The first step for Democrats to start a counteroffensive is recognizing there is a legal solution to stop the insurrection revealed on Jan 6 that has continued and is led by Trump, Republicans, and Musk to destroy democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. The ongoing insurrection violates federal law (18 U.S. Code § 2383).
The solution can be quickly implemented by Democrats enacting and enforcing a new state law modeled after the federal law (18 U.S. Code § 2383) in 7 states where Democrats control the state government. California could be the first state to enact and enforce the law within 90 days which would remove the 9 Republican representatives from California in the Congressional House. The House would then have a Democratic majority of 2024 to 2009 with Jefferies as Speaker of the House to control the budget and make sure Ukraine and Medicaid are fully funded and there will be no tax cuts for the rich. Maryland, New Jersey and Colorado could follow to collectively remove another 8 Republican representatives in the House and then also remove 4 conservative justices from the Supreme Court changing the Court to 3 liberals and 2 conservatives to block any more conservative Court actions favorable to Trump, Republicans, and oligarchs.
The Constitution in Article I, Section 6, Clause 1 allows members of Congress to be arrested, indicted, and convicted for the felony crime of insurrection that violates state law enforced with imprisonment up to ten years with mandatory permanent removal and prevention from holding office.
The Constitution does not establish judicial immunity for any judge including federal judges or Supreme Court Justices. Therefore, Supreme Court Justices can be arrested, indicted, and convicted for the felony crime of insurrection and enforced with imprisonment up to ten years and mandatory permanent removal and prevention from holding office.
But democracy as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people means more than voting or protesting. It means having "the people" tell politicians what they need to do with specific actions including new laws. Rich people do it - and now "the people" need to do it. Good ideas don't just come from the top.
Why don't you share this as widely as possible? I have just read the longer version in your own Substack: it sounds like the basis of a viable national campaign if you could get enough people interested.
Btw, there would seem to be a related viable case for indicting all authors of Project 2025, and shutting down the Heritage Foundation as a seditious organisation whose plotting underpins the current coup against democracy.
I live in the UK and no longer have family in the US, so there's noone I can usefully share it with, sadly.
Thanks GabrielM. The Heritage Foundation was founded by right-wing religious zealots and right-wing religious GOP businessmen. In my estimation they have always been an organization of traitors to the Constitution and any American who doesn't agree with them. They should all be sent to GITMO to live with the other terrorists imprisoned there. Cheers... GH
I share the sentiment, but it is not convincing. He brakes the law, rapes the Constitution, does not follow labour laws and worker protection, so money limits won't help.
Well said. Here is my letter to Senators Schiff and Padilla (CA):
Dear Senator;
For weeks now, I (and everyone else) have been subjected to a barrage of "obey in advance" news items bruited by the press regarding the polemic behaviour exhibited by our erstwhile President and co-president (South African) Mr. Musk, who have put into service a process that threatens American survival, IMHO.
I am writing for the first time to express my chagrin at the servile manner in which Congress is handling this upstart Project 2025 decision to take control of the purse strings that only Congress can exercise. I would rather have the country go into economic sleep mode than accept and hand over a Congressional decision to implement a Continuing Resolution to avoid a gov't shutdown, as painful as that would be. The present state of affairs only advances the Republican do-nothings' implementation of their plans to circumvent gov't protections against authoritarianism by "obeying in advance" - - do nothing while Rome burns. Please do NOT vote to a short-term extension of the CR which will keep yclept "government" open; it is NOT open any more when department after department gets arbitrarily shut down by Mr. Co-President Musk (who was not elected by anybody) while Mr. President Trump stands by and promises via tax increases and tariffs to teach the world a lesson in American democracy by annexing Canada and Greenland. Are you kidding me?
This is worse than Nixon's attempt to take over Washington! Please read Timothy Snyder's "On Tyranny" if you have not done so already. We (at least half of the country) are sick and tired of being treated like second-class citizens by those who supposedly represent us. Say "NO" loudly and clearly to the other half of the Congress and make it clear that the natives are restless and it will only get worse at this rate things are cartwheeling.
I wish you well, but it is time to get going for democracy's sake.
Please do not disappoint the other half of California which is suffering right now.
Maybe there is a Sheiff out there somewhere, but this is from Wikipedia:
(I was thinking that, at 83, I was losing my marbles one by one:)
U.S. Senator Adam Schiff for California · Sign Up for Our Newsletter · Office Location. Washington D.C.. Hart Senate Office Building #112. Washington, DC 20510
There you go. Now that would mean the Dems were serious and courageous. We've seen none of that. Still trying to thread the needle. 10 voted to censure Al Green???
Like every other politician, Gavin Newsom reads the Trump MAGA tea leaves, suggesting that he is moving a bit to the middle because even in CA that’s where the votes are. See Reagan’s election twice as governor of CA and twice as president for details.
That's a fun idea to think about, William. But presumably, what we're trying to do is preserve the rule of law. So a few questions arise.
First is whether there is any such thing as "insurrection" against State government. I don't know the answer to that, but it seems debatable and unlikely to be resolved within 90 days.
Second is the need to identify specific acts which constitute insurrection. Surely just being a Republican Congress Member would not be sufficient. And if the charge is insurrection against the State, actions related to January 6, 2021, or the current Trump coup against the federal govt. would not qualify.
Third is the need to charge, try and convict each individual of the crime. That requires evidence and proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Even if all that could be done, it would take at least a year or very likely even more. Too little, too late.
Here's a better idea: Join fellow progressive activists in an effort to persuade a critical mass of moderate Republicans to remove and replace the Speaker, Vice-President and President.
The ground is shifting. Not every Republican Representative and Senator is a MAGA extremist. Many have deep ties to the defense establishment, as well as to powerful economic interests like the pharmaceutical industry, big agriculture, and manufacturing. All are major donors and all are increasingly at risk. It's not unrealistic to expect them to begin demanding their legislators bring this crisis to an end.
To learn more about the rationale and mechanics of Impeachment, and what we can do to help bring it about, please see these posts from FeathersOfHope.net :
Just saw on the news that Mike Johnson's voters in his district in Louisiana are now feeling the devastation of the Musk Bulldozer. "Gee.. I didn't know DT was going to do this to us!". DUH!
Johnson won his seat by only 5% of the votes. Maybe it's time for the DNC to find a local DEM to run against him ans pour some money in there to hopefully oust him.
Trump routine uses the law, aka executive actions, to implement his probably un-Constitutional and possibly illegal executive orders. For the sake of the rule of law, every one of them should to be challenged and hopefully defeated in court.
I'm sorry, William, but having read your post (it would've been helpful to provide a link), I'm appalled.
This is from William Miller's post "How to Stop Trump, Republicans, and Oligarchs":
"The new state law would define a felony crime and penalties for whoever is . . .a registered voting member of a political party that (1) had supported the election of an insurrectionist to the presidency and (2) remained a member of the political party after the insurrectionist was elected president and engaged in leading the executive branch to violate the Constitution of the United States and the laws thereof."
It's worth noting that none of the January 6 defendants were charged with insurrection, let alone convicted of violating Title 18 USC §2383. And Donald Trump was not charged with violating that statute. He was charged with Conspiracy to Defraud, Obstruct and Deprive of Rights. (Title 18 USC§§ 317, 1512 and 241)
The idea of criminalizing every member of the Republican Party reeks of McCarthyism. "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Republican Party?"
Jerry - Trump was determined by the Colorado Supreme Court to be an insurrectionist so you seem to be really cherry picking failures to enforce the law as evidence for argument - I was raised as a Republican and voted as such for awhile until I came to understand the Republican white male supremacy and anti-democratic disrespect for the law.
It was you who suggested the model was USC 18§2383, which the Colorado decision did not cite. And in any case, the Colorado decision was overturned by a unanimous 9-0 vote of the Supreme Court.
What I object to is declaring someone to be an insurrectionist without trial and conviction. But even more, I object to a law that makes belonging to the Republican Party a crime in and of itself.
The way to stop Trump is to stop feeding the tumor by cutting off funding. Trump presumably, but not necessarily get the message when the lights go out in the White House for lack of payment for the utility bill.
But if you want to pursue this consider getting a legal center or the like to adopt it and pursue it with the states. Maybe the Brendan Center, Common Cause, whoever. If you can not get one of them to adopt the strategy that either means they fail to understand how this is a workable strategy or it's not part of their mission, or you fail to understand. In either case it will give you good feedback.
Steve - good ideas but I’ve spent my career on innovation management which enabled me to see the problem is politicians since FDR (New Deal) and JFK(Space missiom to the moon …) don’t understand the need for innovation in the enforcement of law even though the founding fathers understood the balance of law enforcement between the states and the federal government and the need for innovation in the enforcement of law. I have tried to get Common Cause, Indivisible and others to engage in a discussion with no luck.The whole poltical and legal process in America is broken as revealed in Jan6 and subsequent failure to enforce the federal law on insurrection. Biden should have invoked the Insurrection Act to stop the insurrection that continued after Jan6 into the 2024 election like JFK and Eisenhower did to stop the southern insurrection that refused to enforce the federal law on segregation and Lincoln did to stop the insurrecion by the Confederacy.
What does Robert Reich say about this? Many people like this comment every time you post it but to be honest I imagine it is not feasible or valid, why has Robert not commented on it?
The Democratic party is funded at the top by green oligarchs. The dems may soak up vast amounts of contributions at election time; but it's the oligarchs who pay to keep the lights on and pay the management structure the rest of the time.
John Ossoff in Georgia is having a Zoom town hall Sunday and I'm going to see if he's pert of any effort. If not, you can be sure I'll be demanding good trouble.
We cannot give the emergency powers to Trump. No shape, form, or fashion. That is what President Paul Hindenburg gave to Hitler in 1933. That was the death knell of democracy in Germany. Fascism resulted. The CR must be shot down for that reason alone. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/dictatorship-is-choreographed?r=3m1bs
I left a message for Sen. Baldwin at the Capitol switchboard, but I got an email in return from Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) who is set on the CR from the House. His message extols the virtue of the CR in holding down taxes for middle and low earners and reducing the Fed. deficit by $1.5T over ten years, while not plundering Soc. Sec. and Medicaid and other public programs. Recently he has blamed Bernie for fearmongering about the Repugs' potential slaughter of public benefits, and I am not buying a word of it!
“There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.” ― Mario Savio
Mario was willing to put it on the line at Berkeley—my sister Sue was there with him. May Bezerkely rise up again! What do you say Professor Reich? Power to the people!
I despair of the Democrats. Apparently, Ossoff is the one of my two thinking of voting with the rethugs. I’m afraid I let him have it with both barrels. I told him in my email that I could live with a no vote or a 30 day extension to try to fix things, but if he voted for the whole package, I would be enthusiastically supporting anyone who will challenge him in the primaries next year. Democrats simply have to grow a pair.
Yeah - what happened to Fetterman?? I voted for him in PA b4 I moved to CA this past July. I shake my head at his comments - he has got to go. I am sure he will support the House budget in the interest of "bipartisanship". Ugh.
Fetterman is an Israeli Firster. It is that simple. Supporting Trump is the best thing he can do to support Israel. No different say than Ilhan Omar being a Muslim firster. That is American politics for you, identity politics. the prime example is MAGA, male, white Christian nationalism. Nothing else counts.
When I try to contact a politician via email, if I am not in their zip code, they won't listen nor can I complete the only form. I suspect it is the same via telephone, they have caller ID and don't log calls that aren't in their area codes.
The staff that answer the phones have a pad where they put a check, for or against, they don't transcribe your rants, they can't, and I am sure that the Senators and Reps listen to all of the rants they receive. So the best you can do is express your displeasure with a bill, and how you feel about your senator or reps re election chances.
My congress critter is a Dem and he replies if I check the mark on his site, but he is totally invisible, except during election season, then I get emails.
Keep voting, maybe someday... I have the same problem with my representative, who does not represent me, or most everyone I know locally. We are always outvoted. At least my Senators are Democrats, even though they are not making enough noise.
I think of Orangelini as Trumpler. It took Mein Führer only 53 days to dismantle German democracy in 1933: Trumpler is doing his best to compete -- but the US is a much bigger country.
If the Democrats to not stand strong and united against this, I suspect I'm no longer a Democrat (and I've been a Democrat for my entire life beginning with JFK).
There is no other choice at this point. People cannot afford to sit out an election or vote third party when the GOP is in the state they are in. Though we could all switch to GOP and mess up their primaries.....
I am beginning to think a 3rd political party might not be a bad idea after all if it can help the democratic wing of the Democratic Party. Probably a vain hope though.
We cannot give any more emergency powers to Trump. No shape, form, or fashion. That is what President Paul von Hindenburg gave to Hitler in 1933. With his approval, martial law was enacted. That was the death knell of democracy in Germany. Mostly because the oligarchs and the elite feared the tide of rising communism. That tide would have stripped oligarchs of all their assets. The elites feared communism and regarded fascism as workable as long as they monetized the fascist leader—as Musk has done with Trump. In Germany Fascism resulted quickly, like 2 months and the Reichtag fire led to the Reichstag Fire Act the next day. The end of Democracy from 1933 until 1946, after a world war.
Do not open Pandora’s Box.
The House Republican CR must be shot down for this reason alone. Any emergency power added to Trump’s bag of con jobs will be devastating. Republicans see demographic changes in the U.S. moving them out of power. Thus they want a fascist state to keep power. Don’t be fooled by who these crooks are or by what they are doing.
And we must keep the pressure on the Democrats to make sure they don’t try to hide and shirk their responsibility to preserve our constitution and democracy. If they don’t stand up to the moment, if we don’t keep the heat on, Musk and Trump will annihilate our way of life, our freedoms and the future of our children.
“Trump, Musk, and the rest of their regime have made it clear that they don’t care what Congress or the courts say. They are acting unconstitutionally. They are actively destroying our system of government.
The spineless Republicans will not say this publicly. So Democrats must — and Democrats must insist on budget language that holds Trump and Musk accountable. “
I called Senate offices (CA) for the first time my life. I swear to God if Schiff and Padilla back down on this I will do everything I can to defeat them next time they run for office. By that I do not mean vote Republican but rather find and promote better Democratic talent--with backbone!
As of 1:30 PST Chuck Schumer announced they would not back the bill. A miracle just occurred, enough Democratic Senators showed some spine. Not to push my luck but maybe this will be the beginning of a turn around. Maybe our Democratic elected officials woke up from their day dreams and realized we don't want to live in a Fascist State and neither should they. We live to fight another day!
David..." Show me the.money! ". Show.us WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!!! not what you've SAID YOU WILL DO! Don't just talk the talk...show us.by the way you walk the walk!.
SHOW US A LITTLE INTEGRITY FOR A CHANGE! NO EXCUSES THIS TIME!
Let the repulsicans pay for their own mistakes ! Don't bail them out of .the mess they alone have created! Your honor to your constituents is at stake!
What to do in Florida where the Senators are not responding to our cries of anguish?Senator Rick Scott could care less as one of the richest Senators in the country from and could care less.
Steele, I'm not picking on you but do you remember, years ago Rick Scott's HMO scammed Medicare/Medicaid out of billions of dollars. The Feds went after them and he said... "I didn't know that people in my company were doing that!" The company paid the largest fine, several billion I think, ever in the history of Federal medical fraud in US history.
No one went to prison and the voters in FL, millions of whom rely on these programs, then elected him Governor twice and US Senator twice. DUH, voters... the GOP has NEVER been the friend of the average person. Think before you vote... GH
Since when did Voldemort ever care about anything except his money and rich people?He sure as hell never cared about the regular working class people in Florida!!
Except for Trump probably. We have no visibility of how Trump may be doing stock trades on his tariff back and forth. He could be also using loaned money from Russians I mean, we know making money is Trump's highest priority so I would think he is trading with the ultimate inside information.
Where are our democratic leaders. All I see is Bernie Sanders doing the people’s work.
And Elizabeth Warren.
That's one person who I am glad is staying quiet.
The first step for Democrats to start a counteroffensive is recognizing there is a legal solution to stop the insurrection revealed on Jan 6 that has continued and is led by Trump, Republicans, and Musk to destroy democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. The ongoing insurrection violates federal law (18 U.S. Code § 2383).
The solution can be quickly implemented by Democrats enacting and enforcing a new state law modeled after the federal law (18 U.S. Code § 2383) in 7 states where Democrats control the state government. California could be the first state to enact and enforce the law within 90 days which would remove the 9 Republican representatives from California in the Congressional House. The House would then have a Democratic majority of 2024 to 2009 with Jefferies as Speaker of the House to control the budget and make sure Ukraine and Medicaid are fully funded and there will be no tax cuts for the rich. Maryland, New Jersey and Colorado could follow to collectively remove another 8 Republican representatives in the House and then also remove 4 conservative justices from the Supreme Court changing the Court to 3 liberals and 2 conservatives to block any more conservative Court actions favorable to Trump, Republicans, and oligarchs.
The Constitution in Article I, Section 6, Clause 1 allows members of Congress to be arrested, indicted, and convicted for the felony crime of insurrection that violates state law enforced with imprisonment up to ten years with mandatory permanent removal and prevention from holding office.
The Constitution does not establish judicial immunity for any judge including federal judges or Supreme Court Justices. Therefore, Supreme Court Justices can be arrested, indicted, and convicted for the felony crime of insurrection and enforced with imprisonment up to ten years and mandatory permanent removal and prevention from holding office.
But democracy as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people means more than voting or protesting. It means having "the people" tell politicians what they need to do with specific actions including new laws. Rich people do it - and now "the people" need to do it. Good ideas don't just come from the top.
Why don't you share this as widely as possible? I have just read the longer version in your own Substack: it sounds like the basis of a viable national campaign if you could get enough people interested.
Btw, there would seem to be a related viable case for indicting all authors of Project 2025, and shutting down the Heritage Foundation as a seditious organisation whose plotting underpins the current coup against democracy.
I live in the UK and no longer have family in the US, so there's noone I can usefully share it with, sadly.
Thanks GabrielM. The Heritage Foundation was founded by right-wing religious zealots and right-wing religious GOP businessmen. In my estimation they have always been an organization of traitors to the Constitution and any American who doesn't agree with them. They should all be sent to GITMO to live with the other terrorists imprisoned there. Cheers... GH
Cut off funding and watch the Trump tumor shrink.
I share the sentiment, but it is not convincing. He brakes the law, rapes the Constitution, does not follow labour laws and worker protection, so money limits won't help.
He rapes WOMEN too!
Think tanks are propaganda venues.
👍
Yours is the only positive response I’ve received.
Well said. Here is my letter to Senators Schiff and Padilla (CA):
Dear Senator;
For weeks now, I (and everyone else) have been subjected to a barrage of "obey in advance" news items bruited by the press regarding the polemic behaviour exhibited by our erstwhile President and co-president (South African) Mr. Musk, who have put into service a process that threatens American survival, IMHO.
I am writing for the first time to express my chagrin at the servile manner in which Congress is handling this upstart Project 2025 decision to take control of the purse strings that only Congress can exercise. I would rather have the country go into economic sleep mode than accept and hand over a Congressional decision to implement a Continuing Resolution to avoid a gov't shutdown, as painful as that would be. The present state of affairs only advances the Republican do-nothings' implementation of their plans to circumvent gov't protections against authoritarianism by "obeying in advance" - - do nothing while Rome burns. Please do NOT vote to a short-term extension of the CR which will keep yclept "government" open; it is NOT open any more when department after department gets arbitrarily shut down by Mr. Co-President Musk (who was not elected by anybody) while Mr. President Trump stands by and promises via tax increases and tariffs to teach the world a lesson in American democracy by annexing Canada and Greenland. Are you kidding me?
This is worse than Nixon's attempt to take over Washington! Please read Timothy Snyder's "On Tyranny" if you have not done so already. We (at least half of the country) are sick and tired of being treated like second-class citizens by those who supposedly represent us. Say "NO" loudly and clearly to the other half of the Congress and make it clear that the natives are restless and it will only get worse at this rate things are cartwheeling.
I wish you well, but it is time to get going for democracy's sake.
Please do not disappoint the other half of California which is suffering right now.
Phil Johnson, 83
AF 11384275 (1961-1968)
Sheiff is a Representative, not a Senator.
Adam Schiff is now a senator. He won Diane Feinsteine's position.
Thank you. I knew she retired, and her husband pretty much recovered a hammer blow to the head, but I didn’t know that Schiff won her Senate seat.
Maybe there is a Sheiff out there somewhere, but this is from Wikipedia:
(I was thinking that, at 83, I was losing my marbles one by one:)
U.S. Senator Adam Schiff for California · Sign Up for Our Newsletter · Office Location. Washington D.C.. Hart Senate Office Building #112. Washington, DC 20510
Schiff won Diane Feinsteines's position when she finally died at age 93 or however old she was.
Acording to my wife I’ve already lost my marbles. Now, where did I put them?
Don't sweat it. You still have a heart even if the marbles have gotten lonely.
There you go. Now that would mean the Dems were serious and courageous. We've seen none of that. Still trying to thread the needle. 10 voted to censure Al Green???
Sickening
Do these 10 actually think that will keep them off the short list?
Good work I like that, Now to make it a reality. California is, apparently long gone, Gavin Newsom has jumped ship
Like every other politician, Gavin Newsom reads the Trump MAGA tea leaves, suggesting that he is moving a bit to the middle because even in CA that’s where the votes are. See Reagan’s election twice as governor of CA and twice as president for details.
Had a really good US Rep once, but he quit the House and cashed in as a lobbyist.
Yep, totally agree. Again, he validates my opinion of professional politicians, as worthless POS. There are again, exceptions, but damn few.
That's a fun idea to think about, William. But presumably, what we're trying to do is preserve the rule of law. So a few questions arise.
First is whether there is any such thing as "insurrection" against State government. I don't know the answer to that, but it seems debatable and unlikely to be resolved within 90 days.
Second is the need to identify specific acts which constitute insurrection. Surely just being a Republican Congress Member would not be sufficient. And if the charge is insurrection against the State, actions related to January 6, 2021, or the current Trump coup against the federal govt. would not qualify.
Third is the need to charge, try and convict each individual of the crime. That requires evidence and proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Even if all that could be done, it would take at least a year or very likely even more. Too little, too late.
Here's a better idea: Join fellow progressive activists in an effort to persuade a critical mass of moderate Republicans to remove and replace the Speaker, Vice-President and President.
The ground is shifting. Not every Republican Representative and Senator is a MAGA extremist. Many have deep ties to the defense establishment, as well as to powerful economic interests like the pharmaceutical industry, big agriculture, and manufacturing. All are major donors and all are increasingly at risk. It's not unrealistic to expect them to begin demanding their legislators bring this crisis to an end.
To learn more about the rationale and mechanics of Impeachment, and what we can do to help bring it about, please see these posts from FeathersOfHope.net :
Feb. 12, https://jerryweiss.substack.com/p/to-stop-the-coup-impeach-the-traitor
Feb. 18, https://jerryweiss.substack.com/p/impeachment-is-imperative
Feb. 25, https://jerryweiss,substack.com/p/remove-impeach-impeach
.
Thanks Jerry.
Just saw on the news that Mike Johnson's voters in his district in Louisiana are now feeling the devastation of the Musk Bulldozer. "Gee.. I didn't know DT was going to do this to us!". DUH!
Johnson won his seat by only 5% of the votes. Maybe it's time for the DNC to find a local DEM to run against him ans pour some money in there to hopefully oust him.
Cheers... GH
impeachtrumpagain.org I signed this before, there are over a quarter million signed already and its organized by freespeechforpeople.org they have been around for awhile and one of the leaders is interviewed today on Democracynow.org
signed.It takes seconds. The more the rising tide for impeachment the better.
I think Trump will be impeached and removed.Some day.
Jerry - read my post that should answer your questions - and read the federal law again
Trump routine uses the law, aka executive actions, to implement his probably un-Constitutional and possibly illegal executive orders. For the sake of the rule of law, every one of them should to be challenged and hopefully defeated in court.
I'm sorry, William, but having read your post (it would've been helpful to provide a link), I'm appalled.
This is from William Miller's post "How to Stop Trump, Republicans, and Oligarchs":
"The new state law would define a felony crime and penalties for whoever is . . .a registered voting member of a political party that (1) had supported the election of an insurrectionist to the presidency and (2) remained a member of the political party after the insurrectionist was elected president and engaged in leading the executive branch to violate the Constitution of the United States and the laws thereof."
It's worth noting that none of the January 6 defendants were charged with insurrection, let alone convicted of violating Title 18 USC §2383. And Donald Trump was not charged with violating that statute. He was charged with Conspiracy to Defraud, Obstruct and Deprive of Rights. (Title 18 USC§§ 317, 1512 and 241)
The idea of criminalizing every member of the Republican Party reeks of McCarthyism. "Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Republican Party?"
Really, Mr. Miller? Count me out!
.
Jerry - Trump was determined by the Colorado Supreme Court to be an insurrectionist so you seem to be really cherry picking failures to enforce the law as evidence for argument - I was raised as a Republican and voted as such for awhile until I came to understand the Republican white male supremacy and anti-democratic disrespect for the law.
Whoa, talk about cherry-picking.
It was you who suggested the model was USC 18§2383, which the Colorado decision did not cite. And in any case, the Colorado decision was overturned by a unanimous 9-0 vote of the Supreme Court.
What I object to is declaring someone to be an insurrectionist without trial and conviction. But even more, I object to a law that makes belonging to the Republican Party a crime in and of itself.
.
The way to stop Trump is to stop feeding the tumor by cutting off funding. Trump presumably, but not necessarily get the message when the lights go out in the White House for lack of payment for the utility bill.
Thanks William... Illinois has 14 DEM and 3 GOP Congressmen. I would love to see it become a solid 17 DEM's! Cheers... GH
I live in California and approve getting rid of the 9 Republicans asap!!!!
William, this plan sounds unworkable to me.
But if you want to pursue this consider getting a legal center or the like to adopt it and pursue it with the states. Maybe the Brendan Center, Common Cause, whoever. If you can not get one of them to adopt the strategy that either means they fail to understand how this is a workable strategy or it's not part of their mission, or you fail to understand. In either case it will give you good feedback.
Steve - good ideas but I’ve spent my career on innovation management which enabled me to see the problem is politicians since FDR (New Deal) and JFK(Space missiom to the moon …) don’t understand the need for innovation in the enforcement of law even though the founding fathers understood the balance of law enforcement between the states and the federal government and the need for innovation in the enforcement of law. I have tried to get Common Cause, Indivisible and others to engage in a discussion with no luck.The whole poltical and legal process in America is broken as revealed in Jan6 and subsequent failure to enforce the federal law on insurrection. Biden should have invoked the Insurrection Act to stop the insurrection that continued after Jan6 into the 2024 election like JFK and Eisenhower did to stop the southern insurrection that refused to enforce the federal law on segregation and Lincoln did to stop the insurrecion by the Confederacy.
What does Robert Reich say about this? Many people like this comment every time you post it but to be honest I imagine it is not feasible or valid, why has Robert not commented on it?
Wayne - good question
I imagine the same. see my comment
I'm replying to William Miller's post he often makes.
This sounds great but why hasn't it been done?
Suzy - that’s the problem
👍
Senator Markey gave a strong speech against the CR this afternoon as well.
AOC and Jamie Raskin are also sharing thoughtful and meaningful action steps pretty regularly.
... and the independent Angus King. He gave a soul-stirring stemwinder a few days ago.
I was a Bernie supporter back in the day. He got the shaft from the party, IMHO.
The Democratic party is funded at the top by green oligarchs. The dems may soak up vast amounts of contributions at election time; but it's the oligarchs who pay to keep the lights on and pay the management structure the rest of the time.
And AOC.
John Ossoff in Georgia is having a Zoom town hall Sunday and I'm going to see if he's pert of any effort. If not, you can be sure I'll be demanding good trouble.
An old article and still relevant today............
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2017/nov/06/bernie-sanders-paradise-papers-leak-international-oligarchy
We cannot give the emergency powers to Trump. No shape, form, or fashion. That is what President Paul Hindenburg gave to Hitler in 1933. That was the death knell of democracy in Germany. Fascism resulted. The CR must be shot down for that reason alone. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/dictatorship-is-choreographed?r=3m1bs
Robert, we must not give the crime lords in power more of OUR money for their disservice.
I am on the horn with Sen. Baldwin now.
I left a message for Sen. Baldwin at the Capitol switchboard, but I got an email in return from Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) who is set on the CR from the House. His message extols the virtue of the CR in holding down taxes for middle and low earners and reducing the Fed. deficit by $1.5T over ten years, while not plundering Soc. Sec. and Medicaid and other public programs. Recently he has blamed Bernie for fearmongering about the Repugs' potential slaughter of public benefits, and I am not buying a word of it!
Call, call, call!
I tried and the switchboard was not taking any more calls. Overwhelmed. A good problem! Back to emails.
I have been worried about this for 50 years. Read your history. Failed Putsch in 1925. Elected in 1932.
Not exactly. Never elected. Never. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/dictatorship-is-choreographed?r=3m1bs
SHUT IT DOWN!!
“There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.” ― Mario Savio
That is what I' ve been saying, throw sand in the gears, sugar in the gas tank.
Mario Savio, IIRC led the Free Speech movement.
👍
Mario was willing to put it on the line at Berkeley—my sister Sue was there with him. May Bezerkely rise up again! What do you say Professor Reich? Power to the people!
I have loved this statement for decades. Thanks for reminding us.
Yes, we can do that! The Democratic Party can’t. Congress can’t. But we the people can and we are duty-bound to do so.
I despair of the Democrats. Apparently, Ossoff is the one of my two thinking of voting with the rethugs. I’m afraid I let him have it with both barrels. I told him in my email that I could live with a no vote or a 30 day extension to try to fix things, but if he voted for the whole package, I would be enthusiastically supporting anyone who will challenge him in the primaries next year. Democrats simply have to grow a pair.
Osoff and Warnock, had so much promise but turn out to be just politicians worried about holding their seats. They both voted for the Laken Riley act.
I agree completely. Time to take a stand.
Sadly, my Senators are goose stepping Republicans...deaf to anyone but Orangelini.
One of mine is a Republican and the other is Fetterman (not much difference)
Yeah - what happened to Fetterman?? I voted for him in PA b4 I moved to CA this past July. I shake my head at his comments - he has got to go. I am sure he will support the House budget in the interest of "bipartisanship". Ugh.
it might have been the stroke-seriously-momentous decisions have often been decided by less
Caligula became Caligula after surviving several months of some brain fever. Then there's ol' Brain Worms!
what a group of loonies-trump,musk,fetterman,and kennedy-
👍 I'm disappointed with Fetterman.
Fetterman is an Israeli Firster. It is that simple. Supporting Trump is the best thing he can do to support Israel. No different say than Ilhan Omar being a Muslim firster. That is American politics for you, identity politics. the prime example is MAGA, male, white Christian nationalism. Nothing else counts.
Then both are Republicans.
You are not alone. But call Schumer and have him whip the Dems!!
When I try to contact a politician via email, if I am not in their zip code, they won't listen nor can I complete the only form. I suspect it is the same via telephone, they have caller ID and don't log calls that aren't in their area codes.
The staff that answer the phones have a pad where they put a check, for or against, they don't transcribe your rants, they can't, and I am sure that the Senators and Reps listen to all of the rants they receive. So the best you can do is express your displeasure with a bill, and how you feel about your senator or reps re election chances.
No violent threats,no emotional rants.
They often don't reply even if they ARE in yout zip code, esoecially if they are R's.
My congress critter is a Dem and he replies if I check the mark on his site, but he is totally invisible, except during election season, then I get emails.
Area codes tell them nothing as people keep cell phone numbers even after moving. It’s the zip code that they care about
Thanks I would not know as I don't have a cell phone and am not interested.
Keep voting, maybe someday... I have the same problem with my representative, who does not represent me, or most everyone I know locally. We are always outvoted. At least my Senators are Democrats, even though they are not making enough noise.
Same here.
I think of Orangelini as Trumpler. It took Mein Führer only 53 days to dismantle German democracy in 1933: Trumpler is doing his best to compete -- but the US is a much bigger country.
If the Democrats to not stand strong and united against this, I suspect I'm no longer a Democrat (and I've been a Democrat for my entire life beginning with JFK).
A few weeks ago, I changed my selection to "Unaligned."
In my state, it is "unenrolled".
There is no other choice at this point. People cannot afford to sit out an election or vote third party when the GOP is in the state they are in. Though we could all switch to GOP and mess up their primaries.....
Me too!!
I changed to “unaffiliated” many years ago. Granted I cannot vote in presidential primaries, I can still vote when it counts.
I am beginning to think a 3rd political party might not be a bad idea after all if it can help the democratic wing of the Democratic Party. Probably a vain hope though.
Futterman should sit this one out. All Democrats have to grow a spine and shut the government down until sanity is restored.
Fetterman should either vote with his caucus or resign.
could not agree more
Futterman. Yuk. Don't get me started on that one.
Oh he will mess it up ...he never recovered
We cannot give any more emergency powers to Trump. No shape, form, or fashion. That is what President Paul von Hindenburg gave to Hitler in 1933. With his approval, martial law was enacted. That was the death knell of democracy in Germany. Mostly because the oligarchs and the elite feared the tide of rising communism. That tide would have stripped oligarchs of all their assets. The elites feared communism and regarded fascism as workable as long as they monetized the fascist leader—as Musk has done with Trump. In Germany Fascism resulted quickly, like 2 months and the Reichtag fire led to the Reichstag Fire Act the next day. The end of Democracy from 1933 until 1946, after a world war.
Do not open Pandora’s Box.
The House Republican CR must be shot down for this reason alone. Any emergency power added to Trump’s bag of con jobs will be devastating. Republicans see demographic changes in the U.S. moving them out of power. Thus they want a fascist state to keep power. Don’t be fooled by who these crooks are or by what they are doing.
https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/dictatorship-is-choreographed?r=3m1bs
In NJ, Andy Kim wrote me a long ambiguous letter that I interpret to mean he will fold. He needs pressure
Disappointing
And we must keep the pressure on the Democrats to make sure they don’t try to hide and shirk their responsibility to preserve our constitution and democracy. If they don’t stand up to the moment, if we don’t keep the heat on, Musk and Trump will annihilate our way of life, our freedoms and the future of our children.
“Trump, Musk, and the rest of their regime have made it clear that they don’t care what Congress or the courts say. They are acting unconstitutionally. They are actively destroying our system of government.
The spineless Republicans will not say this publicly. So Democrats must — and Democrats must insist on budget language that holds Trump and Musk accountable. “
I called Senate offices (CA) for the first time my life. I swear to God if Schiff and Padilla back down on this I will do everything I can to defeat them next time they run for office. By that I do not mean vote Republican but rather find and promote better Democratic talent--with backbone!
I'm right with you!!!!
As of 1:30 PST Chuck Schumer announced they would not back the bill. A miracle just occurred, enough Democratic Senators showed some spine. Not to push my luck but maybe this will be the beginning of a turn around. Maybe our Democratic elected officials woke up from their day dreams and realized we don't want to live in a Fascist State and neither should they. We live to fight another day!
Done! From true blue Massachusetts
NYT is reporting Schumer saying "Democrats will not support CR". FINALLY, SOMETHING GOOD HAPPENING WITH OUR DEMOCRATIC LEADERS!!!
David..." Show me the.money! ". Show.us WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!!! not what you've SAID YOU WILL DO! Don't just talk the talk...show us.by the way you walk the walk!.
SHOW US A LITTLE INTEGRITY FOR A CHANGE! NO EXCUSES THIS TIME!
Let the repulsicans pay for their own mistakes ! Don't bail them out of .the mess they alone have created! Your honor to your constituents is at stake!
MAN/WOMEN UP, THE LOT OF YOU...FOR ONCE!
I agree Lynn, the "proof will be in the pudding". But it is a good sign, for ONCE.
We've all been burned countless times over by promises not kept, David.
I do join with you in measured hope that this time the " promise" will become a reality. Time is of the essence. ...
What to do in Florida where the Senators are not responding to our cries of anguish?Senator Rick Scott could care less as one of the richest Senators in the country from and could care less.
Steele, I'm not picking on you but do you remember, years ago Rick Scott's HMO scammed Medicare/Medicaid out of billions of dollars. The Feds went after them and he said... "I didn't know that people in my company were doing that!" The company paid the largest fine, several billion I think, ever in the history of Federal medical fraud in US history.
No one went to prison and the voters in FL, millions of whom rely on these programs, then elected him Governor twice and US Senator twice. DUH, voters... the GOP has NEVER been the friend of the average person. Think before you vote... GH
It's enough to either despair of democracy, or realize in many ways we do not have one in our electoral politics.
And how much did he make with his Medicaid fraud.
Pardon me I meant Medicare
Thanks Lisa59.
OUCH! It was even more than I remembered!
Cheers... GH
Since when did Voldemort ever care about anything except his money and rich people?He sure as hell never cared about the regular working class people in Florida!!
Except for Trump probably. We have no visibility of how Trump may be doing stock trades on his tariff back and forth. He could be also using loaned money from Russians I mean, we know making money is Trump's highest priority so I would think he is trading with the ultimate inside information.
Only he can rig it at this level.