D.S., Your comment is buoying, thus morning. Instead of bemoaning that trump's police state is here, you suggested what we can do, even here, in DC. ... Meanwhile, hope Nat Guard is picking up a lot of dog poop, in Lafayette Square.
As Gov. Pritzger pointed out, the military and National Guard did not volunteer for this duty. This is as much an insult to the integrity of these fine Americans as it is to the rest of us. Unless and until you see members of our armed services mistreating citizens, let's try to treat them with the respect they deserve.
It's time for them to sit themselves down on the Mall and say NO to these illegal orders to police the peaceful population, because that's what they're there for.
Of the 10 cities with the highest crime rates, 7 are Republican controlled states.
I have already emailed my Democratic Senators and Democratic governor and let them know that I am watching. I expect more from them than what i've see.
I don't care if Schumer wants to sit and take the high road. I want some serious actions from all Democrats in Congress. They need to convince their colleagues across the aisle, that this has to end NOW>
He's just announced the takeover, in his Orwellion speech the "management," of Union Station--no doubt to disrupt whatever gatherings are meant to take place there.
The way I see it, the invasion of one state by another is a call to state Governors to mobilize their National Guards to resist unlawful assault. Also, the gerrymander fight is on. There is a new playbook. The old rules have been struck down by the Supreme Court. We need to change the gears here as fast as possible for deadly preemptive strikes. Newsom has moved out on this already. Who is next? Hochul. Where are you? Pritzker. What are you doing?
Governor Hochul and the New York legislature are bound by the New York state constitution. They would not be able to gerrymander for 2026, but they should lay their plans for doing so, if necessary--and given what we have seen it will be necessary--for 2028. Governor Pritzker is preparing, as his speech demonstrated. I suspect that there is much behind the scenes strategizing, just as there was in California before Newsom announced the move to combat the Texas gerrymander.
I suggest that we build up and offer concrete suggestions. We also need to be strategic.
Yes, but there are rules as to how they get changed and amended. California has a process that has allowed Newsom and the Democrats to move quickly to counter the actions Republicans have taken in Texas. Different states have different constitutions.
It's already too late. With the full support of the six Christian Nationalists on the Supreme Court and GOP Congressional members the Felon is making the United States an authoritarian theocracy, with the Felon as its leader and the American oligarchs running the Country (Putin's Russia).
Fight now. Too much is at risk to wait! Mobilize Blue state National Guards when threatened. The invasion of one state by another is a call to state Governors to mobilize their National Guards to resist an UNLAWFUL assault. The U.S. military should not accept UNLAWFUL orders. The sooner we get this over with, the better. This confrontation is coming. It is coming! We are stronger now than we will be tomorrow. The confrontation is not a battle or a war. It is a standoff at the State borders. We know TACO. Also, the gerrymander fight is on. There is a new playbook. The old rules have been struck down by the Supreme Court. We need to change the gears here as fast as possible for deadly PREEMPTIVE strikes. Newsom has moved out on this already. Who is next? Hochul. Where are you? NO EXCUSE! Change your state Constitution. Pritzker. What are you doing?
Mobilizing the Blue State National Guards is what the Felon wants, so he can declare Martial Law. A National Strike or Democratic members of Congress walking out seems far better than something which may/will result in violence.
I do not feel you are correct. Mobilizing is a Governor’s right. It is the Governor’s militia; however, It is civil unrest where Trump has martial law authority. Beware that jabberwock. A State’s use of its National Guard is the State’s business. It has nothing to do with Trump. It is not threatening, in and of itself.
I hope you're right. Still waiting on a decision from the District Judge in CA who just heard the case brought by Governor Newsom. I fear, even if the Judge decides in Newsom's favor, the six Christian Nationalists on the Supreme Court will side with the Felon.
Well, in Iowa, they were turning out to flip a state house Senate seat from red to blue by an 11-point margin.
The governors of Washington and Illinois have spoken up against Trump's threats to deploy the National Guard in their areas. Be assured that legal strategy is ongoing behind the scenes. Why tip your hands in advance?
We are seeing the emergence of some strong Democratic candidates. While that has not happened yet in my state of Indiana, there is still time.
In the meantime, all of us who are Democrats, Independents, or who fled the Republican party can each contribute in our own ways. The movement is growing.
Is any effort being made to encourage geriatrics in the Senate and the House of Representatives to retire and enjoy their pensions and other benefits? Are there experienced and lauded candidates to step in with fresh messages including mission, goals, objectives, and action plans to stand forth? State governments once were called the laboratories of democracy. I'm seeing some evidence but not that the oldsters are ready to step aside. And yes I follow the news and read HCR and JWV and The Contrarian daily. Iowa is encouraging. Jasmine has been suggested to succeed Hakeem Jeffries who has been a disappointment. Speeches are not action. IL Gov is presidential.
It is never easy to be the minority leader. When Nancy Pelosi was in that position back in 2016, it was popular amongst the Democratic candidates to say that they would not support her for Speaker. Well, almost every one of them who was elected supported her, and she was an effective Speaker in standing up against Trump and in pushing forward on Biden's legislation.
Maybe Jeffries will be Speaker, maybe not. However, I would suggest that we focus on taking back the House and the Senate, then sort out leadership later.
I, too, have concerns when a 78-year-old candidate plans to seek re-election, but much depends on the energy and quality of ideas that the person brings to the table. I would ask all older Democrats to look realistically at their health, their energy, and the future of the party, and to make decisions accordingly. Maybe they run, and maybe they do not, but it is important to think beyond self and to put the country first.
I don't rule out anyone due to age. Biden accomplished a lot in his first two years because of his experience in the Senate and as Vice President. I wish he had kept to the strategy of being a bridge and only serving four years. I understand the political calculation We have a longstanding press tradition that calls a president at the start of his second term a "lame duck." Huh? The person was just elected for four years. (Notice how no one calls Trump a lame duck? What changed?) I also wish that he had chosen a VP who would not be running. That would have opened up the field.
The obsequious sycophants embarrassing themselves by fawning over the Emperor's New Clothes ought to be ashamed of themselves. Actually, worse than that. And the mainstream media and other corporate entities that refuse to call this president and administration out for what it is share in that shame.
The king is batsh-t crazy. Stephen Miller is a racist fascist. The cabinet is overstocked with incompetent toadies. Everything that made America great is being destroyed. People in power need to stop pretending otherwise. Every kid along the parade route knows the king is starkers.
Thomas Moore: I'm still hitting my head on the table from having seen that meeting. Please tell me it was just a joke, or something? Anything, besides our political reality? I am convinced, however, that almost 40 percent of the voting public is morally and spiritually defunct or just plain brain dead. Donald Trump has "pushed the envelop" right off the edge of the universe.
That cabinet meeting was indeed laughable. Although, sadly so. All I can think is that the power and access to ways to become even richer has made the likes of Rubio, Noem, and all the rest bow down at Trumps’s feet. It’s shameful but I think they must just look past the shame with justification.
No, they're protecting themselves. They don't mean that any more than any visiting prime minister or head of state. They are keeping the patient calm, if not quiet.
Not a joke. This is what they did, with the exception of a few patriots, in the first administration. Remember Pence picking up his water in time with the great leader.
How can they be? This whole regime is composed of racists, fascists, fanatics - all corrupt and all phenomenally stupid. The Heritage Foundation types were the ones who parsed The Constitutions and found all the attack points. tRump's ability to get off from criminal charges his whole life means he has no memory of restraint at all. He will attempt anything in hopes of overturning any precept of the Republic he can. Unfortunately, it is going to be all about a holding action until the Mid Terms...
The Republicans will likely follow the North Carolina playbook they employed in the state Supreme Court race and try to overthrow their forthcoming substantial losses.
That's my biggest concern Stephen, the midterm elections. If the fascist regime somehow accomplishes to suspend it or to rigg it in such a way that's totally irrelevant as they are in Russia, then the American people would know first hand what the bottom of the abyss looks like.
Well, it's taken us until now to find out why the German nation did as they did. They had the prototype in the Chancellery. He ended in the bunker, but it took strong allied intervention to get him there, something which can't happen in America because because because.
It is already here.my dad, WW2 veteran long passed, would be horrified at what we have become. Trump and his cronies have made a mockery of what my dad and so many others fought for…
Governor Pritzger's speech was incredible, but I didn't see a whole lot of coverage on it. Too bad. The Swift/Kelce engagement got all the play. America. America. What have you become?
It's not America, it's corporate media. They are cowardly and have given up on presenting the news that's the most important for fear of angering a mentally defective wannabe king. Part of the success of dictators is taking over the news media. Listen to AM talk radio anywhere in the country and you'll hear it. PBS/NPR has been defunded and defanged. The rest are becoming increasingly complicit in their silence.
Not a lot of coverage because there's not a lot of free press. Swift/Kelce coverage pleased me - after she made her pre-election Anti-Trump public announcement he told her on the internet that she might just regret that decision, and we haven't heard nearly as much about her this year.
I cancelled WaPo, too. Took what I was going to be saving and gave it to the Associated Press and am carefully choosing Substack contributors to support as well. We need an independent press. Also need a local press. Here in Sarasota, we now have the Suncoast Searchlight, with great investigative reporting.
Lord, those of us who followed Trump's career as a failed businessman knew he would wreck the country like he did his dozens of other ventures. How to explain his hold over millions of people? Was it that stupid, much-edited "reality" show? Harder to explain than his first election was his second, after he'd gotten hundreds of thousands of people killed during his inept handling of COVID and unleashed a mob on our Capitol after trying to steal the 2020 election. What made that fool fit for another go-round? We're all suffering for the failure of millions to understand just how rotten a human being he is. We need to keep fighting him and his equally inept minions at every turn. It's government by the people and for the people, not by and for a two-bit grifter, a corrupt SCOTUS, and a bunch of billionaires.
Mostly, I think: Fox News. They have demonized from the get-go anything that is not Trumpist. So many people only watch that channel, and think ANYTHING coming from a democrat is a lie "And everyone knows it." So they generally do not just go at a particular issue, but also go to the heart of it so that the whole thing is tainted in the minds of their followers--over and over again.
Agree. Those shameless fools got thousands of people killed during COVID, too. Now they've gotten millions uninsured, and, eventually, thousands homeless. I don't see how they sleep at night. If I had a free, no-arrest bitch slap, I'm not sure who would be the recipient, but I'm kinda thinking these days it's Jesse Waters. Smug SOB!
It's anecdotal, however, I know people who watch nothing but Fox News and who often show open contempt for everything else, which is all "fake news," of course." So they are already set up to disbelieve anything from those networks, even if it comes from the original sources. I tune in to Fox once in awhile, just to see what's going on there, and always come away feeling that I need a shower.
Maybe it’s a good thing the fascists are moving quickly to take it all over. That gets us to the breaking point sooner. It’s clear this stupid pig will not see the end of his regime’s term. The dam gets closer to breaking by the day.
Not to speak ill of pigs, (who are smarter than Trump) you're right. The dam will break; people will only tolerate oppression and subjugation for so long before there comes a tipping point. Sooner than later would be better.
I know, Steve, i use the word reflexively, and then feel bad for the real pigs. If he is seriously considering occupying Chicago, I can see that as the tipping point. I see this morning his thugs in the Transportation Department have taken control of Union Station in DC. What’s up with that?
As others have said, he's getting more desperate and crazy by the day. Dementia is clearly escalating. A drowning man grasping at anything and everything to attempt to keep power. Put bluntly, people will eventually have had enough of his crap and there will be push-back.
I liked this post with trepidation. I agree with you but that little guy whispering in the back of my brain is saying "be careful what you wish for." These are terrible, dangerous times.
On that Trump staff meeting (the White House Rabbit Hole with Lights and Sirens on Full Display): Never, in all of history has such debasement occurred. (Was John Roberts watching?) I wonder how Is Fox News is going to smooth that one over? A clip of that historical debacle should be a part of every civics or history class (or related) ever taught from here on out, in any country, except that who in their right mind who didn't actually see it would believe it? The title: "How Low Can You Go?" or, "How a U.S. President can Impress the Europeans and make Everyone in the World Laugh Out Loud." I thought I might be watching "Airplane" by mistake and kept looking for Leslie Neilson to peek out from under the table.
Guess what, Donald: You are not a god, and no matter how many people tell you how great you are, and no matter how many decapitated morons you get to debase themselves, it won't make it true. In fact, the meeting was the greatest expose' of an historical vacuum the world has ever known. MAGA SUCKS.
Militarizing the police is dangerous. Their actions will escalate anger and violence into a boiling point. Trump is creating violence rather than violence increasing on its own as we already know. It remains to be seen how much lower he can sink. Congress has been on recess for too damn long. We’re paying their salaries they need to do their jobs. If congress can’t do their jobs then we need to remind them their political careers are ending soon. There’s congressmen who have been there for years it’s time we demand they take impeachment action now or their job is on the chopping block next. It shouldn’t take scorched earth to get things done.
"It remains to be seen how much lower he can sink."
We keep asking this, thinking "he's finally reached the bottom of the barrel." What we are finding out that with him, there is no bottom to this pit of garbage that he's thrusting us into. It's up to us to put a bottom on it.
The one thing President Pinocchio seems to react to, his Kryptonite, is ridicule. (Remember how he reacted when Rubio remarked on his small, er, hands?) He detests anyone who makes him look weak. It's why he's so incensed by Vilmar Ábrego García, Lisa Cook, and even Rosie O'Donnell. I hope the late-night comics, and the South Park guys, will become our new patriots by drilling down until they're completely under his thin orange skin and drive him to the point of 25th-Amendment madness.
It may have to come to a family mental health intervention. The cowardly lackey toadies in his cabinet (who would be the ones to commit to a 25th Amendment intervention) won't do it.
Third time would be the charm for impeachment with a change in the majority of Congress - hopefully on both counts.
True. There has never been a "too low," for the short-fingered vulgarian.
Wait - he did say that "women" had to be over 12. He drew the line, there.
There is also no "too low" for the oligarchs who are using him as their WMD against the Constitutional Republic, and even if he pops off tomorrow - they will still be working against We The People.
With more work on our part, we can make them much less effective, especially if we can change the majority in Congress and add some guardrails where there have been found to be gaps.
"After Abrego Garcia’s counsel brought suit to halt it, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in a hastily scheduled hearing, delivered the law in words even the government’s lawyers could not spin or misinterpret: 'Your clients are absolutely forbidden at this juncture to remove Mr. Abrego Garcia from the continental United States.' ...”
I hope the judge has a plan of action, because it is a given that the Trump regime will violate the orders. And if it gets appealed to the Supreme Court, Trump will get his way.
The out lines of Dementia Donald Crow’s SA Brownshirts and ICE SS are coming into sharper focus as the mad fascist dictator deals out force and coercion with one hand and pillages the wealth of the nation with the other. His official portrait for his second regime will be his vomit on Old Glory.
Again, thank you for filling in the details on a lot of Trump's grasping at power that isn't his.
" He’s even declared that, in fact, people would like a dictator."
Maybe his cult would; anything that he spits out is fine with them. The rest of us respectfully decline. Our women and men have fought against dictators in the past. As someone once said, "in this country, this is something up with which I will not put." Specifically but not exclusively, Trump has violated federal law by turning a now-armed National Guard loose on our capital city and is threatening escalation to others. My governor (JB Pritzker) is resisting this takeover, and others should follow suit and not allow "mission creep" of this illegal activity.
"Many people are saying" is sounding a bit hollow these days. Anyway, how would he know what many people are saying? "Thank you for your attention to this matter" seems to have fallen from favor. Maybe Susie Wiles told him.
Every day, something new, something vicious, something unprecedented, something illegal.
Today, nearly 200 FEMA officials -- both past and present -- were placed on leave, with at least a dozen summarily fired for daring to sign a letter sent to Congress pointing out the obvious: FEMA is being mismanaged at the very top, and sooner or later there will be a Hurricane Katrina-style disaster whose effects will be magnified by a government response filled with ineptitude, incompetence and misdirection.
Here in your nation's occupied capital, the National Guard is picking up trash, not fighting crime, because this was never about crime. The Department of Transportation has announced its intentions to "take over" Union Station (using what law and justification I couldn't even begin to guess). Not even during World War II, when FDR actually used Union Station to travel to and from Warm Springs in Georgia, did the Government "take over" anything.
This proposed fed firing attempt will get the attention of the billionaires. As Jen said, they don’t want the markets to melt down. They just ned to look at the markets in fascist countries to see what can happen.
"Unless states and ultimately the Supreme Court (which to date has enabled his tyrannical moves) blow the whistle, the fear of a police state with a corrupt, crony-capitalist economy will become our reality."
I think the danger will persist, or the reality will fully arrive, unless and until elected Republican officials, particularly in Congress but also in the states, start breaking with Trump in meaningful ways. They are the ultimate enablers, having sacrificed all of Congress's potential power and subverted the Constitution to curry the favor of the president and his storm troopers.
Since it is illegal to send National Guard troops into Chicago without them being ordered by the governor of IL, why is it not considered an “illegal order”, one that the troops do not need to obey? Pritzker talked about the army being subject to court martial if they disobeyed an order. Did he just mean the members in DC or was he talking about IL, too? I sincerely want a definitive answer to this.
Perhaps you can find your answer in some of the articles about federalizing the National Guard in LA California. My recollection is that Breyer, federal District Court, found that deployment of the National Guard to LA was overreach but that Breyer's decision was not upheld on appeal. The Contrarian has brought in some great legal experts who have said that the balance of legal opinion favors Trump. So uphill battle. Also that courts can take into consideration whether or not a governor has requested troops but is not bound by a governor's "no". Murky.
We should all be alarmed. Wake up America, before it’s too late. Thank you once again, Jen, for your clear eyed commentary.
Agree. It cannot be stated any more clearly. This is not speculation, it is happening. This is real.
See you in September in DC.
https://removalcoalition.org/
Congress returns. There are many issues we can use to convince a few Congressional Republicans. Brian Fitzpatrick is a case study.
Pressure them directly, their donors, families, social friends etc. Picket. Sit in.
Proportionally 4 x more crime in MAGA Mike's home town than in DC. Memphis is the most crimeridden city in the US. Jackson, Mississippi! Bessemer, AL!
Interview the National Guardsmen. Odds are more crime at home.
D.S., Your comment is buoying, thus morning. Instead of bemoaning that trump's police state is here, you suggested what we can do, even here, in DC. ... Meanwhile, hope Nat Guard is picking up a lot of dog poop, in Lafayette Square.
see, this is one of the problems americans have....they should be picking up their own dog poop
:)
omg patricia, lighten up! We've raised our kids + pups, near Lafayette Square. We all respect our Nat Guard, + we pick up our dogs' poop.
um, YOU are the one who hoped the nat guard is picking up poop...besides I was half kidding.....I do think americans do throw trash on the ground
As Gov. Pritzger pointed out, the military and National Guard did not volunteer for this duty. This is as much an insult to the integrity of these fine Americans as it is to the rest of us. Unless and until you see members of our armed services mistreating citizens, let's try to treat them with the respect they deserve.
It's time for them to sit themselves down on the Mall and say NO to these illegal orders to police the peaceful population, because that's what they're there for.
Of the 10 cities with the highest crime rates, 7 are Republican controlled states.
I have already emailed my Democratic Senators and Democratic governor and let them know that I am watching. I expect more from them than what i've see.
I don't care if Schumer wants to sit and take the high road. I want some serious actions from all Democrats in Congress. They need to convince their colleagues across the aisle, that this has to end NOW>
All Congressional Democrats oppose Trump/MAGA. All includes Schumer.
He's just announced the takeover, in his Orwellion speech the "management," of Union Station--no doubt to disrupt whatever gatherings are meant to take place there.
As a poster on another Substack wrote, this is not a drill. Keep saying it.
In real time, right before our eyes.
… on 5th Avenue?
The way I see it, the invasion of one state by another is a call to state Governors to mobilize their National Guards to resist unlawful assault. Also, the gerrymander fight is on. There is a new playbook. The old rules have been struck down by the Supreme Court. We need to change the gears here as fast as possible for deadly preemptive strikes. Newsom has moved out on this already. Who is next? Hochul. Where are you? Pritzker. What are you doing?
https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/gerrymander-fight?r=3m1bs
Governor Hochul and the New York legislature are bound by the New York state constitution. They would not be able to gerrymander for 2026, but they should lay their plans for doing so, if necessary--and given what we have seen it will be necessary--for 2028. Governor Pritzker is preparing, as his speech demonstrated. I suspect that there is much behind the scenes strategizing, just as there was in California before Newsom announced the move to combat the Texas gerrymander.
I suggest that we build up and offer concrete suggestions. We also need to be strategic.
I will not concede this. Constitutions get changed and amended. It is an imperative we fight now.
Yes, but there are rules as to how they get changed and amended. California has a process that has allowed Newsom and the Democrats to move quickly to counter the actions Republicans have taken in Texas. Different states have different constitutions.
enlighten me on NY.
Here is where you can read about it:
https://www.albanylaw.edu/government-law-center/amending-nys-constitution
It's already too late. With the full support of the six Christian Nationalists on the Supreme Court and GOP Congressional members the Felon is making the United States an authoritarian theocracy, with the Felon as its leader and the American oligarchs running the Country (Putin's Russia).
Fight now. Too much is at risk to wait! Mobilize Blue state National Guards when threatened. The invasion of one state by another is a call to state Governors to mobilize their National Guards to resist an UNLAWFUL assault. The U.S. military should not accept UNLAWFUL orders. The sooner we get this over with, the better. This confrontation is coming. It is coming! We are stronger now than we will be tomorrow. The confrontation is not a battle or a war. It is a standoff at the State borders. We know TACO. Also, the gerrymander fight is on. There is a new playbook. The old rules have been struck down by the Supreme Court. We need to change the gears here as fast as possible for deadly PREEMPTIVE strikes. Newsom has moved out on this already. Who is next? Hochul. Where are you? NO EXCUSE! Change your state Constitution. Pritzker. What are you doing?
https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/gerrymander-fight?r=3m1bs
Mobilizing the Blue State National Guards is what the Felon wants, so he can declare Martial Law. A National Strike or Democratic members of Congress walking out seems far better than something which may/will result in violence.
I do not feel you are correct. Mobilizing is a Governor’s right. It is the Governor’s militia; however, It is civil unrest where Trump has martial law authority. Beware that jabberwock. A State’s use of its National Guard is the State’s business. It has nothing to do with Trump. It is not threatening, in and of itself.
I hope you're right. Still waiting on a decision from the District Judge in CA who just heard the case brought by Governor Newsom. I fear, even if the Judge decides in Newsom's favor, the six Christian Nationalists on the Supreme Court will side with the Felon.
Where are the Democrats?
Well, in Iowa, they were turning out to flip a state house Senate seat from red to blue by an 11-point margin.
The governors of Washington and Illinois have spoken up against Trump's threats to deploy the National Guard in their areas. Be assured that legal strategy is ongoing behind the scenes. Why tip your hands in advance?
We are seeing the emergence of some strong Democratic candidates. While that has not happened yet in my state of Indiana, there is still time.
In the meantime, all of us who are Democrats, Independents, or who fled the Republican party can each contribute in our own ways. The movement is growing.
Is any effort being made to encourage geriatrics in the Senate and the House of Representatives to retire and enjoy their pensions and other benefits? Are there experienced and lauded candidates to step in with fresh messages including mission, goals, objectives, and action plans to stand forth? State governments once were called the laboratories of democracy. I'm seeing some evidence but not that the oldsters are ready to step aside. And yes I follow the news and read HCR and JWV and The Contrarian daily. Iowa is encouraging. Jasmine has been suggested to succeed Hakeem Jeffries who has been a disappointment. Speeches are not action. IL Gov is presidential.
It is never easy to be the minority leader. When Nancy Pelosi was in that position back in 2016, it was popular amongst the Democratic candidates to say that they would not support her for Speaker. Well, almost every one of them who was elected supported her, and she was an effective Speaker in standing up against Trump and in pushing forward on Biden's legislation.
Maybe Jeffries will be Speaker, maybe not. However, I would suggest that we focus on taking back the House and the Senate, then sort out leadership later.
I, too, have concerns when a 78-year-old candidate plans to seek re-election, but much depends on the energy and quality of ideas that the person brings to the table. I would ask all older Democrats to look realistically at their health, their energy, and the future of the party, and to make decisions accordingly. Maybe they run, and maybe they do not, but it is important to think beyond self and to put the country first.
I don't rule out anyone due to age. Biden accomplished a lot in his first two years because of his experience in the Senate and as Vice President. I wish he had kept to the strategy of being a bridge and only serving four years. I understand the political calculation We have a longstanding press tradition that calls a president at the start of his second term a "lame duck." Huh? The person was just elected for four years. (Notice how no one calls Trump a lame duck? What changed?) I also wish that he had chosen a VP who would not be running. That would have opened up the field.
Jasmine is being encouraged to run for Senate here in TX. We'll see what she decides.
OUT OF OFFICE OK
No excuse. They need to speak up loudly like Gov. Pritzger.
Pritzker.
can't hurt
The obsequious sycophants embarrassing themselves by fawning over the Emperor's New Clothes ought to be ashamed of themselves. Actually, worse than that. And the mainstream media and other corporate entities that refuse to call this president and administration out for what it is share in that shame.
The king is batsh-t crazy. Stephen Miller is a racist fascist. The cabinet is overstocked with incompetent toadies. Everything that made America great is being destroyed. People in power need to stop pretending otherwise. Every kid along the parade route knows the king is starkers.
Thomas Moore: I'm still hitting my head on the table from having seen that meeting. Please tell me it was just a joke, or something? Anything, besides our political reality? I am convinced, however, that almost 40 percent of the voting public is morally and spiritually defunct or just plain brain dead. Donald Trump has "pushed the envelop" right off the edge of the universe.
"Which of you shall we say doth love us most?"
- King Lear, Act 1, Scene 1.
That cabinet meeting was indeed laughable. Although, sadly so. All I can think is that the power and access to ways to become even richer has made the likes of Rubio, Noem, and all the rest bow down at Trumps’s feet. It’s shameful but I think they must just look past the shame with justification.
No, they're protecting themselves. They don't mean that any more than any visiting prime minister or head of state. They are keeping the patient calm, if not quiet.
Not a joke. This is what they did, with the exception of a few patriots, in the first administration. Remember Pence picking up his water in time with the great leader.
They can't be ashamed Thomas, they don't know what shame is, they have no concept of it.
How can they be? This whole regime is composed of racists, fascists, fanatics - all corrupt and all phenomenally stupid. The Heritage Foundation types were the ones who parsed The Constitutions and found all the attack points. tRump's ability to get off from criminal charges his whole life means he has no memory of restraint at all. He will attempt anything in hopes of overturning any precept of the Republic he can. Unfortunately, it is going to be all about a holding action until the Mid Terms...
If we in fact even HAVE the mid-terms.
There will be elections, no matter how corrupted.
The Republicans will likely follow the North Carolina playbook they employed in the state Supreme Court race and try to overthrow their forthcoming substantial losses.
Almost certainly not if martial law has been declared.
They have elections in Russia, but most offices only have one candidate running.
"all corrupt and all phenomenally stupid." Excellent summary of who we are dealing with. Especially "stupid."
That's my biggest concern Stephen, the midterm elections. If the fascist regime somehow accomplishes to suspend it or to rigg it in such a way that's totally irrelevant as they are in Russia, then the American people would know first hand what the bottom of the abyss looks like.
The rest of the world (i.e. the free world) knows it too.
Getting involved at any level is good for anxiety.
Let's not be like the Germans who had no good answers for their children and grandchildren when they were asked what they did during the Hitler years.
Well, it's taken us until now to find out why the German nation did as they did. They had the prototype in the Chancellery. He ended in the bunker, but it took strong allied intervention to get him there, something which can't happen in America because because because.
Particularly when acting together with others, and/or talking with others about the actions everyone has taken individually. Courage is contagious.
Everyone can do something, no matter how small the effort may seem.
Labor Day rallies are happening all over the country. There are many in just Colorado alone. Go to one and take your No Kings Since 1776 sign.
Call your Congress people and your governor. Write letters to the editor. Hell, I even write to Justice Roberts (silly, I know).
Not silly! There must be a little chink in the armor.
Yes, I must write my voting letters today and begin my phone call campaign. Right now.
It is already here.my dad, WW2 veteran long passed, would be horrified at what we have become. Trump and his cronies have made a mockery of what my dad and so many others fought for…
Bravo. I think about this every day.
Governor Pritzger's speech was incredible, but I didn't see a whole lot of coverage on it. Too bad. The Swift/Kelce engagement got all the play. America. America. What have you become?
It's not America, it's corporate media. They are cowardly and have given up on presenting the news that's the most important for fear of angering a mentally defective wannabe king. Part of the success of dictators is taking over the news media. Listen to AM talk radio anywhere in the country and you'll hear it. PBS/NPR has been defunded and defanged. The rest are becoming increasingly complicit in their silence.
Agreed. But we need to support PBS/NPR like never before, as well as other still-credible sources, e.g. Associated Press.
Not a lot of coverage because there's not a lot of free press. Swift/Kelce coverage pleased me - after she made her pre-election Anti-Trump public announcement he told her on the internet that she might just regret that decision, and we haven't heard nearly as much about her this year.
WaPo are still sending me special offers (I cancelled when Bezos declared), which I delete whenever they appear.
I cancelled WaPo, too. Took what I was going to be saving and gave it to the Associated Press and am carefully choosing Substack contributors to support as well. We need an independent press. Also need a local press. Here in Sarasota, we now have the Suncoast Searchlight, with great investigative reporting.
Heather Cox Richardson and Dan Rather are good contributors on Substack.
Yes, I get those desperate missives as well and delete them.
Same here.
Lord, those of us who followed Trump's career as a failed businessman knew he would wreck the country like he did his dozens of other ventures. How to explain his hold over millions of people? Was it that stupid, much-edited "reality" show? Harder to explain than his first election was his second, after he'd gotten hundreds of thousands of people killed during his inept handling of COVID and unleashed a mob on our Capitol after trying to steal the 2020 election. What made that fool fit for another go-round? We're all suffering for the failure of millions to understand just how rotten a human being he is. We need to keep fighting him and his equally inept minions at every turn. It's government by the people and for the people, not by and for a two-bit grifter, a corrupt SCOTUS, and a bunch of billionaires.
Mostly, I think: Fox News. They have demonized from the get-go anything that is not Trumpist. So many people only watch that channel, and think ANYTHING coming from a democrat is a lie "And everyone knows it." So they generally do not just go at a particular issue, but also go to the heart of it so that the whole thing is tainted in the minds of their followers--over and over again.
Agree. Those shameless fools got thousands of people killed during COVID, too. Now they've gotten millions uninsured, and, eventually, thousands homeless. I don't see how they sleep at night. If I had a free, no-arrest bitch slap, I'm not sure who would be the recipient, but I'm kinda thinking these days it's Jesse Waters. Smug SOB!
Fox. Rupert surely can't still be the supremo, at his age, and yet a few faces have disappeared (or heads rolled, as the case may be).
It's anecdotal, however, I know people who watch nothing but Fox News and who often show open contempt for everything else, which is all "fake news," of course." So they are already set up to disbelieve anything from those networks, even if it comes from the original sources. I tune in to Fox once in awhile, just to see what's going on there, and always come away feeling that I need a shower.
But the machismo. So tempting for so many fearful young American men. And women, too…
Maybe it’s a good thing the fascists are moving quickly to take it all over. That gets us to the breaking point sooner. It’s clear this stupid pig will not see the end of his regime’s term. The dam gets closer to breaking by the day.
Not to speak ill of pigs, (who are smarter than Trump) you're right. The dam will break; people will only tolerate oppression and subjugation for so long before there comes a tipping point. Sooner than later would be better.
I know, Steve, i use the word reflexively, and then feel bad for the real pigs. If he is seriously considering occupying Chicago, I can see that as the tipping point. I see this morning his thugs in the Transportation Department have taken control of Union Station in DC. What’s up with that?
As others have said, he's getting more desperate and crazy by the day. Dementia is clearly escalating. A drowning man grasping at anything and everything to attempt to keep power. Put bluntly, people will eventually have had enough of his crap and there will be push-back.
He also has the National Guard raking mulch and picking up litter because they cannot find enough crime to keep them occupied.
Now that's such a good use of their time and our tax dollars. /s
True dat about pigs. Delightful, sociable animals, very intelligent, clean and tidy. Ask any pig farmer.
I liked this post with trepidation. I agree with you but that little guy whispering in the back of my brain is saying "be careful what you wish for." These are terrible, dangerous times.
I think you are right. It has to get worse before it gets better
John, my wise wife of many, many years always say in reference to this regime, "the worse the better" 😅
On that Trump staff meeting (the White House Rabbit Hole with Lights and Sirens on Full Display): Never, in all of history has such debasement occurred. (Was John Roberts watching?) I wonder how Is Fox News is going to smooth that one over? A clip of that historical debacle should be a part of every civics or history class (or related) ever taught from here on out, in any country, except that who in their right mind who didn't actually see it would believe it? The title: "How Low Can You Go?" or, "How a U.S. President can Impress the Europeans and make Everyone in the World Laugh Out Loud." I thought I might be watching "Airplane" by mistake and kept looking for Leslie Neilson to peek out from under the table.
Guess what, Donald: You are not a god, and no matter how many people tell you how great you are, and no matter how many decapitated morons you get to debase themselves, it won't make it true. In fact, the meeting was the greatest expose' of an historical vacuum the world has ever known. MAGA SUCKS.
You can say that again. And all in caps, not just the last two words.
Militarizing the police is dangerous. Their actions will escalate anger and violence into a boiling point. Trump is creating violence rather than violence increasing on its own as we already know. It remains to be seen how much lower he can sink. Congress has been on recess for too damn long. We’re paying their salaries they need to do their jobs. If congress can’t do their jobs then we need to remind them their political careers are ending soon. There’s congressmen who have been there for years it’s time we demand they take impeachment action now or their job is on the chopping block next. It shouldn’t take scorched earth to get things done.
"It remains to be seen how much lower he can sink."
We keep asking this, thinking "he's finally reached the bottom of the barrel." What we are finding out that with him, there is no bottom to this pit of garbage that he's thrusting us into. It's up to us to put a bottom on it.
The one thing President Pinocchio seems to react to, his Kryptonite, is ridicule. (Remember how he reacted when Rubio remarked on his small, er, hands?) He detests anyone who makes him look weak. It's why he's so incensed by Vilmar Ábrego García, Lisa Cook, and even Rosie O'Donnell. I hope the late-night comics, and the South Park guys, will become our new patriots by drilling down until they're completely under his thin orange skin and drive him to the point of 25th-Amendment madness.
It may have to come to a family mental health intervention. The cowardly lackey toadies in his cabinet (who would be the ones to commit to a 25th Amendment intervention) won't do it.
Third time would be the charm for impeachment with a change in the majority of Congress - hopefully on both counts.
True. There has never been a "too low," for the short-fingered vulgarian.
Wait - he did say that "women" had to be over 12. He drew the line, there.
There is also no "too low" for the oligarchs who are using him as their WMD against the Constitutional Republic, and even if he pops off tomorrow - they will still be working against We The People.
With more work on our part, we can make them much less effective, especially if we can change the majority in Congress and add some guardrails where there have been found to be gaps.
Or a lid on it.
What you say makes sense.
"After Abrego Garcia’s counsel brought suit to halt it, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis in a hastily scheduled hearing, delivered the law in words even the government’s lawyers could not spin or misinterpret: 'Your clients are absolutely forbidden at this juncture to remove Mr. Abrego Garcia from the continental United States.' ...”
I hope the judge has a plan of action, because it is a given that the Trump regime will violate the orders. And if it gets appealed to the Supreme Court, Trump will get his way.
I keep hoping Canada or some other sane country would offer him and his family asylum. He is obviously a victim of political persecution….
With Canada still in tariff negotiations don’t hold your breath!
World’s biggest bully has been given the keys to the kingdom! 🙄
The out lines of Dementia Donald Crow’s SA Brownshirts and ICE SS are coming into sharper focus as the mad fascist dictator deals out force and coercion with one hand and pillages the wealth of the nation with the other. His official portrait for his second regime will be his vomit on Old Glory.
No family members are seen near him these days.
Again, thank you for filling in the details on a lot of Trump's grasping at power that isn't his.
" He’s even declared that, in fact, people would like a dictator."
Maybe his cult would; anything that he spits out is fine with them. The rest of us respectfully decline. Our women and men have fought against dictators in the past. As someone once said, "in this country, this is something up with which I will not put." Specifically but not exclusively, Trump has violated federal law by turning a now-armed National Guard loose on our capital city and is threatening escalation to others. My governor (JB Pritzker) is resisting this takeover, and others should follow suit and not allow "mission creep" of this illegal activity.
"Many people are saying" is sounding a bit hollow these days. Anyway, how would he know what many people are saying? "Thank you for your attention to this matter" seems to have fallen from favor. Maybe Susie Wiles told him.
"Many people are saying." Translation: I just thought of this in my head.
Every day, something new, something vicious, something unprecedented, something illegal.
Today, nearly 200 FEMA officials -- both past and present -- were placed on leave, with at least a dozen summarily fired for daring to sign a letter sent to Congress pointing out the obvious: FEMA is being mismanaged at the very top, and sooner or later there will be a Hurricane Katrina-style disaster whose effects will be magnified by a government response filled with ineptitude, incompetence and misdirection.
Here in your nation's occupied capital, the National Guard is picking up trash, not fighting crime, because this was never about crime. The Department of Transportation has announced its intentions to "take over" Union Station (using what law and justification I couldn't even begin to guess). Not even during World War II, when FDR actually used Union Station to travel to and from Warm Springs in Georgia, did the Government "take over" anything.
This proposed fed firing attempt will get the attention of the billionaires. As Jen said, they don’t want the markets to melt down. They just ned to look at the markets in fascist countries to see what can happen.
It should get more attention than that. It only takes a photograph to see why he's attacked her.
"Unless states and ultimately the Supreme Court (which to date has enabled his tyrannical moves) blow the whistle, the fear of a police state with a corrupt, crony-capitalist economy will become our reality."
I think the danger will persist, or the reality will fully arrive, unless and until elected Republican officials, particularly in Congress but also in the states, start breaking with Trump in meaningful ways. They are the ultimate enablers, having sacrificed all of Congress's potential power and subverted the Constitution to curry the favor of the president and his storm troopers.
Absolutely the Republican politicians are the ultimate enablers. They don't seem to realize that a flood takes down everyone in its path.
Since it is illegal to send National Guard troops into Chicago without them being ordered by the governor of IL, why is it not considered an “illegal order”, one that the troops do not need to obey? Pritzker talked about the army being subject to court martial if they disobeyed an order. Did he just mean the members in DC or was he talking about IL, too? I sincerely want a definitive answer to this.
Perhaps you can find your answer in some of the articles about federalizing the National Guard in LA California. My recollection is that Breyer, federal District Court, found that deployment of the National Guard to LA was overreach but that Breyer's decision was not upheld on appeal. The Contrarian has brought in some great legal experts who have said that the balance of legal opinion favors Trump. So uphill battle. Also that courts can take into consideration whether or not a governor has requested troops but is not bound by a governor's "no". Murky.
Yes, murky seems to be the answer on this. Last I heard there were still 250 Guard members in LA. Does anyone know if that’s still true?