take them away because we have paid into them for decades. I don't think even he and his craven ass-lickers can stand up against the hell that would be unleashed if he tried this. What really galls me is his cutting benefits for wounded veterans and gutting the VA. If you aren't going to take care of service personnel, STOP SENDING THEM TO WAR!!
Karla, I hope for all our sake you are right about the backlash however my fear is they honestly do not care. I anticipate tanks in the streets against Americans trying to get their rights back that they gave away in this so-called free and fair election.
It will be important live in a state that will prevent federal troops from firing on Americans. This is a good time to read about the power of states rights. I doubt the military will be complicit so trump will have develop his own ss troops and he will
Richard, Trumpty has already called for his group to rework military leadership to be loyal to him...stop the naivety. The guns, tanks are here and will be turned on us.
Can a state prevent federal troops from entering it? I am wondering about moving to a blue state but wonder actual powers the states will have. And even if they can do that, if federal programs like HHS, Medicare, SS are wiped out, can individual states create their own systems?
Okay Janice you understand fascism and how it works. The rest of America still has to see it, understand it, before they will do anything about it. By then it may well be too late. Welcome to Russia comrades.
With Fox News running the Pentagon you gotta know they're going out to get some great footage. Back in the day I protested the VN war. But I have come to respect the professional military.
We are the richest country in the world because so many are employed AND the middle class pays its taxes. We are ripe for plucking and they know it. More than half of the American registered voters wrapped the country up in a big proverbial bow and gave it to these people to pillage.
It’s all about money and power and we’ve got both—for now, at any rate. Organized crime comes in many forms and disguises.
G.P. I think white collar crime in the US has been skyrocketing for decades with slaps on the hand as consequence, if anything at all. We will be run by these criminals NOW. I can not understand how we are all sitting around as these Mobsters alter the military to shoot us and do the dirty work. If you imagine we are not now headed to NAZI USA , you are blind, deaf and dumb. This would be the time to stop it. BOYCOTT ever thing, shut your body to sex ( the white men ran to the polls to vote for crushing us women and children- I saw them), we should all be peaceful in the streets, telling current Congress to double the Supreme Court now ( who have from within deconstructed democracy), put the ERA on the books , and stop the planned COUP. To watch this happen and yack is the sign of our great weakness! Trumpty will shut Inequality Media down in one second!
Half the country voted for this utmost vile person, so when they are on the receiving end, then maybe then, they will then see the error of their ways, but by then perhaps? it will be, too little, too late, welcome to your new America you have chosen for us all, Trumps America, with our rights and freedoms in ruin
G.P. and John, it is not true that more than half of ‘this country or of registered voters voted for this horror show. 93 million did not vote, and the actual winning margin was close to 1.5%. While that may be only mildly comforting, it is very important to remember.
I know, I was just generalizing, still it is so pathetic, with ALL the horrible and inhuman, vile things, that Trump has said and done, young white male voters and especially, good percentage white female voters, who said, at the same time, they wanted abortion rights protected, still!!! voted for Trump, because of such things as, race, being a woman, and the ego of machismo by some Hispanic male voters
I hate to beat a dead horse as to the values of the American people but while all the points made in this piece and the responses to it are valid, their validity extends only to those who are informed and whose moral compass points towards altruism. That leaves out half the people in this country. Kamala Harris won voters who pay attention to current events by six points. Donald Trump by contrast attracted those identified as low, or no information voters by nineteen points. While those who read this newsletter are concerned by Trump’s appointments and fascistic nature of what lies ahead, most Americans aren’t. What they’re focused on is the prices — for gas, food, rent, etc. and as long as they are fed their daily diet of lies via the rightwing sound machine and the cost of living is manageable, they are going to be content. They sad fact is, the people liberals are constantly criticized for speaking down to don’t give a tinker’s damn about democracy or any other abstractions such as which lowlife Donald Trump is appointing to head which department and they won’t until one of policies those lowlifes implement comes up and bites them on the ass. And, if that doesn’t happen, the Trumpanistas are going to have their way with the country.
Democrats are picking their campaign apart trying to figure out what went wrong; but there is nothing they could have done as long as the right-wing media, especially Fox, is spewing disinformation; and that is all the less-informed, less-educated dupes are listening to. The media Made Americans Gullible Assholes.
This. It’s been slowing permeating tge American psyche. Fox bought up a bunch of tiny stations allll over the country. I watched it happen with my local station. All of a sudden their slant on “news” was totally to the right. I stopped listening…turns out the station was purchased by Murdoch.
Jim it will be up to individual states to change this dynamic. We need to make things more affordable while feeding correct information to the masses. Federal government will be in disarray so there will not be economic relief from trumpism and the people who voted for him will suffer greatly. I think this represents an opportunity for effect change but we have to stop vilifying trump supporters. We need to use mass media to educate
Hard to educate people who refuse to open their eyes to see, read and comprehend. The mass media is owned by oligarchs seeking to, or curry favor in the Trump government.
Mary, any upper-middle class white people who voted for trump to avoid taxes are also sadly misinformed. They are not wealthy enough to benefit from the trump tax cuts. Over 80% went to large corporations and the extremely rich. Perhaps racism and misogyny played a role in their votes.
I have a feeling that in the future, at some point, the avenue to “educate” will be drying up for fear of reprisals. Paranoid people love black lists of all kinds. People attempting to curry favor love to point out enemies. States who don’t comply and agree will be sat on by Republicans or whatever the new and improved party name will be.
Trump supporters have been given plenty of warnings over these 10 years. They want Trump’s invective. Only force and confrontation will stop the fascist movement now.
It's ALWAYS a Democrat at fault, including MANY leaders (Obama/Hillary, etc) NOT presently in office -- but you can't tell any Q - MAGA cultists in a way they ever hear or believe.
Grown tired of hearing hatefully sarcastic comments online on how they're "enjoying this" --while interrupting me & others sharing, & commiserating.
Oftentimes happens while several of us bother attempting to "prove" well established FACTS/TRUTH.
Even intelligent progressive-minded people have the attention span of fleas. But you're right 100%. If people get this low down the comments, they might see it. That's what I mean by attention spans; they won't get this far down. LOL
The alarms have been sounding loudly since Trump came down the golden escalator! These appointments are robotic. These unqualified people are just loyalists who will be nothing but patsies for Trump. He will overrule any decisions they make that he doesn’t like!
There is one hope. Trump is a dumb as they come. An idiot at the top has a tendency to put placemen in his team. One reason is they are no threat to him. He either has something on all of them or he knows they are dimwits too. If you give an idiot power, he has no idea how to use if efficiently. This is one thing Hitler did get right when he was assembling his team. Himmler and Heydrich were unswerving loyalists, but they were also highly competent, efficient and ruthless. The same can't be said for Trump's loyalists. They mostly seem to be as stupid as he is.
Not so sure about Gabbard. I find her inscrutable. The best explanation for her behavior is that she's loyal to Putin over anyone else but herself (so is Trump, by the way).
Actually I believe that he will tell them what decisions to make. When you hear them make decisions just think - this is what Trump is saying and telling them to say.
Biden is not going to use 'immunity'. Hes a 'by gone era' institutionalist & won't Rock the boat...and some in admin may fear that this 'immunity' may not really be extended to Biden...if you know what I mean
A Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, speaking after the battle of Gettysburg, referred to the persistence of a “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” speaking of the sacrifices made that such a government “shall not perish from the earth.”
We appear now, under a Republican president, to be hearing of efforts to shape a government of the president, by the president, and for the president.
The question now, really, is whether Republicans in the senate and house will give carte blanche to these self-serving nominations. What's your analysis of that ?
Once upon a time we were an imperfect democracy striving to become a better & stronger democracy. But Reagan started us on the road to becoming a plutocracy & corporatocracy. Trump & the Republicans have taken us various directions like aristocracy, autocracy, theocracy, kleptocracy, mafiocracy, idiocracy & kakistocracy. Best term for it now is trumpocracy, a form of government that contains elements of all these government forms, & is especially characterized by lying, cheating, trickery & tromperie.
Wow. So true. Reagan destroyed family life when he gutted the unions. So families couldn't survive on one salary. Then he deleted the Fairness Act. So many more things he did because of greed. Worst president ever.
Ford started us down this road when he pardoned Nixon. Yes, it turns out, some people ARE above the law. GOP learned the lesson well. Never forget it was Ford’s act that led us here by shining a big flood light on the ease with which to allow corruption.
It occurs to me that another part of The Convicted Felon’s strategy with these appointments is to spur an immediate exodus from government by capable people who wish to avoid being purged once these manifestly unqualified loyalists are in place. This will leave thousands of vacancies to be filled by other automatons - or simply to be left open, and culled as part of the Musk “efficiency” strategy (which echoes the Reagan-era “Starve The Beast” small-government “philosophy”). In any event, it’s all about chaos and retribution and “owning the libs” and punitive destruction by people who know nothing about governing and care even less. We are in for the fight of our lives, dear friends.
Yes we are, and I'm too damn old to fight, but will have to figure something out. I looked into leaving, but I'll have to do a few things that will take time to put together. By that time, the shit show will have begun and Americans' names will be mud around the world. Canada is already shutting down because they don't want us overwhelming their systems.
Strap in for #RepubloFascism. Looks like the Trump clown car has a turret and a really big gun.
But if they try to roll right over all the liberals, Trump voters are going to realize they’re going to be squashed too economically, and many of the freedoms they’ve taken for granted will go poof.
And mark my words, if it gets really bad, it will be Trump asking for the guns by 2022. The second amendment was just an intoxicating way to attract voters, but nothing he’ll allow them to maintain if they are pissed at him.
Again we need to be strategic. Let the oligarchs know our disdain for fascism by boycotting their products until they put financial pressure on trumpism and they will since profits is their main motive
Yep I emptied my Amazon cart as well as my WalMart grocery cart. Buying small and local. Dumped MSNBC, CNN, Washington Post because they normalized this political disaster. YouTube feeds I suspected of supporting rump values also hit the shitcan. It’s a start.
How about Trader Joe’s which is owned privately by the richest Germans who also own Peets Coffee. At least with Starbucks or McDonald’s the public can by shares and participate in the gains and share the losses.
In that case, I have a Toyota Tacoma for sale (white, of course). Too bad pro-insurrectionist Toyota doesn't offer the machine guns as an optional accessory (yet).
An autocrat like Trump does not want smart people in his cabinet because they may compete with him for power. He wants absolute loyalists and, if possible, people with a dubious past that he can manipulate so they become dependent on him. That is why he comes up with these weird nominations. Whether it is good for the Country or not is totally irrelevant. A shadowy back office manned with conservatives and autocrats (without accountability), dictating policies to be executed by an incompetent cabinet, with accountability and thus dispensable. DOJ will be his private legal defence council, as well as law enforcement who will prosecute anybody who dares to oppose him. For those who have read history, this must look very familiar.........and they also know how this will end and at what horrific price.
It is alarming. Maybe that's why some people want to get out of the US. In which case they are welcome here in the UK. We should also suspend the extradition treaty between ourselves and the US.
Terrorize the country into submission. The billionaire elite funding the chaos don't care who their greedy wealth plundering agenda hurts, how many get hurt, who gets killed. They're psychopaths and what we're witnessing are plans they put into motion decades ago. Elon is mocking the American people on twitter in his usual euphemistic double talk. MAGA will only realize they've been conned when it all comes crashing down and everyone is feeling the pain. The corrupt greedy billionaire class will do anything to keep the criminal syndicate going, but they can't do it if we and our pesky democracy continue getting in their way, so It's time to slam the door shut on that. They win by keeping us divided.
But the oligarchs respond to profits. People are leave X, stop buying teslas, look for alternative to amazon etc Remember these oligarch are only powerful because Americans are such irresponsible over consumers. They will turn on trump if they loose business.
I doubt that the current crop of Americans have the fortitude to give up (anything).
We have become a society of
‘I wants, must have, can’t do without whimps’. I sometimes ask the question, do Americans overall have the fortitude to withstand some of the hardships and sacrifices that our parents and others went through during WWII. Sadly the answer I got was, no.
Non-GOP are already divided by their biases that are getting in the way long before this happened. They capitalized on that weakness. Ours is a splintered existence.
Professor Reich: i think a reasonable first step along the way towards our fight against fascism is to release the complete, unredacted muller report and for jack smith to release everything he has on trump (so far) as the result of his investigations. i think it is important that the american people know what they are dealing with, they deserve the complete, unvarnished truth of what trump looks like (on paper). once we have a better idea of what the dealio is, i think we can begin to plan our resistance.
Like the people who make $700 an hour have convinced the people that make $25 an hour that our problems are the people who make $7.50 an hour.
Brillliant!
Click the❤ to Focus Group how to deprogram* Americans who refuse democracy based on propaganda (HOT COFFEE the documentary, etc)
Better yet, Direct Message me some times to zoom:9AM...8PM PST
*free mediation is 85% successful
Click Dr. Stephen Hassan. He's a licensed mental health professional. He wrote the book "The Cult of Trump." Get a copy now because it might be banned.
OMG Mike can we put this on bumper stickers, post to multiple social networks and get millions of Americas to read this and digest this simply stated truth and maybe help snap their adoration for this anti christ and his enablers with their plans that are going to save America (NOT).
Excellent observation and simply put. Totally agree with your assessment.
Most of the "convincers" in my area make way more than $700 an hour....
I do like the idea of a bumper sticker though :)
Go ahead and try such unvarnished truth, but consider the following:
I encourage you all to spend the 23 minutes required to absorb the message from this episode of a 1957 TV series that is eerily prophetic. No. Downright spooky! Notice the setting location where the action takes place, and make sure to listen closely to the name of the bald, mustachioed antagonist:
https://youtu.be/h1D2ynASqe4?si=pBP113saSl_vI3ln
Also pay close attention to the disclaimer at the end of the episode saying the story was adapted for TV from the cases and files of the Texas Rangers.
Years ago, I came across a statement saying that in order for a real, truly effective conspiracy to be successful, it must be so insane that >nobody< would believe it, were it actually exposed.
So go ahead and try exposing such unvarnished truth.
As an afterthought: How closely do you think this episode reflects the social/political conditions we now face? If there's a character in this episode that embodies the role of the SCOTUS, who do you think it is? Do you see any equivalence in the results with tactics the antagonist implements to accomplish his objective? How is it like what we've seen has influenced a following on TV and in casinos?
So go ahead and try exposing such unvarnished truth if you think it'll help and makes you feel better.
OMG! He even promised to build a wall!!! And the townspeople are just like Magas!! The writer of that episode had visions! This is so crazy. And the fact his name is TRUMP and says only he can fix it. It's sad that so many Americans are no more advanced or knowledgeable than people in the 1800s. Are all grifters called "trump"? Could this one have been based on one of donnie's ancestors?
Well FWIW, Woody Guthrie wrote "Old Man Trump"> Fred Trump was his landlord.
👍
I've seen this years ago. It is ironic that his name is Walter Trump and he's a snake oil salesman. It resurfaced in 2016 during Trump's first run for fuhrer... I mean president.
Ironic, perhaps. Have you considered the possibility that someone in the know back then, having had dealings with the convict elect's father may have written him into an episode as a distant early warning to not have dealings with that family? It's a terribly literary thing to do. Hell! Murder mysteries have been written that revolve around the practice.
It has nothing to do with what's going on now directly and how would anyone know that Fred Trump's would one day be president. In the 50's Fred Trump was known as real estate profiteer. The New York Times included Trump on a list of 35 city builders accused of profiteering from government contracts. He and others were investigated by a U.S. Senate banking committee for windfall gains. As there were a lot of real estate crooks in New York and Trump was one of many it's anyone guess if the snake oil salesman was based on Fred Trump.
Sinclair Lewis wrote his dystopian novel "It Can't Happen Here" in 1935. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell was written in 1949.
I didn't say it has anything to do with current conditions. I said it was a possible "Distant early warning" - that few remembered, except for a few old TV fans.
Holy crap. That's the year I was born. LOL
You will never know the ❤Joy of suing❤ the huge class of frauds🐾🕵 that make $300/hour😱 due to denial of
ME TOO...aka copying my winning precedent?
BLACK ROBES MATTER?
SCIENCE OF EMOTIONAL MATURITY?
CALIFORNIA LAW5150... requires SCIENCE OF EMOTIONAL MATURITY?
MOST AMERICANS WILL WANT TO DIE IN TEN YEARS... assuming current uptrend, etc?😁😁😁😁
I already want to die this mess is already to much to deal with and it is absolutely going to get worse! If he is telling us who he is BELIEVE HIM HE DID I AM BELIEVING HIM AND I AM MORE THAN HORRIFIED ALREADY!!
Said the pot to the kettle. The government is full of people making $90 an hour serving power that makes thousands an hour, all to keep people who blindly follow credentials compliant.
Like so many others here, I applaud your short, succinct observation that would make a good bumper sticker. However, in the non-bumper sticker, simple words for complex events world, I think it has the potential to oversimplify, and thus to mislead. What is missing, ALWAYS missing, so far, are valid explanations for why and how this has happened, is happening because the categories of "explanation" encompass every known idea: age-ism (Biden was bad because of age, an idea that ignored the gazillion exceptions to "age" being the inevitable cause of decline like that observed in him - exceptions like Robert Reich, like Noam Chomsky, like Bernie Sanders, et al, etc al); classism (so many examples)...sexism, racism, and on and on......but the fact is, or facts are, that it remains a baffling and horrifying mystery that, so far, cannot fit on a bumper sticker.
How and why did so many Americans CHOOSE the overthrow of our government, CHOOSE to endorse doing real harm to everything and everybody.
I see neighborhoods/areas every single day where the range of properties is visibly, observably, measurably across every known level of economic status: trailers (immobile "mobile" homes) that should very likely be deemed unhabitable, virtual shacks, multi-million dollar "estates, suburban expensive sub-divisions, gated "resort" enclaves, condos, apartment buildings, ramshackle "multi-family" apartments, public housing areas, college housing neighborhoods, farms, cities, towns, little village by the tracks......and no matter the indicators of prosperity or population, over and over again, the Trump/Trump-Vance signs, flags, banners were everywhere! The homes of those $700/hour people and those $25/hour and those $7.50/hour people displayed SOMETHING, SOME "unifying" something that Trump/MAGA addresses. WHAT is it?
So-called "answers" are all over all kinds of media, but none of it explains the wide, pretty diverse range of Americans choosing to dismantle, destroy, endanger EVERYTHING they have known as American citizens. And, it should be emphasized, with a shudder, what a sizeable number of MAGA/Trump enthusiasts are young. That is its own horror.
These issues, huge problems, seem to be waaay beyond wages, income, student loan debt, affordable housing, race, gender, and if we keep picking out each single one of those as the reason "why" Americans chose a criminal, corrupt, fascist path, I don't think it will ever get better.
Here's a very simple but also mystifying question: what in the world did Biden and Trump have to talk about for TWO hours?! And WHY don't American tax-payers, citizens, voters KNOW the answer?!
People that make $25 hour which is the majority of America colored in Red from this election sees through the BS narrative of the corporate mouthpieces. Print Money>collect taxes>siphon off to doner industrial complex> open borders>cheaper labor>fail audit once again>groceries costs 2X more from 4 years ago
To Mike Hammer .....love your brilliant assessment of America today
Great analogy, although the billionaire class, you’re talking 1.2 to 9 MILLION per hour. What a $750 and hour would take a year to make.
Your numbers are nonsense. Our problem is with the multi-billionaires, not with the few who are smart and work like hell to earn $700 an hour.
Most making $700 per hour don't "work like hell." Unless, of course, you call golfing working like hell.
If you have an investment that doesn't require much time to manage, then you too can 'make' $700 per hour quite easily. I assume your definition of 'making' must include investments, because golfing for fun is not work. The issue then is having enough wealth to 'make' $700 per hour, at least 8 hours a day , and 250 days a year of appreciation, or $1.4 million a year At 7% interest, that would require $20 million earning 7%. If you eliminate compound interest (you spend the interest), to make it more like 'earning', that would require 714 years to reach $1 billion. If you don't spend the interest, letting it compound, you could reach $1 billion in 58 years.
But if you actually work to earn your $700 per hour, then you have exceptional talent. I read that Miley Cyrus is worth about $1 billion, and I think she actually earned it, and she didn't have to wait 58 years, and I doubt she is complaining about taxes going to the poor.
That distinction I believe belongs more to Trump and Musk, and some of the other multi-billionaires, few of which actually earn their great wealth. Rather, they get it by finding ways to milk the system or actual crime, or perhaps inheritance.
and whilst i'm thinking about it, the complete matt gaetz investigations (there's more than one, according to my sources) must also be released. otherwise, people like me might begin to suspect that rape and child trafficking-and-rape are prerequisites of this government, and we wouldn't want childless parrot ladies like me to think indecent things like that, would we?
No, Not at all. I agree on the Mueller Report and Jack Smith's evidence being released. All of it ought to be released. Because there is a boatload of not only criminal behaviour but treason. And ditto on the Matt Gaetz investigation.
Thanks for bringing up the R word. Treason it is, plain and simple.
I doubt if these people are loyal to Trump. But loyalty to Trump serves them and their needs.
Trump is an avatar, but he is also a tool. The Christians know what he is, but because he courts them, they see him as a tool by which to gain dominance.
The racists, misogynists the same.
He is as charismatic and appealing as a slug crawling across the ground, but he represents a path to power. therefore he is a tool
Sure there are fools who worship him. Fandom is big business and people are fools, that is why there is advertising
The problem, the human capacity for belief driven by fears and needs.
Despite our large brains, we are scared little feces slinging monkeys.
And Gaetz, Trump rescued him from the findings of the ethics committee, enabled him to resign with an excuse, he won't be ratified and will back out, and rejoin for the next congress, he was re elected and will be sworn in on Jan 3rd.
Even the Republicans want nothing to do with Gaetz, and as AG he will be ineffectual for their agenda. They want a lawyer who knows what he is doing, not a clown, an oaf like Gaetz.
The Fool on the Hill
The Senate still has a chance to keep Trump leashed, but given the character of Senate Republicans I don't know whether that would be good or bad. They really deserve each other, and as a team they would do more damage than Trump acting alone.
Trump or rather his base, is in full control of Congress, a bunch of pansy assed, greedy careerists, without the job and the title they are nothing, and the job and title secures their access to financial security and social prominence.
Trumps base has two sides, like a coin, the obverse are the MAGAts, the cult, the reverse are the financiers, the billionaires and corporations that have been financing his coup.
They delude themselves like Fritz Thyssen did, that they, with their money, can control them, but once he has his cabinet and full control of the government, meaning legislative as well as judicial, they will quickly learned who is in charge.
And I am not sure that Trump is in charge, or just a tool by some grise eminence
The man is evil, the man is clever, but unless his dottering, clumsyy act was just that, an act, he isn't a strategist, a long term thinker, nor a tactician, but he is a tool, flatter him, shower him with money and he is yours.
IMO there is an alliance using him, billionaires, corporatists, religious and they met or meet at the annual prayer breakfast.
Lights Seiferlein, you are right. I also think the others up for important positions should have their investigations put out here too. A total Russian operative for our Intelligence chief, that is insane and just what one would expect from Trump and Kump as they try to break us down. I still think Putin has something damning on Trump, forgetting that no matter what they found, people here don't care; Republicans love their Baby Donnie and will protect him from anyone who would say mean things about him. It's the toddler bullying club. Disgusting!
Lights
It took Putin 2-Days to call DJT in order to Congratulate DJT on his 'Victory'... Russian State TV has been showing Nude Pictures of Melania... Putin, thru his Minions, controls everything in Russia... This Behavior sounds Contemptuous to me... Is Putin Flexing His Power Over DJT?
That's what I think. He is saying to Trump "I OWN you, Byatch!". Notice that Orange idiot has said nothing in return. That's not taking the high road, that's knowing that Putin is his daddy. Look at those pictures of Trump with Putin--that whipped puppy demeanor. Classic dom-sub and Trump is not the "top" if you get my meaning.
Apache, in short, the answer is yes. Putin wants to be in charge of everything and everyone and can't bear to have Trump calling any shots because Putey is a total jerk and knows just what Trump is too. Trump and Putin both are easily flattered but Putin has bamboozled an entire country and some of its neighbors, well, North Korea's Kim too, while Trump has only bamboozled less than half of America. The whole thing is insane, but seems to be what human beings, particularly male human beings want, conflict whenever they can make it happen, and power-grubbing when they can do it. It seems often, men don't have to grow up and be responsible for being a human being with other human beings; they want to control everything because they are scared they won't get whatever they want. We have seen that throughout history and the American electorate decided they would prefer a Toddler-man Trump to an intelligent, caring, competent woman in charge. They want chaos so they can whine about something and how they are being used and abused by the Democrats who aren't even going to be in charge. Amazing just how easily it is to trick a bunch of white people and white wannabees.
Hello Ruth... Not all Men... A number of Indigenous Nations are Matriarchies... Women own the Household, and Children... For Us there are Spiritual Reasons for that...
Putin's State Bank VTB bought over $400 million in Donald's personal debts. Putin owns his useful idiot in Washington DC
Thanks for the information... Russian Money has been floating the Trump Organization for Decades... DJT is a Superb Con Artist, and a Terrible Businessman... Truth Social's Parent Company was rescued last Year by Russian Money operating out of the Bahamas... Let's see how Putin makes his Puppet Dance...
Here is the deal with Gaetz.
Gaetz is a loyal fanboy of Trump, he has been a big help to him.
However Trump's AG is going to be his personal lawyer and Gaetz is no lawyer, dumb as bag of hammers, knows jack squat about the law or the constitution.
Trump is not serious abut Gaetz, but wants to help him, so they cooked up this scheme.
Trump says he is going to make Gaetz AG at a time when the House Ethics committee is going to release a scathing report on Gaetz that will ruin him, the only escape he has is to resign from Congress, but he needs an excuse that salvages his ability to return to congress. So Trump selects him as AG.
They know that he will not be approved by the Senate, not even the Republicans respect much less like him.
Gaetz will hang on until the last minute then back out of the nomination, and since he was re elected and there is no time to replace him in a special election, he will be sworn in to office in a New Congress, with new committees on Jan 3rd, 18 days before Trump is sworn in, and with Trump as president, he has power over Congress and you could even see him as Speaker in the new congress.
Makes perfect [evil] sense, William.
Actually those who know Matt Gaetz - Rick Wilson, for example, - say he is very smart, but that he is a very "bad guy." He is that horrifying combination of mental and moral rot and intelligence.
As for Gaetz being confirmed or not, tRump will name him in "recess appointment" and that gives Gaetz some 200+ days as AG before needing confirmation; plenty of time to do the most evil deeds percolating in tRump's vile mind, a mind equated by the sick depravity of Matt Gaetz's mind.
Tim Miller and Rick Wilson held a conversation on "The Bulwark" which you can see on YouTube, a conversation that was terrifying in part because they know these people and have known them for a long time, not only Gaetz and tRump, but also those called "Republicans" and the MAGAts. It's a terrifying future.
Annie, I can't help but ask, where were those guys who supposedly knew Trump so well when he was running for office, when they should have been shouting to the world just what they knew about Trump. A conversation among friends doesn't cut it. Maybe it would have helped, though I suspect the Trumpers and Trumpettes would have voted for the jerk anyway because they couldn't possibly vote for a woman, and a Black/South Asian woman at that. They would rather have a white male criminal who proposes to destroy our nation than a great woman. It is startling the hatred people, mostly white people, have for women and people of color in general. Those folks aren't even slightly ashamed of the behavior of their chosen Republican leaders, guys and a few women who are willing to stand against our Constitution to defend a whiny toddler-man, Trump, and his cadre of sycophants who would do their voters harm if it meant they would gain something from the act. It really is disgusting and very depressing.
Re-reading your post, Ruth, and I will add that I think the "Trumpers" and "Trumpettes" have shown quite decisively that they do not care whether Trump or Gaetz or Vance or Cash Patel or any of the crowd of pirates, criminals, predators and con-artists have done the disgusting, illegal, sadistic and obscene things they have done. In fact, they seem to celebrate it. It is beyond the comprehension of most of us and I continue to wonder how it came to be that some 50% of this country's voters in 2024 think all of that is OK and hate the country that is their and our, home so much to want to destroy it. The problems are deeper than most of us want to even consider.
I am not an expert on those guys, but from all I can tell Tim Miller and certainly Rick Wilson HAVE been speaking out against Trump from before 2016. Rick Wilson wrote the book entitled, perfectly, "Everything Trump Touches Dies" and he is from Florida and has spoken out about the Gaetz power and influence in that state for some time apparently. Tim Miller, an ex-Republican - "ex" since Trump - has been involved in The Bulwark which has been outspoken and active against Trump, albeit populated by Republicans. I think they were mostly distressed by what Trump and his crime organization have done to the party they once were dedicated to, but they are also alarmed and disgusted by what that change has done to the country.
I think, but am not sure, that Rick Wilson is also involved in The Lincoln Project, a Republican (or erstwhile Republican) campaign against Trump and MAGA.
Your question is a good one, and it is peripherally related to what (to me anyway) is an even bigger question NOW and that is, for just one example, how can the weasel Mike Johnson, with his ever-present unctuous "touched by an angel, ain't I" smirk, continue to defend, protect, and deceive on behalf of the lowest of the low - and still pose as some pious beatific representative of celestial goodness. Translation: a quintessential creep, hypocrite and one who would have been thrown out of the temple, if one believes in such things (which Mike Johnson claims he does as he hides behind his phony, phony sanctimonious BS.)
Back to Tim Miller and Rick Wilson, I don't think they were just having a conversation between friends and neither did they avoid speaking out against Trump back during his political campaigns, and likewise for other MAGA candidates; they have been speaking out from the get-go and I only mention them because they were early "adopters" and long-time Republicans. Same with Stuart Stevens, a very smart long-time Republican, who has minced no words from the get-go of Trump and MAGA. I think they are as disheartened and infuriated as any of us non-Republicans are.
Again, I'm no expert on ex-or current Republicans and certainly MAGA (which sounds a lot like a disease that needs treatment. "Got MAGA? Talk to your doctor!" and ask for MAGAxyermterofibia!"
Yep, it is all disgusting. Trump wants to degrade and degrade and degrade and push everything and everybody to get them to be as low, vile and despicable as he is. I think his self-loathing is killing us all. We must not let him drag us down. Hang in there, Ruth Sheets. Disgusting, yes. Try not to let the "very depressing" win out!
Smart or not, who ever is AG has to have some gravitas, some background in the law, Gaetz has none.
Think about this. Trump and Gaetz were on the plane together, The plane lands and Trump announces Gaetz as AG, Gaetz resigns. The House committee is about to release it's report on the results of the investigation of the ethics committee. The ethics committee is f Republicans, 5 Democrats, The chair is a Republican, the Ranking committee member a Democrat (Susan Wild)
Gaetz resigns, the report is no released it is now under the control of the Speaker. It will stay "secret", parts have been leaked of course, but nothing official.
Trump needs someone of the calibre of Bill Barr as AG, to shepherd his dictatorship through the corridors of DC, and the consitution, and the institution.
Gaetz is not that man, he needs someone with experience in that matter, not someone with a law degree and no connections.
No one in DC, not even in Congress, likes or respects him, except Trump
The only congress critter that Trump can really depend on is Gaetz, and he makes a perfect Speaker of the House, he knows the routine.
I could be wrong, I am marking November 15 on the calendar as the day I predict Gaetz will withdraw from nomination as AG, be sworn in again on Jan 3rd as a member of the 119th Congressional Congress, and with Trump pushing it, be elected Speaker of the House.
It was all plotted aboard AF One, on Nov 13th
If I am wrong I will admit it
Yes if the Senate Democrats don't agree to speedy nominations, and they are saying that they will, there will be recess appointments.
The Senate Democrats know that Trump will get his picks anyway, so why further antagonize him by holding them up, they are after all politicians, looking out for themselves.
By agreeing to speedy confirmations they are participating voluntarily in the speedy deconstruction of our Democratic Republic., and givin the fascist dictatorship smooth waters to sail over.
William, I hope you do prove wrong about Senate Democrats. It seems to me every single one of them needs to do everything in their power to prevent incompetent a-holes from being in charge of anything in our government. If they put up no resistance, Trump will know for sure he can walk all over them and break as many laws as he chooses. Our media still isn't getting the word out strongly enough about who and what Gates is, who and what RFK,Jr. is and what he could do to their health, and who and what that Fox big mouth scheduled for Dept. of Defense is and how little knowledge he has about anything beyond whining about Democrats and in favor of his Baby Donnie. Then, there's Musk and the group of men who are too rich for their own good and ours. What can Congress do about them? They should take away Musk's contracts with the government especially since he supposedly will be working with the government. That is a massive conflict of interest, but I am guessing Republicans won't care one bit about that and will be OK with Musk taking over our government, a whiny one-time illegal immigrant who bought his way into citizenship, but clearly cares nothing for this nation, unlike the desperate people crossing our southern border, people who actually do care about this nation. Ugh!
It's hard to know what these criminals are plotting, but we know that revenge is a driving force for the narcissistic sociopaths now in control of our government. tRump may use Gaetz via a recess appointment to do his dirtiest of dirty work and then at the end of the 200+ days, knowing that confirmation would be highly unlikely, dump Gaetz and nominate some other criminal. Let the low-life Gaetz do his bidding, Gaetz avoids the report of his degenerate behavior, resigns - and then what? Governor of Florida? Re-elected to the House or Senate from Florida? Appointed to something else by tRump?
As for Gabbard and Putin - your guess is a reasonable one; there seem to be several "transactional" things going on with Putin and tRump and the MAGAts; Melania might be part of that whole "arrangement" given all of the history, murky, shady, full of deceptions.
My hope is that the idiocracy - to use that silly word - that put these people in power, aka effected the coup, the overthrow of our government - have to suffer more than the rest of us do as this whole horrific set of events unfolds, but that is the nature of stupidity: the stupid make us all suffer for their stupidity.
William - I don’t see how any of them can be sworn into office and swear to the Constitution but then sh*t all over it. Are they crossing their fingers behind their back? Must have been a hell of a conversation on the plane between gaetz and trump. No medical records from trump and they have never released the video from the Arlington Cemetery incident. If they have nothing to hide then show us. Including the House investigation.
You are engaging in projection. Assuming that others are as morally grounded as you.
Also there is more than one version of the Constitution. SCOTUS has one version, which among other things declares Bump Stocks on AR-15's don't turn a semi automatic fire arm into an automatic weapon, and which declares that the president can do basically whateverhe wants to do and it is not illegal (Nixon's statement that if President does it is not illegal)
As regards Gaetz and Trump. They are gaming a scenario where Gaetz will be seated on Jan 3rd when the new congress is seated (he won re election) and Trump will back him for Speaker.
Get back to me in January if I am wrong, I will admit it.
William - I don’t have any allusions about them having any morals. To them it is just about power and money as well as trying every dirty trick in the book to stay out of trouble/prison. They “change” the constitution to fit their narrative and ignore the rest.
I was just curious about how gaetz can go back to his seat if he already resigned? If his state calls for a special election isn’t he out? I’m not trying to sound like I am arguing at all - I am truly interested in how it will work. If he does get to retain his seat then doesn’t he still have to face the Ethics Committee? If there’s nothing in the investigation then why did he run away? Many people thought that Johnson would fall on his face and thankfully Jordan didn’t get the votes but Gaetz? That might be a big hell no from even his own party ;) At least I would hope so.
I value your opinions and enjoy my conversations with you. I come here to engage in dialogue and to learn from others.
Anon, Republicans don't think an oath means anything. They proudly claim they are patriotic while behind everyone's backs, they work to undermine our democracy, hoping to get some kind of financial or power reward for their bad behavior. Trump has proven his oath means nothing. I am guessing this time, he will swear in on one of his ridiculous Trump bibles. That will, of course, immediately in his mind, negate any oath since he is god and swearing to himself, well, in his own mind and in the minds of some appalling evangelicals, at least.
Ruth - Sadly I believe you are right. I will wager a bet that trump charges whom ever for the bible he uses as another way to cash in.
Brilliant analysis, William. The Gabbard nomination may be of the same kind.
Personal opinion, Gabbard nomination is a fulfillment of an obligation made to Putin.
Trump shared Netanyahu's intelligence and plans with Putin. Iran is a player, because the Iran planned and supported Oct 7th attack was a birthday present to Iran.
Iran and Saudi Arabia have been at odds since the death of Muhammad over the proper succession to Muhammad, Abu Bakr, the most powerful leader of his flock, named himself the successor, kicking out the Exalted son of the father of the Student (Ali ibn abi Talib), muhammads cousin and first "student" (Talib)
At that time Persians were Zoroastrians, not Muslim, the Arab conquest of Persia well let me quote Sandra Mackay, the Iranians
Islam originally belonged to the Iranians, Yet, when the faith of Muhammad swept across the border of Ian,it fell under the influence of Persian culture. Ad it was Persian culture which led the Islamic empire into its golden age. p .41
The conquest of Persian began in 1637 in Qadusuya, a small town on th e west side of the Euphrates, an estimated army of well armed Persians faced 10,000 Arabs-sun drenched, dustry men in sandals and worn, dirth clothes, swords sheathed in rags, and it took four days, but that band of ragged Arabs beat the Sassanian general Rustam.
p 49 ibid.
The Iranians pride in the Persia of the Archaemenians and the Sassanians rejected the Arabs contention that the past before Islam was a time of ignorance. To the Iranians Islam became Islamonly when it treached the Sassanian settlements betwen the Tigris and Euphrates,beyond that it was nothing but the jahilyat (ignorance)and the badiyat (Becouism of the Arabs)
Therein is the source of the Arab Iranian conflict
Even today a learned Iranian can recite the words of the poet Ferdowsi
From feeding on desert lizards and camels milk,
so have the affairs of the Arabs prosperered
That they long for the empire of Khorosan,
Shame on ther. O circling heaven, shame.
And
Damn pm this World. Damn on this Time,, Damn on Fate,
that uncivilized Arabs, have come to force me to be Muslim.
Saddam, a Sunni Arab, played on this ethnic conflict, in his war with Iran, in which the fighters on both sides were Shia.
Iran can't renounced Islam, as it is ruled by Ayatollahs, so it rejects the rule (caliphate) of the followers of Muhammad, the Sunnah, and adopted instead the cousin and first student of Muhammad, Ali (the name means Exalted, Muhammad means Praised, think of Arab names like Indian, Broken nose son of Crazy Horse.
MBS (Mohammad bin Salman is the son of Mohammed is the first child of King Salman bin Abdulaziz)
For a short less than five years after the assasination of the third caliph, Uthman, Ali reigned as caliph, but was murdered departing a mosque.
Ali evidently evinced those qualities the Persians associated with Persian Tradition of a Just King, and his followers, Shia means followers of Ali)
have made of him a martyr and Aryanized Ali. Ali an Arab is depicted on Mosque walls and posters as an Aryan.
Shia Islam became a distinct set, after the battle of Karbala.
In 680ce Hussein the second son of the grandson of Muhammad, arrayed his forces against Yazid, now the Caliph and the lost and badly, it was from this blood filled field, that the Battle of Karbala changed Schiism from a loosely knit group of Ali's devotees into a separate sect inspired by the t"hem's of sacrifice, guilt and death."
And is from the Battle of Karbala that an eternal hostility exists between Sunni and Shia Islam.
A hostility that was on the brink of rapproachment, until Oct 7, 2023
I doubt that the Saudi ruling class is religious, or even real Muslims, they don't act like it when in the west, and they don't live like it at home. Islam is how they keep their people under their thumb, Saudi Islam is a result of an alliance between a Bedouin Chief Saud, and an ascetic Imam named Wahabb.
Ian on the other hand are ruled by the clerics directly, the Ayatolloahs whose base of operations Qom,Iran.
Saudi Arabia (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon for that matter) want nothing to do with Palestinians and any who try to sneak in are quickly ejected.
The Saudis, Egyptians, Syrians et al are more interested in maintaining their own status quo, their wealth, high living and privileges. The Ayatollahs preside over a depressed and depressing country, dissatisfaction runs high, the young are protesting and population control is kept by the morality police and Republican Guard
Israel is a foil. The Jews occupying sacred Muslim soil, and the third holiest site in Islam is an afront to Muslims, but it provides the Ayatollahs an excuse to distract the people.
Just like the sudden experience of a mother ship in the skies over Russia, China, Europe and America would distract the people and unify nations, except those nations which would strike a deal with the aliens. Musk would be the leader in America, followed Peter Thiel, Jame Dimon and of course Trump and even Mike Huckabee and his ilk, claiming that theyare messengers from god.
All of these documents need to be released so that they become the foundation of the third and final impeachment trial of Trump. Data gathering begins now; the Democrats must regain control of the House and Senate. Trump will commit treason soon enough.
Susie Wiles admitted that the she is aware of this. She said as much when disclosed that Trump has about 18 months to make the changes he wants.
Gaetz, should he become the AG, will have the main job to create diversions so that Trump can do what he wants.
All the national secrets have been disclosed already anyway!
Where is all the Joe Biden money laundering info? How does one own and maintain three homes on a Senator’s income. Oh I forgot, he worked at a ice cream shop
Do you think that the main stream media would publish anything at this point that Trump would dislike? They have been cowardly for years and changing now would be deadly.
MSM’s cowardice & obeisance to trump will be their demise. Once he is supreme, the press will be irrelevant.
This is true. So, now what do we do?
I can only think that we all need to support independent media and good local media. Call them out if they begin to stray.
Btw, Apple removed Radio Free Europe app from its Russian site.
Apple did that?? We support our small local paper because they are fair & balanced..so far.
You will be surprised what the tech companies feel compelled to do when confronted by authoritarian countries. They dropped Alexei Navalny’s voting app, they dropped an app the Hong Kong protesters were using.
Plan a way to cancel out Fox tv and X.
I read that The Guardian and also the largest newspaper organization in Spain have both ceased their involvement with X/Twitter because of X/Twitter's content. Therefore, subscribe/contribute to The Guardian; support those media that are doing all they can to fight and resist the destructive forces in media and otherwise!
People criticize X/Twitter, Facebook, etc. BUT continue to use them. The word for that is hypocrisy. Support those entities, like The Guardian, and get a great source of journalism as well as showing support for their resistance to these terrible forces like X/Twitter.
I fear the only way to cancel out Fox News/TV and X is to shut down or nationalize those Big Lie machines, and go after their obscenely wealthy owners for treason against the mental health of theAmerican people.
It would be a huge help to actually enforce our laws. Failure to sentence convicted Felon donOLD is inexcusable.
Failure to enforce 14th Amendment Section 3 is inexcusable.
If the cowards like freedom, they need to share the information now before all the "free press" is silenced.
Fair & Balanced… gone
Nope. I never saw the Epstein tapes played by MSM so why would they start now. They r trembling in their proverbial boots waiting for the retribution hammer to fall. Although I know that SNL cold opening appealing to that orange POS was meant to be parody it was disgusting and unfunny because I suspect that is the rollover attitude MSM will take. Some will pretend like MSNBC to resist but the fact that we rarely get useful actionable information and instead are drenched in crap infotainment tell me nothing will change on that front.
The 1st Amendment protects the Free Press. When are we going to get serious about enforcing the laws we live by?
Hey anybody remember Trump’s Jeffrey Epstein episode? Birds of a feather.
About Jeffrey, it has come out that Jeffrey and Donald were thick as thieves, but he so conveniently committed suicide, before evidence could come up at trial. Suicide in a suicide proof jail cell at that.
And what of his girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, a quiet trial, not covered by the media (suspicious isn't it), where the prosecution could have and should have brought out evidence that would indict the rich and powerful.
We are mushrooms, kept in the dark and fed manure.
for Social Darwinists we are not mushrooms, not even manure, but waste. They respect only the rich and powerful, and they rule accordingly.
This kind of behaviour is becoming the NORM in the USA
I think Gaetz was nominated to 1) get the news to look away from the upcoming ethics report and his resignation to avoid punishment and 2) as soon as Trump is in office he’ll pardon Gaetz and nominate someone else.
Gaetz will back out of the nomination, just before the new congress is seated on Jan 3rd, and then be sworn in the new congress, he was re elected in 2024.
Gaetz is a Trump loyalist, and has aided and abetted him. The House Ethics committee was going to release a report that would have indicted him, but given an excuse to resign saved his bacon.
I even expect him to challenge Mike Johnson in the new Congress, he is even more reliable as Speaker than Johnson. And Gaetz will have the full force of the weight of Trump behind him.
Trump uses the AG as his personal lawyer, and Gaetz is a fools lawyer, Trump wants an AG that knows his shit, and the way around the constitution and who has some gravitas and there are plenty of those in the beltway that have or are ready to fellate Trump
William - The only experience that gaetz has with any investigation is his own. ;)
Cute, I like the snark, but irrelevant.
William - True, but I have been feeling a little snarky since the election results and I figured that you would not take offense.
These reports should all be released, but the truth is, people's minds are not changed through logic or facts.
People on juries are often influenced by facts. That's what counts.
Well said.
I just finished watching the conversation between Tim Miller and Rick Wilson on "The Bulwark" and am more terrified than any other discussion of what is coming - and soon - than ever. Those two know whereof they speak and Rick Wilson, in particular, knows Matt Gaetz - and Gaetz's father - and their history very well from his long history of Republican activities in Florida. He kept repeating that Gaetz is smart, is a sociopath, and is a very "bad guy." He cited many of the despicable facts about Gaetz, some from his time in D.C., some from his time from a young age in Tallahassee. Miller and Wilson discussed the coming "retribution" against tRump's enemies list, Wilson being on it and already having been the object of terrible threats, but even more pointedly against those who worked on the tRump impeachments and January 6 committee.
They also talked about Tulsi Gabbard and the extreme danger she is TO our national security - and she has been nominated to be the National Security head!!
You want to talk about the Mueller Report, Jack Smith's charges? Merrick Garland and Joe Biden brought us to this place. Why hasn't William Barr been indicted - FOR what he did TO the Mueller Report! And where has Mueller been since then, by the way? And by the way, I thought it was sickening, truly sickening, that Biden sat with tRump - and for TWO hours?!! - in OUR White House, "welcoming" him, congratulating him. Give us a break, Joe! Would you have invited Hitler to the White House; you know he, too, was "elected" in a democratic election! For God's sake, Democrats: stand for something!
I mean, really, folks: this is not the time to be chatting about what Harris did or did not do. This is red alert time and we need to know what to do because the MAGA coup happened and is now in effect. Are we helpless?!
GrrlScientist - I was going to add the House Ethics Report but I am glad that you brought it up. Funny how they tried to make a big deal out of trying to find anything on Biden and his family members but they found nothing and they quietly closed it. They have been investigating gaetz for a long time so why did they drag their heels? Rhetorical question of course but we still deserve to see it. Also, why is it that musk can talk with and make deals with foreign countries? How is it not illegal for the quid pro quo between having RFK Jr stop his campaign for the promise of a high level job? We should not be surprised that a convicted sexual predator would put other alleged sexual offenders in his cabinets. The Fox News guy and gaetz are the two that we know of but how many other people are there?
I agree that all of these relevant documents should be released, however I suspect that doing so will not move the wall of psychotically indoctrinated Trump supporters. It might be important for future history books,, but for now it will just increase anxiety and outrage for the rest of us.
We can't give up and let the truth be buried. Perhaps more outrage is required in order to do a better job at enforcing the law of the land.
Shirley you jest, Shirley!!! This government? Ha
Great idea Ms Scientist! And not all evidence at once; give each mountain of travesty a chance to be digested by the general public before the next pile of Trumpian bile is released.
There were crimes in the Mueller report that were not referred to the AG because Trump was the sitting president. Say… Why don’t we give Garland the boot and bring in Stacey Abrams as our next AG. She could take them up in a heartbeat.
And the cases against Trump are loaded with co-conspirators. Wouldn’t it be nice if Abrams indicted those in Congress, then site the 14th Amendment as a reason for them to give up their seats until cleared by a court?
And shucks, all those empty seat seats on the congressional floor would allow for Chuck Schumer’s No King’s Act to be passed, clawing back all the presidential immunity powers that SCOTUS wanted Trump to have. Let’s take away their attempt to completely transform America from a democracy to an oligarchy on the basis of a twist in semantics.
Mighty ambitious thought! Unfortunately, we are talking about the same Democrats that thought Biden should run for a second term. I am not sure these octogenarian party leaders have the agility to execute your ambitious plan within the sixty-day window. Chuck Schumer specifically would much rather lose the country, than hurt anyone's feelings. We need someone like Tim Ryan to either run for President or lead our party - a fighter not afraid of the fallout.
Democrats need an actual WARRIOR.
Liberty, I applaud your courage re your comment. I am an independent who voted for Harris. I have often wondered how Biden would have fared against Trump in 2016. I vote the person. I vote the issue. Democrats in the 60s and 70s pilloried me and some of my generation who served rather than leave for Canada. Republicans disappointed me when that war did not conclude until Nixon’s second term. I often wish there was a viable third party. I suppose it is the independents who, to some degree, form that constituency. I think focus needs to be 2028.
Ah Nixon, only an anti communist Republican could have gone to China and met with Mao. Democrats, those days, were branded as commies, LBJ signed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution because of that, and to shed that image.
When I was in Vietnam, even the Vietnamese thought the Democrats were commies. I had an ordinary civilian tell me that they would lose the war, when I asked why she said there are more communists in America than in Vietnam, her news source was the Saigon Post
Nixon pulled out our troops in large part because Americans were tired of seeing their sons and brothers come home in caskets, in part because there were deals with China in the offing and in part because our Skyraiders dropped unexpended originance Cuu Long Basin and Nam Con Son Basin in the East Sea. These bombs acted as seismic detectors which are used to prospect for oil.
ExxonMobil currently holds a petroleum production-sharing contract (PSC) for blocks 117-119 offshore central Vietnam, primarily focused on developing the "Ca Voi Xanh" (Blue Whale) gas project, which is Vietnam's largest offshore gas field; this contract allows them to explore, extract, and produce natural gas from this area in partnership with Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation (PVEP).
In his second term….But, brother, thank you for your service.
Nixon went to China on Feb 21,1972, during his first term. He ended American combat involvement in Vietnam in 1973 and the military draft the same year.
His second term started Jan 21, 1975, the year that Saigon and Vietnam fell to the forces of Bach Viet. (North Vietnam)
SICK of hearing about your knowledge of what went on and surrounding Vietnam, William. Give it a rest already.
Your problem not mine Klare. I am simply explaining what that war was really all about. Don't read my comments if that bothers you.
Protecting "the American way of life" and defending democracy are not the same thing, Actually, protecting "the American way of life" undermines democracy and our national security. Alas, many Americans join the Marines to protect "the American way of life." Quite a few of the survivors then become corporate mercenaries.
Focus on the midterms... We must regain majorities in Congress to impeach Putin's puppet (and Musk's Apprentice) from the White house.
Jaime - You are not alone in your thinking. I vote for the person/issues that will benefit us. Sometimes I feel like people don’t understand that.
I respect Tim Walz, but the VP choice should have been an imposing very macho table banger in order to please the meathead misogynists. Arnold Schwarzenegger?
You have a point, Richard. Voters hanker for an anti-establishment leader. Harris/Walz were "more of the same."Now voters will get their wishes fulfilled. I doubt they will like the outcome.
You mean Schwarzenegger, the serial adulterer and abuser? You may be right about appeal to the meatheads, but then you'd lose most of the women, plus the men who like a practical planner of a guy who meets people where they are.
He put a load in the dishwasher. lol.
Back in the days when we actually enforced the 14th Amendment, it was established that Schwarzenegger was unqualified for high office because he's foreign born.
I was with you until the Ryan reference, Liberty. Observing him from his last senate run here in Ohio, he doesn't know which way is up. He ran a completely inept campaign, trying to cater to the MAGAs and the macho wannabes, and lost everybody in the process.
Denise - Agree. Ramaswarmy was even worse and now look where he’s at. At least the governor won’t nominate him for Vance’s seat but the alternatives are just as scary. We just lost Brown to a car salesman for goodness sake. LaRose took away disability rights by changing ballot drop box rules right at the end. And don’t get me started on the republicans who changed the wording on Issue One to get it to fail - and it worked. I originally had high hopes for Ryan but he let us down.
You mean the same Ryan who blasted the democrats for helping migrants in large cities when others bitched that these people were getting something for free when they had to work for it ?
Ryan was seriously angry at people (democrats?) in certain cities for being so foolhardy as to shelter and feed these migrants. And ignoring how this looked to others.
so decisive. talk to Nancy, first.
"Lose the country rather than hurt anyone's feelings". That describes Democrats perfectly
Great idea
Let's put together a list of such people. Quick witted, gutsy, unafraid, knowledgeable and courageous.
Is it possible to express and opinion without inserting ageism?
But, as shown by the recent elections,most of the public doesn’t care. Having to pay less for goods is really all they care about. And that is not the Democrats in congress’s fault.
They don’t care because they attended corrupt schools that didn’t teach citizenship. Check out WhiteChalkCrime.com. Listen to five teacher whistleblowers tell you how great called to teach teachers have been banished. That podcast was done in 2019. We tried to warn people we’d lose our democracy but people don’t listen to teachers. When I taught it was just like what’s before us now - an autocratic system based on loyalty, not competence. Half of society is other centered. People like you didn’t need schools as much. Teachers used to help people who couldn’t access their better angels learn to access them. Now they are on their own. Learn about this and get on a school board on the save democracy platform. Boards control schools but now administrators control board members. We have the power to change that.
We can’t blame people for not being taught citizenship. We must blame administrators and the teachers unions for going along to get along and government and the media doing nothing about this. However, once you learn how much power administrators have you’ll even forgive the unions and all the teachers who remained silent.
I’ve been trying to expose this since 1995. I’ve made no money. It cost me my job and then money to stay on this path. People don’t listen to teachers. I wrote a memoir describing my journey and it included Oprah’s researcher calling me with my 2008 book in hand. She did nothing.
It’s our schools that brought us to the altar of Trump. Our only chance to save democracy is people becoming educated about this.
This is the truth. I feel like dumbing down America was part of the master plan.
Flood the zone, that is what Trump does. At debates, rallies, interviews he floods the zone with bullshit and lies, too many to keep up with.
A reporter would need a whole day just to fact check and correct 1 minute of Trump's bullshit, and it has worked.
Tribal people want to obliterate the perceived threat, not hold rational debates.
Humans are tribal, Or let me put it this way, most humans are dogs, a few are cats. Cat people are not tribal, that's why JD Vance hates Cat Ladies,
Among dog people, the outsider, anyone who is not like me, is perceived as a threat.
I read quora.com daily, and there is one thread that is dominated by Christians and Muslim who are threatened by non believers.
Christianity doesn't have an scripture that commands to kill or convert non believers, or at least allow them to live if they accept subjugation as second class citizens, Islam does.
Could it be confirmation bias, William? The Bible commands the killing of idolaters, apostates, and witches, just as the Quran does. The Quran states that it is Judaism and Christianity written in Arabic. The bloody Crusades, blessed by popes and bishops, were not violations of Christianity. Antisemitism has its roots in the Bible. To be appreciated and understood, religious scriptures must be read in their proper historical context. Their use to promote political agendas is the cause of much suffering.
Forgot to mention, the Muslims believe that the Quran was written by Muhammad, an illiterate camel driver and thief, not from Christian and Jewish sources in fact in Medina, he had the entire tribe of Quaryza, a Jewish tribe. banu Quaryza, beheaded because he wanted their wealth, well it doesn't say exactly that in the Quran, but one can read between the lines.
Yeh I guess I forgot the slaughter of the Amelkites and Jericho, and the command by Moses to his brother Aaron to gather his cuthroats and slip through the tents at night slitting the throats of half the tribe, because they laughed at him and reject his story about god giving him commandments (not just 10, but 613 of them in Leviticus, but after that there is nothing said or done forcing people to convert, in fact Judaism eschews conversion.
The Quran does not state that it is Judaism and Christianity written in Arabic.
I have studied the Quran, and it is cribbed from Judaism and Christianity, but that actually took place during the Umayyad and Abassid Dynasties.
What the writers of the Quran and hadiths did was to legitimize themselves by incorporating aspects of Judaism and Christianity into it.
IMLO. Muhammad was a moon worshiper, The pre Muhammad Arabs worshiped al Lihah (the moon, contracted into Allah), the vestiges of that are seen atop minarets, the Turkish flag and other flags as the New Moon and the planet Venus (al Uzza) as a star. The worshiped three planets, but Venus was chief. Salman Rushdie wrote about it and has a death fatwa on his head.
But there is nothing in the Quran that states it is Judaism and Christianity writen in Arabic.
The passing mention, a nod to Christianity is a woman named Miriam, who is seduced by the Angel Gabirel appeaing as a handsome and glowing man, and her giving birth to Issa.
The idea of a son of god being Crucified is abhorrent to Islam, their messiah or mahdi is yet to come.,but you will know the hour and the day, when all of the Jews are wiped out in a final pogrom, Book sahih 1295/1296 book 56, hadith 139 al Bukhari, also para 7, article 7 of the HAMAS covenant.
"The stone will cry out, there is a Jew behind me, kill him" Quran 32: 26.35 I believe.
I don't have to read religious scripures in their proper context when I have examples in front of me at this moment, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Malyasia, Indonesia, Libya, Morocco, and even Egypt and Gaza/WestBank.
Sorry Ms A wasn't all that effective IMO.
How about Sally Yates?
Well, how many of the American people would actually take the time to read these reports? I mean, people like us only, most likely. The rest, the ones to actually convince, will just say it's lies and that Faux Newz warned them the radical left would try with all their might to make Trump look bad. Until the Trump cult is broken, I am not sure it make any difference.
Bullet points, pictures, and icons. Maybe some emojis.
On the wrappers of Big Mac’s.
Lots of emojis and add in some memes. Can't get enough of them memes!
Perot style flip charts.
We need a radio presence like Fox has!! We need a large network conglomerate!!
the last thing we need, is to be a ‘Fox News’.
Please understand that their spider network is something to behold—their content is of course reprehensible but that’s not the point…they manage to get their propaganda into every crevice of small-town and large-town America.
That's right. It's exactly what they did and the only way to fight back. I honestly don't know why "progressives" lack a spine; especially the rich ones. SMFH
Not going to do anything. The vast majority of the Americans who voted for Trump either simply do not read (seriously, this is one element of what I learned by engaging Trump supporters this summer & autumn) or they are totally brainwashed to believe that Trump is the BIG VICTIM, and ANY & ALL reports of Trump's wrong doing come from "haters" who despise conservative and/or the working class. This brainwashing is a HUGE hurdle for us to overcome if we want to wrest our country from this fascist con-artist.
Exactly. Brainwashing helped trump to win. How do you combat that?
But it must be analyzed as to how to combat because it is a crucial issue.
There are so many reasons why trump won, and I don’t think it would’ve mattered who the Dems nominated, they would have been up against the same tactics the trump people use that were very effective.
RFK Jr.-----This guy isn't stupid, he's operating on Trump's playing field, which is positioned somewhere just South of dumb. If young Bobby is responsible, even remotely, for interfering with the inoculations given to our children to ward off communicable diseases, their deaths will rest squarely upon his shoulders. How ignorant can a man be? Well, he left his party of suck up to a fascist pig, that sure sounds stupid to me. The destruction this man could wield upon our country, during his association with Trump, is beyond anything Heinrich Himmler ever dreamed of while orchestrating the extermination of the Jews in Europe. Well, perhaps not quite that bad, but pretty close. This jerk is shaping up to become Trump's "Drano," which Donnie Boy will employ to dislodge our Democracy, like a clog from an old sink. All done with the willing assistance of a "Kennedy," no less.
I think RFK Jr is certifiably insane. His comments and actions prove that.
The Senate will not consent to his appointment, and even if he gets it Trump will likely remove him in short order. Trump nominated him to reward him, and his billionaire backer (T. Mellon) for their support. Trump is not suicidal.
Also, the House must release the unredacted “Ethics” report on Matt Gaetz and his girlfriends.
This is the first time I have ever used “Ethics” and “Matt Gaetz” in the same sentence.
This must be done immediately. We need to pressure the AG to ensure this is done
Why? What has the DOJ done in the last 4 years. Trump's last cabinet faced no accountability for their crimes, etc.
GrrlScientst : Great idea, but it would have to happen fast. Anyone who does not see who tRUMP is , has not been paying attention . He has used speed as his tactic, when he isn't slowing justice to a stand still. Warp speed at this point. Or it will not happen. No fooling around
Laurie - I think the only way we see it is if someone leaks it. They will then of course blame the Democrats for doing it - even if they didn’t.
Yes.
I agree with you but many of the people would never see. The right wing networks would not carry it. For the first time in our history we will have a president, vice president, cabinet, much of congress and many right wing networks more dedicated to Putin and Russian than to our country.
I agree that it should all be released, but I doubt any of the Americans who voted for him will bother to read it. However, it needs to be preserved somehow for history, because I’m sure Trump will have all of the evidence destroyed.
Yes. Someone made the point the other day that, even if (when) Jack Smith shuts down his cases, all of his evidence should be made public, so there's a record for posterity.
Agreed. BUT the true believers believe that the Mueller and Smith and Congressional ethics report are fictional hack jobs promoted by The Libs aka TEW..the enemy within. Those who believe free public education is perverting their children, that science-based public health causes ??, that South Dakota is being overrun from the Mexican border (ask the Sioux tribes what they think about immigrants), that everyone has a right to an AR-15 or 23 or 47 to "defend" themselves from??. Do you really think they would read much less believe ANYTHING not from their own echo-lab? Those us who come here would likely be even more appalled...would it strengthen our hand now?
Release by what means? Surely the chicken-hearted, bought and paid for MSM won't pick up on it. The only option is sites like this and MTN, which the diehard Trumpists will refuse to look at anyway. Hell, a good many of them will fall all over themselves lining up to sign up for DHS. At least under the benign directorship of Noem, we'll be safe from frolicking puppies.
The old joke 'so&so is that unpopular, they wouldn't even get nominated for dog catcher,' has a new spin with kristi noem.
I'm skeptical about whether the USonian public cares. We've had a decade to see who/what Trump is, but he's still elected with a congress & court system to back him up.
Too bloody late!
I doubt that this is news to any of your readers. We are all well aware of what he's trying to do and most of us--at least I did--expected him to move like lightning. A blitzkrieg works because the speed of the attack is so shocking people give up.
So now that you've listed all the ways this will result in Fascist America, how about some solid, actions we can take to stop this. I think we will end up in the streets (again) and at age 79 that doesn't sound like much fun, but I've marched before. You're very good as asking "What do you think?" while presenting few solutions or options.
One thing I'd like to see you work on is bringing all the voices (you, HCR, Joyce Vance) together to speak with one voice to drown out Fox News, and the rest. We need to cut through the noise. I have no doubt that when things get really awful, and people are dying without medical care, or are contracting listeria and E. Coli because food is no longer inspected, or the next pandemic hits, Trump voters (at least some of them) will join us to make society work. But do we really have to wait until millions are dead?
we need a media source where the facts on a whole host of issues get published. Many of the post in this blog have excellent information the rest of the country should know. We indeed need an alternative to fox news and X
Mark Cuban has said he would love to buy Fox. Why don't some of the billionaires get together with him and make it happen?
Fox News will die the day it stops being anti-woke.
But if the price were right, would the Murdochs sell it?
If Fox is put up for sale, what are the odds that Elon Musk would buy it? In any case I don’t think it would happen as long as Trump is in office. He’s a cash cow they feast on.
Yes! We need an effective speaker to lead the charge and a vehicle to disseminate the incontrovertible truths. Perhaps The Onion’s purchase of Info Wars would be a starting point?
good idea Debi!
I thought so..but just read that the purchase is being held up in court..already.
My thought exactly, Debi. Also, people like Thom Hartmann do regular broadcasts.
Scott Dworkin and team are working to get accurate reporting and to hold media accountable. 👍👍
https://substack.com/@scottdworkin
People are already dying without medical care because they lack insurance or the ability to maneuver through the complicated insurance they are paying for. People are already dying of listeria and e. coli although I know a hardworking, dedicated person who was fired for trying to get the food company she worked for to follow the testing regulations.
I voted for Harris, but I understand why frustrated people gave up on the Democrats.
I guess I don't understand why people gave up on Democrats unless they simply didn't understand what each party stood for...... Totalitarian v. Democracy. Dictator v. Constitution.
The Democratic Party became a party of the rich or the panderers of the rich. Biden did do some good things, but mostly to please the progressives. He still is giving anything Netanyahu wants although he is a murdering thug!
Netty is an albatross around America’s neck.
Many people have UV protection from polarized lenses that show different values: family-values means Christianizing sharia-like measures against women. It means keeping "the government" out of your business but not out of your body. In the absence of a single documented case of somebody "standing their ground" with an AR-15 against illegal alien home invaders, 2nd Amendment rights outweigh voting rights in their minds.
This will take a generation to fix. I think we're lookin' at 40 years in the desert. I hope not.
Dedicated fascists vs. corporate collaborators, incompetent drones, and AIPAC whores.
In speaking with some of my younger friends who are raising families and working 2-3 jobs despite having masters degrees…it came down to the price of milk and eggs. In the ‘90s, James Carville came up with a simple slogan: “it’s the economy, stupid.” That won the WH for Bill Clinton.
Many voters dismissed Trump as not being serious, as being funny, as just being…Trump. “Nothing will happen,” was the common mantra. There was no convincing otherwise. We’ve been effectively dumbed down and beaten down from years of right wing propaganda, an increasingly ineffective Fourth Estate, and price gouging.
Since there was no inflation and Trump blocked the bipartisan border bill that leaves the third one for whoever believes that’s true.
It looks like most people finally did understand what each party stands for. Democrats stand for Totalitarianism and Dictatorship, and Republicans stand for representative government (a republic - not a democracy) and adhering to the Constitution. It was Democrats who ordered the FBI to pressure social media companies to limit free speech on their web sites. It was Democrats who tried to censor and ban "misinformation" instead of just presenting credible arguments in the marketplace of ideas. It was Democrats who weaponized the Federal government against political opponents. That's just scratching the surface. Leftists lack self-awareness, knowledge of the truth, and basic reasoning skills. Leftists need to look at reality instead of their (false) talking points.
Fascists accuse other of doing what they are doing to legitimize their rejection of morality. No, Howard?
This is sarcasm, right?
Well said Troll.. all backwards.
They didn't understand. Because Democrats cannot create a scandal out of many real scandals...and Republicans create scandals out of nothing.
The reason is the border, inflation, and ignorance.
Well, more people are going to be dying from these problems and more under Trump. Yes, let's keep dumping on the Democratic Party and ignore the fact that many Americans are ignorant and bigoted, and voted accordingly.
The progressive fantasy of a virtuous populace that will vote rationally never ceases to amaze.
Do you think folks voted for Trump even though they knew how evil and destructive he was? This sounds like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
No, the few extra votes Trump got this time came from those who did not trust the Democrats to improve their economic situation. He already had the racist and misogynist vote in his pocket. People ignored the evil for the false idea that their pocket book would fatten.
Not exactly. My childhood friends are in their 70’s. Their own kids are in their 40’s. Sadly, they all sacrificed our democracy for some income tax savings and gleefully support the MAGA rhetoric. These folks used to be normies & have lost their way.
Do you know what caused them to lose their way? I’m interested to know.. is it because they got brainwashed by right wing media? And if so, how does one go from being a normie to gleefully supporting MAGA rhetoric? I just don’t get it. I guess this is how cults are formed but I’d really like to understand the actual mechanisms.
Harris lost primarily because of Dems’ failure to turn out people who voted for them last time. But why?
I’m looking at you, Jaime Harrison.
I heard AOC on The Reid Out last night, and one thing she said really struck me. She said those who are working 3 jobs to make ends meet, or 3 shifts, aren’t sitting around in the morning drinking coffee and reading the news. Their days are all about work and taking care of kids, etc. I truly believe that many of the ones who voted for him had no clue what they were unleashing on this country.
I agree, Kristin
They knew. They didn’t care. They wanted cheaper eggs, bread and gas. Democracy what’s that??
From conversations I’ve had with people I know who voted for Trump, it was a one issue decision for them, either Israel, or the economy, neither of which should supersede the importance of maintaining a strong democracy on our own soil. Israel is certainly a vital ally, but as long as it’s government remains corrupted by right wing fanatics, its power as an ally is tragically hobbled. I am no economist, but I know enough to understand that our economy is always unbalanced by the uneven distribution of wealth among us. The people that voted for him truly do not understand that not only does he not care about Israel except as a future lucrative location for yet another Trump resort or golf club, but he will continue to do his best to damage our country and maintain the welfare queens that comprise the wealthy classes.
They voted for him because he is evil and entertains them.
In a word, yes. By the thousands. The guy at the orange-man rally who said his candidate could murder someone on the White House steps and still get his vote, wasn't alone.
Mark Cuban needs to follow the DJT model. It was a creative back door method. Now Trump is really a billionaire and on his way to become a King.
Dying in horrific unimaginable agony trapped in an Elon Musk TESLA CAR FIRE, not that many burned into ashes so "nothing to see here, move along"
This right here👆🏻 Karla, you are 100% correct in your assessment. What a waste of precious energy to play “the world will end” card over and over again. I mean, just look at the alarming image Robert including in the OP. Stand up and do something. Join Indivisible, volunteer for the ACLU, do something instead of adding to an already volatile environment.
@OM, Thank you for writing. I was about to post a similar comment, but chose first to read the ones already posted. I simply would add that SwingLeft, on November 19th 8:00pm ET, will hold a 2025-2026 strategy Zoom, replete with an analysis of how we got here and a plan for how we proceed. swingleft.org
Thank you! I’m signing up now.
Where's the link!
Miriam, As noted in my comment, google swingleft.org
Please detail what specific actions to take. I’m all for doing something but until I have an idea of what to do, that will move the needle in a significant way, I am not convinced. I just poured my energy and dollars into Kamala’s campaign and we lost. . I’m sure lots of people feel exhausted and dispirited, and rightfully so. If you have specific suggestions that you know will counter what is coming, please lay it out in detail
nope, rump supporters won’t switch sides no matter how grim things get, they have sidled up to the buffet of bs and will gorge on it till they die
Meidas Plus is planning on doing just that, as is Mary Trump. Independent non profit media has been doing it but need more support to get the word out.
Thom Hartmann, Qasim Rashid, Wajahat Ali, Jay Kuo, & Mary Trump are some of my favorites.
My Gen Zs don't get the reference: "Always look on the bright side of life," and "Bring out your dead...I'm not dead yet." From the same movie. We need a new way of talking to them. They don't remember Life Before Trump (no G no Q no T.) They do not remember our history or how we knew who to trust.
White anxiety is what fuels Republicans. Trump's presidency may calm them down. Trump's failures will woke some of them. It is a good thing that Reps now have a trifecta, for they will not be able to blame Dems for their blunders.
We need an equivalent presence to Fox. A unified front
Hi Karla - I'll bring you a big fluffly coat and a hot chocolate for the march. There is much we can do and will do. A media channel to gather all of the amazing LEAD THE FUTURE people would be great and give hope to millions of us. We need a counter point to Fox etc and MSNBC can only do so much. I go every day from reading Professor Reich's to reading HCR to Timothy Synder to Lucid with Ruth Ben-Giat and Joyce Vance. We are powerful and a force that millions here and around the world are counting on. Together we can protect each other and gain strength and support to keep going. These people are dangerous - but the lack of knowledge running these big organizations will be of consequence. Incompetence was part of Don's failure before - and now he has more help... but he's still picking wildly outrageous people ill suited to really do the job. Let us pray that this all contributes again to his not being able to do so much. He is taking action towards the outlines of 2025 but he's choosing people who lack the implementation backgound to do so. That's my silly hope so far.
Millions of people don't know the mechanisms and control points for turning the country into a police state.
It's likely most Americans can't even imagine what 'police state' might mean.
We need to talk about the police state, because in a very real sense we already live in one. The internet is "policing" us 24/7. The fascists will have all that information in hand if they manage to gut our laws and institutions. Corporations will gladly sell them that information.
Your comment is fear mongering. We all survived Trumps first administration and we will survive his second.
I would never go or a march and put myself in harm's way. My town's having a big anti-abortion march tomorrow. I have no interest in freak shows and will not attend the counter-demo.
I'm seeing protests sprout up all over. Guess they'll do it while they still can without being rounded up or shot at. Wish they had done it (for more than just Israel-Gaza) on the leadup to this election.
Trump has already told us what he will do with such protests.
If 5,000 people march, is he really going to have them shot down? I think that would be a disastrous mistake on his part.
I think that's fine. We can only do what we feel we can do without endangering our lives. And no blame to anyone for NOT sticking their neck out. Will he shoot protestors? I don't know but I'm guessing not. He has no mandate despite claiming one, and shooting down protestors isn't going to work the way he thinks it will. It may stop people from getting into the streets, but my guess is that efforts will just go underground. I honestly have no idea what's going to happen, and the uncertainty is perhaps the most crippling thing of all.
Another thing most of these people, including Trump, have in common is acting like a Russian asset.
Isn't that why Tulsi was selected?
Some of these people do not even bother to try and hide who they are. They are totally fine with themselves…knowing they have the necessary power. What has become of politicians who love America?
They love money, control & power. They're about what America can do for them, not what they can do for America. People don't vote in local elections, let alone scrutinize who they're putting in there. Every 4 years I'm screaming about voting locally and people act like I'm speaking another language. Gone are the days of civics where people took the time to know their local politicians, school officials, city officials, etc.
You got it!
Russia is a constant in our country these days… the Red Russian Republican Party enables the takeover.
Ever since 1972 when Nixon & Kissinger went to China to kiss Mao’s fat ass!
GH
Good point, Jaime.
They’re not acting.
Not acting
Actually we need to play hardball. We still have the military until January. We need to get serious and dismantle this fascist movement immediately! Once Trump controls the military it’s all over.
#ArrestTrumpNow
This. Why does no one understand the nature of the threat? How has the “transition” become so normalized? Is anybody in the US government paying attention? What. The. FUCK. These sociopaths are going to have nukes in 2 months.
Well, nobody is worried about nukes. These bad characters aren't either. Why use nuclear weapons when they can blow up this country from the inside-out and not have to worry about themselves in the process? That is their aim.
I agree! As the days go by I feel that I'm watching some slow motion hostile takeover of the US, yet I must be mistaken, because WTF....why is NO ONE in the current administration or mainstream media displaying any sense of urgency!?
If only Biden had total immunity and could do whatever he wanted over the next 8 weeks!
Oh, wait a minute.......
Biden needs to ACT to end the greatest threat we’ve ever had to our democratic form of government! You have immunity, Joe!!!
Absolutely agree. But see no sign of Joe listening. Or acting.
If Trump gets control of the NSA he will get control of the military.
No, I think you've hit it square on the head. Trump is only interested in fealty. To him. In the last 24 hours I've seen ruthless comments from his minions about eviscerating Veterans Health Care, NASA, and I'm sure Medicare, ACA and Social Security will soon be on the block. I'm fairly certain that in the end, the goal is to gain as much money and power as his boyfriend, Putin, and if the rest of us starve or die in the streets, oh well. He loves Kim Jung Un who starves his own people. He loves Victor Orban who ruthlessly rules Hungary with his so-called Christian nationalism. He loves that these men have absolute authority and he wants that too. I wonder how the folks here in Florida who fly flags praising him will feel when they have nothing.
I'm on Social Security and Medicare and have no idea what to do if he cuts those. Although I don't see how he can simply take them away because we have paid into them for decades. I don't think even he and his craven ass-lickers can stand up against the hell that would be unleashed if he tried this. What really galls me is his cutting benefits for wounded veterans and gutting the VA. If you aren't going to take care of service personnel, STOP SENDING THEM TO WAR!!
Karla, I hope for all our sake you are right about the backlash however my fear is they honestly do not care. I anticipate tanks in the streets against Americans trying to get their rights back that they gave away in this so-called free and fair election.
It will be important live in a state that will prevent federal troops from firing on Americans. This is a good time to read about the power of states rights. I doubt the military will be complicit so trump will have develop his own ss troops and he will
Richard, Trumpty has already called for his group to rework military leadership to be loyal to him...stop the naivety. The guns, tanks are here and will be turned on us.
Can a state prevent federal troops from entering it? I am wondering about moving to a blue state but wonder actual powers the states will have. And even if they can do that, if federal programs like HHS, Medicare, SS are wiped out, can individual states create their own systems?
The money is 70% Blue states. We must threaten Blue state secession.
Okay Janice you understand fascism and how it works. The rest of America still has to see it, understand it, before they will do anything about it. By then it may well be too late. Welcome to Russia comrades.
So-called is right. Free and fair, my ass!
With Fox News running the Pentagon you gotta know they're going out to get some great footage. Back in the day I protested the VN war. But I have come to respect the professional military.
Pretty sure that project 2025 leaves people already on Social Security alone…
IMHO he is as interested in stealing the national treasury so he can rival Musk and Bezos as the world's richest man.
We are the richest country in the world because so many are employed AND the middle class pays its taxes. We are ripe for plucking and they know it. More than half of the American registered voters wrapped the country up in a big proverbial bow and gave it to these people to pillage.
It’s all about money and power and we’ve got both—for now, at any rate. Organized crime comes in many forms and disguises.
G.P. I think white collar crime in the US has been skyrocketing for decades with slaps on the hand as consequence, if anything at all. We will be run by these criminals NOW. I can not understand how we are all sitting around as these Mobsters alter the military to shoot us and do the dirty work. If you imagine we are not now headed to NAZI USA , you are blind, deaf and dumb. This would be the time to stop it. BOYCOTT ever thing, shut your body to sex ( the white men ran to the polls to vote for crushing us women and children- I saw them), we should all be peaceful in the streets, telling current Congress to double the Supreme Court now ( who have from within deconstructed democracy), put the ERA on the books , and stop the planned COUP. To watch this happen and yack is the sign of our great weakness! Trumpty will shut Inequality Media down in one second!
Imagine complete privitization. Sale of all goveernment assets. Real estate. Intellectual property.
Naming rights. Trump White House, literally. Musk space center. Bezos postal service.
Half the country voted for this utmost vile person, so when they are on the receiving end, then maybe then, they will then see the error of their ways, but by then perhaps? it will be, too little, too late, welcome to your new America you have chosen for us all, Trumps America, with our rights and freedoms in ruin
G.P. and John, it is not true that more than half of ‘this country or of registered voters voted for this horror show. 93 million did not vote, and the actual winning margin was close to 1.5%. While that may be only mildly comforting, it is very important to remember.
I know, I was just generalizing, still it is so pathetic, with ALL the horrible and inhuman, vile things, that Trump has said and done, young white male voters and especially, good percentage white female voters, who said, at the same time, they wanted abortion rights protected, still!!! voted for Trump, because of such things as, race, being a woman, and the ego of machismo by some Hispanic male voters
It was a third of the country. Low voter turnout.
"Look... Why take a chance?"
https://youtu.be/Ka7hSZhgplk?feature=shared
I remember that movie. Maybe I should watch it again. Don't know why I like movies like that. I'm not a gangsta. LOL
I know that reference!
I hate to beat a dead horse as to the values of the American people but while all the points made in this piece and the responses to it are valid, their validity extends only to those who are informed and whose moral compass points towards altruism. That leaves out half the people in this country. Kamala Harris won voters who pay attention to current events by six points. Donald Trump by contrast attracted those identified as low, or no information voters by nineteen points. While those who read this newsletter are concerned by Trump’s appointments and fascistic nature of what lies ahead, most Americans aren’t. What they’re focused on is the prices — for gas, food, rent, etc. and as long as they are fed their daily diet of lies via the rightwing sound machine and the cost of living is manageable, they are going to be content. They sad fact is, the people liberals are constantly criticized for speaking down to don’t give a tinker’s damn about democracy or any other abstractions such as which lowlife Donald Trump is appointing to head which department and they won’t until one of policies those lowlifes implement comes up and bites them on the ass. And, if that doesn’t happen, the Trumpanistas are going to have their way with the country.
Democrats are picking their campaign apart trying to figure out what went wrong; but there is nothing they could have done as long as the right-wing media, especially Fox, is spewing disinformation; and that is all the less-informed, less-educated dupes are listening to. The media Made Americans Gullible Assholes.
This. It’s been slowing permeating tge American psyche. Fox bought up a bunch of tiny stations allll over the country. I watched it happen with my local station. All of a sudden their slant on “news” was totally to the right. I stopped listening…turns out the station was purchased by Murdoch.
Jim it will be up to individual states to change this dynamic. We need to make things more affordable while feeding correct information to the masses. Federal government will be in disarray so there will not be economic relief from trumpism and the people who voted for him will suffer greatly. I think this represents an opportunity for effect change but we have to stop vilifying trump supporters. We need to use mass media to educate
Hard to educate people who refuse to open their eyes to see, read and comprehend. The mass media is owned by oligarchs seeking to, or curry favor in the Trump government.
Ridiculous comment. Major news outlets are all liberal owned by oligarchs. Your statement is entirely false.
Like Rupert Murdoch? That's laughably false. Name some.
May, what do you mean by "liberal"?
Many upper middle class white folk voted for Trumpty the mobster also. They love their goodies and want to pay no taxes.
Mary, any upper-middle class white people who voted for trump to avoid taxes are also sadly misinformed. They are not wealthy enough to benefit from the trump tax cuts. Over 80% went to large corporations and the extremely rich. Perhaps racism and misogyny played a role in their votes.
Yes, we need to create a new mass media.
I have a feeling that in the future, at some point, the avenue to “educate” will be drying up for fear of reprisals. Paranoid people love black lists of all kinds. People attempting to curry favor love to point out enemies. States who don’t comply and agree will be sat on by Republicans or whatever the new and improved party name will be.
Trump supporters have been given plenty of warnings over these 10 years. They want Trump’s invective. Only force and confrontation will stop the fascist movement now.
#ArrestTrumpNow
Most people can't figure out who to blame. They only understand that something bad happened.
Not true.
It's ALWAYS a Democrat at fault, including MANY leaders (Obama/Hillary, etc) NOT presently in office -- but you can't tell any Q - MAGA cultists in a way they ever hear or believe.
Grown tired of hearing hatefully sarcastic comments online on how they're "enjoying this" --while interrupting me & others sharing, & commiserating.
Oftentimes happens while several of us bother attempting to "prove" well established FACTS/TRUTH.
Even intelligent progressive-minded people have the attention span of fleas. But you're right 100%. If people get this low down the comments, they might see it. That's what I mean by attention spans; they won't get this far down. LOL
Yes, but they will mess up.
The alarms have been sounding loudly since Trump came down the golden escalator! These appointments are robotic. These unqualified people are just loyalists who will be nothing but patsies for Trump. He will overrule any decisions they make that he doesn’t like!
There is one hope. Trump is a dumb as they come. An idiot at the top has a tendency to put placemen in his team. One reason is they are no threat to him. He either has something on all of them or he knows they are dimwits too. If you give an idiot power, he has no idea how to use if efficiently. This is one thing Hitler did get right when he was assembling his team. Himmler and Heydrich were unswerving loyalists, but they were also highly competent, efficient and ruthless. The same can't be said for Trump's loyalists. They mostly seem to be as stupid as he is.
Shady Vance will be in charge in a year, running USA, Inc., for the benefit of Thiel and the CryptoBros… and Pootin.
https://www.arcamax.com/politics/editorialcartoons/mikeluckovich/s-3485651
The Peter principle is in play here!
Not so sure about Gabbard. I find her inscrutable. The best explanation for her behavior is that she's loyal to Putin over anyone else but herself (so is Trump, by the way).
Gabard is an Islamophobe and, most likely, a Sinophobe as well. She is a mercenary for sure.
Actually I believe that he will tell them what decisions to make. When you hear them make decisions just think - this is what Trump is saying and telling them to say.
Yes, Keith, and that's why they will do nothing as long as they don't get instructions.
Biden Has Immunity! He needs to use it!!
Biden is not going to use 'immunity'. Hes a 'by gone era' institutionalist & won't Rock the boat...and some in admin may fear that this 'immunity' may not really be extended to Biden...if you know what I mean
Sorry, but he's a pussy. He's not going to lower the hammer on all those people. He's too busy trying to look "good" to them. SMFH
A Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, speaking after the battle of Gettysburg, referred to the persistence of a “government of the people, by the people, for the people,” speaking of the sacrifices made that such a government “shall not perish from the earth.”
We appear now, under a Republican president, to be hearing of efforts to shape a government of the president, by the president, and for the president.
The question now, really, is whether Republicans in the senate and house will give carte blanche to these self-serving nominations. What's your analysis of that ?
They will most certainly give him carte Blanche. They are too cowardly to do otherwise.
they are not cowardly, they are aspiring oligarchs who share his values
If Gaetz was not a coward he would have stayed in his house position until confirmed. Cowardice is detected by actions, not words.
Hitler 1933!
Once upon a time we were an imperfect democracy striving to become a better & stronger democracy. But Reagan started us on the road to becoming a plutocracy & corporatocracy. Trump & the Republicans have taken us various directions like aristocracy, autocracy, theocracy, kleptocracy, mafiocracy, idiocracy & kakistocracy. Best term for it now is trumpocracy, a form of government that contains elements of all these government forms, & is especially characterized by lying, cheating, trickery & tromperie.
Wow. So true. Reagan destroyed family life when he gutted the unions. So families couldn't survive on one salary. Then he deleted the Fairness Act. So many more things he did because of greed. Worst president ever.
Until Trump
Andrea Mitchell gets all dreamy when she mentions Reagan 😂
Don't forget treason and brutality.
Ford started us down this road when he pardoned Nixon. Yes, it turns out, some people ARE above the law. GOP learned the lesson well. Never forget it was Ford’s act that led us here by shining a big flood light on the ease with which to allow corruption.
Failure to hold the criminal, traitorous president accountable, a trend that continued through subsequent presidencies.
Vocabulary word of the day, kakistocracy. That’s a new one for me. I intend to use it often. Thanks, Jaime.
BE ALARMIST! This is a 5 ALARM FIRE!!!!!
Their utter incompetence may be the only thing that prevents total destruction.
It occurs to me that another part of The Convicted Felon’s strategy with these appointments is to spur an immediate exodus from government by capable people who wish to avoid being purged once these manifestly unqualified loyalists are in place. This will leave thousands of vacancies to be filled by other automatons - or simply to be left open, and culled as part of the Musk “efficiency” strategy (which echoes the Reagan-era “Starve The Beast” small-government “philosophy”). In any event, it’s all about chaos and retribution and “owning the libs” and punitive destruction by people who know nothing about governing and care even less. We are in for the fight of our lives, dear friends.
Yes we are, and I'm too damn old to fight, but will have to figure something out. I looked into leaving, but I'll have to do a few things that will take time to put together. By that time, the shit show will have begun and Americans' names will be mud around the world. Canada is already shutting down because they don't want us overwhelming their systems.
Strap in for #RepubloFascism. Looks like the Trump clown car has a turret and a really big gun.
But if they try to roll right over all the liberals, Trump voters are going to realize they’re going to be squashed too economically, and many of the freedoms they’ve taken for granted will go poof.
And mark my words, if it gets really bad, it will be Trump asking for the guns by 2022. The second amendment was just an intoxicating way to attract voters, but nothing he’ll allow them to maintain if they are pissed at him.
Again we need to be strategic. Let the oligarchs know our disdain for fascism by boycotting their products until they put financial pressure on trumpism and they will since profits is their main motive
Yep I emptied my Amazon cart as well as my WalMart grocery cart. Buying small and local. Dumped MSNBC, CNN, Washington Post because they normalized this political disaster. YouTube feeds I suspected of supporting rump values also hit the shitcan. It’s a start.
How about Trader Joe’s which is owned privately by the richest Germans who also own Peets Coffee. At least with Starbucks or McDonald’s the public can by shares and participate in the gains and share the losses.
We might be devolving, rapidly, into a 21st Century version of warlordism.
Violent.
In that case, I have a Toyota Tacoma for sale (white, of course). Too bad pro-insurrectionist Toyota doesn't offer the machine guns as an optional accessory (yet).
This is deja vu. E.G. GWB, made 171 recess appointments (average of 21 per year)..E.G. I worked for DOL when it was anti-labor. Imagine the general counsel of the NLRB who was anti-union. https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33310.html#_Toc227635494
Hey Todd - think Russia or better yet the takeover by the old Soviet Union. Which city do you think will be renamed Stalingrad or Putin?
An autocrat like Trump does not want smart people in his cabinet because they may compete with him for power. He wants absolute loyalists and, if possible, people with a dubious past that he can manipulate so they become dependent on him. That is why he comes up with these weird nominations. Whether it is good for the Country or not is totally irrelevant. A shadowy back office manned with conservatives and autocrats (without accountability), dictating policies to be executed by an incompetent cabinet, with accountability and thus dispensable. DOJ will be his private legal defence council, as well as law enforcement who will prosecute anybody who dares to oppose him. For those who have read history, this must look very familiar.........and they also know how this will end and at what horrific price.
It is alarming. Maybe that's why some people want to get out of the US. In which case they are welcome here in the UK. We should also suspend the extradition treaty between ourselves and the US.
Colin:
Does the UK accept cats? Mine are very well behaved (and childless).
Terrorize the country into submission. The billionaire elite funding the chaos don't care who their greedy wealth plundering agenda hurts, how many get hurt, who gets killed. They're psychopaths and what we're witnessing are plans they put into motion decades ago. Elon is mocking the American people on twitter in his usual euphemistic double talk. MAGA will only realize they've been conned when it all comes crashing down and everyone is feeling the pain. The corrupt greedy billionaire class will do anything to keep the criminal syndicate going, but they can't do it if we and our pesky democracy continue getting in their way, so It's time to slam the door shut on that. They win by keeping us divided.
But the oligarchs respond to profits. People are leave X, stop buying teslas, look for alternative to amazon etc Remember these oligarch are only powerful because Americans are such irresponsible over consumers. They will turn on trump if they loose business.
I doubt that the current crop of Americans have the fortitude to give up (anything).
We have become a society of
‘I wants, must have, can’t do without whimps’. I sometimes ask the question, do Americans overall have the fortitude to withstand some of the hardships and sacrifices that our parents and others went through during WWII. Sadly the answer I got was, no.
Non-GOP are already divided by their biases that are getting in the way long before this happened. They capitalized on that weakness. Ours is a splintered existence.