It’s not hard to understand how disenfranchised Americans can be made to understand they’ve been systematically screwed over by the establishment. That’s completely true, and in this way a wider responsibility for these dire circumstances must be borne. It is utterly dumbfounding, however, as to how they can see a vote for Trump as a remedy to this.
His mental illness, that of toxic narcissism, must be explained and revealed; his felonies proven by a jury and he sent to prison so he is unable to further his destruction of our social network and our country. He is a cancer that has spread to Brazil and other countries and must be stopped as surely as Hitler.
Trump is claiming to be the victim of the Deep State. Trump’s false and dystopian portrait of the nation takes to its logical conclusion the narrative Republicans have pushed since the 1980s. Since the days of Ronald Reagan, Republicans have argued that the people that believe the government should regulate business, provide a basic social safety net, protect civil rights, and promote infrastructure are destroying the country by trying to redistribute wealth from hardworking white Americans to undeserving minorities and women. Now Trump has taken that argument to its logical conclusion: that the country has been destroyed by women, Black Americans, Indigenous people, and people of color, who have taken it over and are persecuting people like him.
I’m hoping that the people who have supported him will see that they are being duped and that he only cares about himself and how much money he can siphon from them!
He is again promoting violence by telling his supporters to Save America. The last time he asked people to defend him, more than 1,000 of them—so far—have faced arrest and conviction, while he went back to lying to them on his social platform, playing golf and asking people for money.
What really gets me agitated are his enablers in the House and Senate and Mainstream Media that refuse to call out fascist behavior!!
If Americans are being "screwed over" by "the American system" and 'wokeness' as he claims, then what the heck is he pledging to do to change it? Nothing. His mindset is, "let me be Emperor and it'll all be okay" BUT this particular Emperor has no clothes on, and is too stupid and vain to understand this. Lincoln said "You can't fool all of the people all of the time" - well Trump thinks he can..... Q Anon aside - he might - but I have enough faith in Americans that he can't.
Trump and McCarthy seem poised to ditch democracy for #RepubloFascism. Both are willing to ignore the rule of law, abandon all integrity, and cheat any way they can to retain unjust power.
Looks like they should change the MAGA hats in favor of SAG hats. That’s because both Trump and the entire GOP are willing to.
Squander America’s Greatness
As are 20 or 30 million Americans…
Please feel free to use this terminology. And if some crafty individual puts the above on a red hat, please post the link in the comments below.
And while you’re at it, maybe post a few images of #SeditionCaucus members wearing one. MTG has been busy doing that from day one in the House.
January 20 of 2017 marks the beginning of America's descent into chaos. What a mistake it was to allow such a labile man to assume the leadership of, not only America, but the entire world. Sadly, it seems to be the kind of mistake that is impossible to undo. I often wonder how do those who supported and enabled Trump to become what he became sleep at night. I am of course speaking of the entire GOP; but mainly of those who like Kevin McCarthy, the so-called "third in line for the U.S. presidency, continue support and enable a man like Donald Trump to this day.
“Most Americans believe that no one should be above the law, not even former presidents. But most Americans also believe that former presidents should not be prosecuted for their political beliefs.”
If Trump is prosecuted, it won’t be for his political beliefs, as the Constitution’s First Amendment specifically prohibits any government curtailment of beliefs, and expressions thereof, whether they be religious or political.
If prosecutors are poised to charge Trump, it will be according to specific statutes that have nothing to do with the politics he followed or espoused, BUT to the extent that he promoted, suborned or advocated the violent acts of January 6, 2021, he also passed what, in his written opinion for the majority in the Supreme Court case Scheck v. United States (1919), Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, jr. called his “clear and present danger” test, which Holmes likened to falsely shouting “fire!” In a crowded theater, an act threatening public order and safety (and, in the case of Schenck, national security) to which First Amendment protections of free speech do not extend.
For that and the literal, life-threatening stampede he incited, let him be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Just when I think that Trump and his allies in the GOP can’t get any slimier they prove me wrong every day. My only hope is that enough good Republicans have woken up to the outrageous lies of these idiots and they have become the minority of the party. I live in a very small, conservative town in Southern Oregon and I have yet to see on Trump sign or flag. I find that encouraging. I also keep hearing that Trump is not getting the turn out at his rallies that he used to so he’s lost followers. I find what he says frightening but I am not so sure that he carries as much power as he used to.
The parallels to Hitler throughout Trump’s political career (should I call it a rampage, instead?) are astounding. The appeal to anger, fear, despair -- right out of early and mid-career Hitler’s playbook. After he was jailed and eventually released, Hitler pursued a somewhat subtler version of the anger/fear/despair methodology. If arrested, Trump will likely do the same. He will refine, rewrite his bombast, working an ever-cleverer pursuit of the WH. If he were to succeed like Hitler, and return to the white house, he will never leave except through his own mortality. The only difference between these two sociopaths is that Hitler had a goal, however vile and insane, I.e., world domination, the acquisition of lebensraum, and the annihilation of the Jews, whereas Trump’s only goal is to be in power to avoid his own destruction.
I believe that the delay by the DOJ in bringing charges against Trump has been the most egregious dereliction of duty in the history of our country, and has put the republic in its gravest jeopardy.
Thank you, Professor Reich. Now, tell us how any Republican in office can get away with supporting a lifelong criminal and clearly guilty leader of an insurrection. Trump is only one person, the entire GOP is to blame here.
I believe that political beliefs and crimes committed by trump are two different things. While his supporters think they are political beliefs, we think they are crimes.
Youtube showed some speeches of Mr. Trump that left me flabbergasted. Is this American politics? How annoying, sick, disturbed and egocentric can a politician be?
More so, how empty can a politician be and still be a serious power seeker with big electoral support? What is wrong with American political consciousness?
We can't do anything about what Trump says. So we might stop doing what Trump does, whipping up the base in to hysteria in a never ending search for enemies. Instead....
We should be focused on what we Dems should be doing to ensure victory in 2024. Here's one suggestion...
Biden and Harris should switch places on the ticket.
The biggest threat to our chances of victory could be Biden having a health issue during the campaign. In any case, lots of people have already expressed their concern about his age. If he runs and wins again, he'll be 85 at the end of his presidency. I'm 71, so I get why this is a problem.
Biden said he wanted to be a transitional president, now is the time to fulfill that pledge. We can still benefit from Biden's experience and good judgement, AND remove any concern about his age.
Harris For President
Biden For Vice President
Biden provided wise counsel to Obama, he can do the same for Harris.
There is no legal limit on how many times a person can be VP.
If Biden tops the ticket, we are rolling the dice in a big way, and disaster could be the result.
Our focus should not be on Trump. There is no news there. Our focus should be on making sure we don't screw this up.
He's getting entirely too much free air time. The same media that helped his first campaign by covering him then is doing the same now. How about deflating the sails by refusing to cover his rants? What about giving us more news that's actually worthy of our attention?
It’s not hard to understand how disenfranchised Americans can be made to understand they’ve been systematically screwed over by the establishment. That’s completely true, and in this way a wider responsibility for these dire circumstances must be borne. It is utterly dumbfounding, however, as to how they can see a vote for Trump as a remedy to this.
His mental illness, that of toxic narcissism, must be explained and revealed; his felonies proven by a jury and he sent to prison so he is unable to further his destruction of our social network and our country. He is a cancer that has spread to Brazil and other countries and must be stopped as surely as Hitler.
America is the Real Victim.
Trump is claiming to be the victim of the Deep State. Trump’s false and dystopian portrait of the nation takes to its logical conclusion the narrative Republicans have pushed since the 1980s. Since the days of Ronald Reagan, Republicans have argued that the people that believe the government should regulate business, provide a basic social safety net, protect civil rights, and promote infrastructure are destroying the country by trying to redistribute wealth from hardworking white Americans to undeserving minorities and women. Now Trump has taken that argument to its logical conclusion: that the country has been destroyed by women, Black Americans, Indigenous people, and people of color, who have taken it over and are persecuting people like him.
I’m hoping that the people who have supported him will see that they are being duped and that he only cares about himself and how much money he can siphon from them!
He is again promoting violence by telling his supporters to Save America. The last time he asked people to defend him, more than 1,000 of them—so far—have faced arrest and conviction, while he went back to lying to them on his social platform, playing golf and asking people for money.
What really gets me agitated are his enablers in the House and Senate and Mainstream Media that refuse to call out fascist behavior!!
If Americans are being "screwed over" by "the American system" and 'wokeness' as he claims, then what the heck is he pledging to do to change it? Nothing. His mindset is, "let me be Emperor and it'll all be okay" BUT this particular Emperor has no clothes on, and is too stupid and vain to understand this. Lincoln said "You can't fool all of the people all of the time" - well Trump thinks he can..... Q Anon aside - he might - but I have enough faith in Americans that he can't.
Trump and McCarthy seem poised to ditch democracy for #RepubloFascism. Both are willing to ignore the rule of law, abandon all integrity, and cheat any way they can to retain unjust power.
Looks like they should change the MAGA hats in favor of SAG hats. That’s because both Trump and the entire GOP are willing to.
Squander America’s Greatness
As are 20 or 30 million Americans…
Please feel free to use this terminology. And if some crafty individual puts the above on a red hat, please post the link in the comments below.
And while you’re at it, maybe post a few images of #SeditionCaucus members wearing one. MTG has been busy doing that from day one in the House.
January 20 of 2017 marks the beginning of America's descent into chaos. What a mistake it was to allow such a labile man to assume the leadership of, not only America, but the entire world. Sadly, it seems to be the kind of mistake that is impossible to undo. I often wonder how do those who supported and enabled Trump to become what he became sleep at night. I am of course speaking of the entire GOP; but mainly of those who like Kevin McCarthy, the so-called "third in line for the U.S. presidency, continue support and enable a man like Donald Trump to this day.
“Most Americans believe that no one should be above the law, not even former presidents. But most Americans also believe that former presidents should not be prosecuted for their political beliefs.”
If Trump is prosecuted, it won’t be for his political beliefs, as the Constitution’s First Amendment specifically prohibits any government curtailment of beliefs, and expressions thereof, whether they be religious or political.
If prosecutors are poised to charge Trump, it will be according to specific statutes that have nothing to do with the politics he followed or espoused, BUT to the extent that he promoted, suborned or advocated the violent acts of January 6, 2021, he also passed what, in his written opinion for the majority in the Supreme Court case Scheck v. United States (1919), Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, jr. called his “clear and present danger” test, which Holmes likened to falsely shouting “fire!” In a crowded theater, an act threatening public order and safety (and, in the case of Schenck, national security) to which First Amendment protections of free speech do not extend.
For that and the literal, life-threatening stampede he incited, let him be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Just when I think that Trump and his allies in the GOP can’t get any slimier they prove me wrong every day. My only hope is that enough good Republicans have woken up to the outrageous lies of these idiots and they have become the minority of the party. I live in a very small, conservative town in Southern Oregon and I have yet to see on Trump sign or flag. I find that encouraging. I also keep hearing that Trump is not getting the turn out at his rallies that he used to so he’s lost followers. I find what he says frightening but I am not so sure that he carries as much power as he used to.
The parallels to Hitler throughout Trump’s political career (should I call it a rampage, instead?) are astounding. The appeal to anger, fear, despair -- right out of early and mid-career Hitler’s playbook. After he was jailed and eventually released, Hitler pursued a somewhat subtler version of the anger/fear/despair methodology. If arrested, Trump will likely do the same. He will refine, rewrite his bombast, working an ever-cleverer pursuit of the WH. If he were to succeed like Hitler, and return to the white house, he will never leave except through his own mortality. The only difference between these two sociopaths is that Hitler had a goal, however vile and insane, I.e., world domination, the acquisition of lebensraum, and the annihilation of the Jews, whereas Trump’s only goal is to be in power to avoid his own destruction.
I believe that the delay by the DOJ in bringing charges against Trump has been the most egregious dereliction of duty in the history of our country, and has put the republic in its gravest jeopardy.
Thank you, Professor Reich. Now, tell us how any Republican in office can get away with supporting a lifelong criminal and clearly guilty leader of an insurrection. Trump is only one person, the entire GOP is to blame here.
I believe that political beliefs and crimes committed by trump are two different things. While his supporters think they are political beliefs, we think they are crimes.
Trumps real motive is to become a dictator.
Youtube showed some speeches of Mr. Trump that left me flabbergasted. Is this American politics? How annoying, sick, disturbed and egocentric can a politician be?
More so, how empty can a politician be and still be a serious power seeker with big electoral support? What is wrong with American political consciousness?
We can't do anything about what Trump says. So we might stop doing what Trump does, whipping up the base in to hysteria in a never ending search for enemies. Instead....
We should be focused on what we Dems should be doing to ensure victory in 2024. Here's one suggestion...
Biden and Harris should switch places on the ticket.
The biggest threat to our chances of victory could be Biden having a health issue during the campaign. In any case, lots of people have already expressed their concern about his age. If he runs and wins again, he'll be 85 at the end of his presidency. I'm 71, so I get why this is a problem.
Biden said he wanted to be a transitional president, now is the time to fulfill that pledge. We can still benefit from Biden's experience and good judgement, AND remove any concern about his age.
Harris For President
Biden For Vice President
Biden provided wise counsel to Obama, he can do the same for Harris.
There is no legal limit on how many times a person can be VP.
If Biden tops the ticket, we are rolling the dice in a big way, and disaster could be the result.
Our focus should not be on Trump. There is no news there. Our focus should be on making sure we don't screw this up.
Every time we say the name Trump we are aiding his campaign.
Yelling about Trump again and again and again in a group that already agrees he needs to go serves no useful purpose.
Thanks for the warning, Robert. We will not yield.
He's getting entirely too much free air time. The same media that helped his first campaign by covering him then is doing the same now. How about deflating the sails by refusing to cover his rants? What about giving us more news that's actually worthy of our attention?