It is past time to put an end to Trump's tenure. The People in our Constitution decreed that "[t]he President . . . shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction" any "high Crimes [or high] Misdemeanors." Trump is guilty of "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States," which Congress (and a previous president) defined in 18 U.S.C. § 371.
As the Preamble emphasizes, "We the People" did "ordain and establish [our] Constitution" for particularly important purposes, including to "establish Justice" and to "provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves." The People in Article VI established that "the supreme Law of the Land" consists exclusively of our "Constitution" and federal "Laws" that were "made in Pursuance thereof" and "all Treaties."
Trump already abused American military power and put American lives at danger needlessly to bomb Iran and Nigeria, invade Venezuela and summarily kill purported Venezuelans at sea. Now, Trump is abusing our economic and military power to threaten our allies in violation of treaties that are part of the supreme law of the land. Trump shouldn't be given the chance to take us to war (military or economic) against our most important allies--especially when they're already combatting one of our most powerful enemies after it invaded and is destroying another nation.
Too many times and too dangerously, Trump has trampled on our Constitution (especially the First Amendment), federal laws made in pursuance of our Constitution and treaties. It is past time to impeach, convict and remove Trump from office.
Jack, with the illegal tariffs the madman has declared economic war on the entire world and by extension, our country. With the invasion of Venezuela to kidnap Maduro (a bad guy for sure) and his wife plus killing +-80 in the process; bombing Iran without congressional approval; invading American cities with unidentified ICE goons who unlawfully harass the people without provocation and murder citizens (RIP Renee Nicole Good and others); with his incendiary rhetoric against our allies that imperils the very system the US created after WW2 in hopes of preventing yet another world war; blatantly ignoring court orders and giving the middle finger to the entire judiciary system.
I'll stop there. Bottom line: military and economic war has already been declared by this unfit, thin-skinned toddler. I agree: impeach, convict and send him packing.
Of course, we should never forget how he fought tooth and nail to stay in power after losing the 2020 election that culminated in the insurrectionists storming the Capitol on J6. As history has taught us, he will not go peacefully. And here we are.
Steven, I agree. There's no good reason to wait for things to get worse. Even assuming, arguendo, that Trump hadn't crossed the Rubicon before, he has now. Trump is openly attacking and expressly seeking to weaken our allies (and therefore the U.S.) and simultaneously offering aid and comfort to Putin, i.e., one of the potent and active threats to the U.S. and our allies today.
I am in full agreement with you both, but that is what is so frustrating, we cannot do it without the feckless Republicans. As Freddie says below, they don't trust each other not to buckle.
25th amendment also appropriate. We can all see he is mentally unfit to lead! Watching his speech in Davos is just embarrassing.... Then he began to refer, several times, to Iceland, when Greenland is actually the one at stake. He is destroying us both domestically and internationally. The U.S. will never be viewed the same. The secret is out. We have enough voters to elect a crazy, narcissist. Never to be trusted again!
I share your embarrassment. Don't these republicans see his mental illness?? Don't they see that world leaders are banding together against us? I thought the threatening letter to Norway's leaders in retaliation for not granting him the Nobel Peace Prize (which they have nothing to do with) was going to be the red line too far to cross. For God's sake, what will it take?
Ms. Lagarde apparently has more chutzpah than most of the other 100 people who attended that dinner. Sitting there and letting the fool and useful idiot Howard Lutnick berate Europe was more than she could stomach. You go, girl!
It was also reported that there were jeers and heckling as well. At the end, Al Gore and a few others made their voices heard. After Donald's incoherent rant at Davos, Mr. Gore also had some choice words about hating to be the factchecker of that screed.
What our former allies should do is to stop inviting these ingrates to any of these gatherings since apparently we are no longer on their side.
Vance is chomping at the bit to get to the Oval Office but is slightly less brazen about this ambitions than the current president is. There would need to be a huge push by Congressional Republicans before he would act. Maybe the equally ambitious (but less brazenly so) Rubio would do the dirty deed and get the ball rolling, in exchange for future support from the GOP.
Donna, you just mentioned the names of perhaps the 2 most despicable, deplorable MAGAts of all and there are MANY. James David Vance (or whatever he is calling himself today) is far more dangerous than the mad dictator. He is much more intelligent and comes off as being not quite as insane although JD most certainly is. The prospect of JD being POTUS makes me want to grab my passport and head to Canada
And speaking of soulless shells, little Marco is a crass opportunist. Apparently, he has a short memory and has forgotten how the mad dictator debased him time and time again. Apparently he is oblivious to all of this which makes me wonder if he hasn't had a lobotomy. Not a bad idea, huh?
Vance is only withholding ambitions slightly to tiptoe around trump's ego. I think, with power, he would be even more cruel and certainly no more competent. I have 0 faith in the GOP to correct this mess on any level now.
I would add the killing of 80+ men on boats whose identities and purposes we will never know, except DJT and Hegseth wanted them killed. They were people who should have been subject to, at least, international law. No, we just wanted them dead, so we killed them! And there was a scant ripple of concern, which seems to have dissipated as ripples do.
Lots and lots of ripples, Nancy, millions of them. Concerned & disgusted Americans who value peaceful protests - the only kind that really work. As Dr. King showed us…before he was assassinated by an extremist. How to protect ourselves?: safety in numbers.
President Loose Cannon has provided us with ample grounds for impeachment. He seems to commit an action that qualifies as a High Crime or Misdemeanor on a weekly basis. It's simply a question of which ones to include in the Articles of Impeachment. Once the charges are brought, it will be difficult for even this Congress to fail in its sworn duty.
If anyone deserves to end their remaining days on earth in utter pain and misery, it is he who is the reincarnation of every one of the human race's most vile, evil and putrid specimens. The torture should be unbearable and slow. The level of needless suffering he has caused others rises to the level of war crimes. Oh, let's not leave his rabid hater of brown people and empty shell, Herr Stephen (Adolf Eichmann) Miller out of the torture plan. Ugh!!
He will not go peacefully and don’t forget he’s only the head of the snake (apologies to all reptiles everywhere). The body - his unelected cabinet, the tech billionaires who support him, Republican Senators/Representatives, and the armed, violent thugs who have been elevated to power - will not go easily either and must be dealt with.
I think the 25th is perhaps more appropriate at this point. The only problem is we have his entire, unqualified criminal cabal to deal with now, from Vance to the other incompetent Cabinet 'leaders'. I have a hard time seeing the GOP grow any sort of real spine at this point. We must vote them out of power.
I think the reason they can’t get four Republican senators and 3-4 Republican members of house to agree to impeach is that they can’t trust each other to not buckle under pressure from Trump, leaving them exposed.
Heather Cox Richardson said in her Politics Chat last evening (her YouTube channel) that authoritarians are more often brought down by isolating them from their advisors.
I wonder how we managed to elect so many cowards to the highest legislative body in the United States! I would have bet that people who had the goals, resources, and will to reach the halls of Congress would have integrity and a sense of pride in themselves. Boy was I wrong.
It's not really a mystery, is it? You're probably aware of the Citizens United decision (2010), unleashing corporate $$$ in electoral politics. It didn't come out of nowhere: The nation elected its first Black president in 2008 and the white right went nuts. All five members of the Citizens United majority were appointed by Republican presidents. Now go back further, to the anti-democratic backlash against 9/11 (which is where ICE came from); back to the repeal of Glass-Steagall during the Clinton administration; back to the corporate consolidation of mainstream media; back to the Reagan campaign of 1980, which harnessed white grievance to boost corporate types into power.
It's so easy to see in hindsight. Unfortunately too many of us, including the leaders of the Democratic Party, weren't willing to see, really *see*, what the Republican Party was becoming, or how deep was the racism and sexism in so much of the white electorate.
Yeah. I try, at least, to reflect on my thoughts, perceptions and actions as a way to keep a check on my own interests. I like to (or need to?) believe that others do the same. I’m often disappointed and perhaps there are those who are disappointed in me. I’m guessing from what you’re saying that you have a similar attitude. But, when it comes down to it, elected officials who are reluctant leaders, who are truly committed to their constituents, not just for their vote but for their wellbeing, are rare. When anyone points that out, we’re chastised as cynics. I’ve thought for a long time that the boy who exclaimed that the emperor had no clothes couldn’t possibly have been celebrated when everyone else had been going along with the lie. But Carney is being celebrated. So, maybe that’s the breaking point.
Thank you for the historical rationale. I am aware of, and very much dislike, Citizens United, but I wouldn't have put all of the rest of it together as a through line.
You're welcome! Have to say, there are advantages to having been around a few decades, not always politically engaged but almost always politically aware. And having the sort of mind that loves to put disparate pieces together. <g>
So many roads lead back to Reagan. Here in Australia we regarded him as comically senile. One shop window near where I lived had two puppet-like dummies, one of them of a senile Reagan in a wheelchair, the other of his wife, who was pushing the wheelchair.
A scenario that resembles in some key ways that of Edith Wilson, who was pretty much running the show after her husband, President Woodrow Wilson, suffered a serious stroke about a year and a half before the end of his second term -- a critical period that included the end of World War I and the rise of the Bolsheviks in Russia.
That's something interesting I didn't know. He's legendary in France. Very elegant avenue leading to the Trocadéro. From AI: Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points was a plan for world peace after World War I, proposing open diplomacy, free trade, disarmament, self-determination, and the creation of a League of Nations, a general association of nations to guarantee independence and resolve disputes. While most points were compromised at the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations was established, though the U.S. never joined, weakening it. -
Vance and his evil ways. Let's not neglect his support for covering up the Trumpstein files. Not exactly being a good Catholic boy. But I digress. What really galls me is how fascile he is and how he has flipped on a dime to join in the Trump flow into the sewers. Vance is Trump's foil nowadays. But please recall that it weren't always so:
JD Vance calls Trump ‘morally reprehensible’ in resurfaced emails:
Bishop Hirschfeld’s words struck a chord with me. Everytime I leave my house for a march or protest or action of any kind, I ask myself if I am willing to take a bullet. In my mind’s eye I am. Who knows what reality would like, but the Bishop’s words elevated it to another level of potentiality for me. Thank you.
At 77 I have fulfilled all family obligations and prefer to go out with a bang if necessary (bad pun) in support of a just cause rather than put up with what we are currently enduring. The late John Lewis was right. It's time for "good trouble."
Yes, Steve, I've also thought that we the senior population should be ready to 'go' in the service of a good cause. Let US be on the frontlines. I only wish there were a Secret Service member in the presidential detail with the same mindset.
Diane, you are not alone in your thinking. I don't worry about it much, but it's definitely in the back of my mind and keeps me on my toes and a lot of that is dependent upon who I'm with, wife, family, etc. Alone, I don't give a shit, and that's how much I care for this country.
Don't forget the impact of other religious groups, such as Tibetan Buddhists. A group of their monks are in NC today, having walked all the way from Ft. Worth, TX. Their ultimate destination is Washington, DC, where they will stand witness to the murderous excesses of this administration. People all along the way have supported them with food and water, and the rescue dog who walks with them has over a half million viewers on his Facebook page. The point here is that spiritual and moral values transcend any single religious interpretation of them. The virtues have been written about and celebrated by philosophers from many schools as well. Why? Because they are a part of who we are, innately. And who we must be more strongly, going forward.
That isn't quite correct, though the Trumpian noise certainly does get more attention. Much of the lack of coverage is due to the loss of local media. Our protest of the ICE arrest of a 20+ year resident restaurant owner in Staunton, Illinois got good coverage across the state.
Well, we here on Substack are doing our best to hold up important news stories which aren't being well covered by the corporate mainstream news outlets. This story emerged on Facebook, posted by a regular citizen. I amplified it on my substack yesterday. I'm pretty sure there are items on Threads and Blue Sky as well. It's our duty to pass along legitimate causes for hope, among other things, as best we're able. I tuck tidbits in my comments on other substackers' posts, like this one, too. Anyone can do it.
Time for the Representatives and Senator(s) who bravely spoke out earlier to do so again, with specific examples of what would be illegal orders to the military.
Oh, good idea! I'd love to see that. Trump always "doubles down" as the media seems to like to point out when somebody suggests he's wrong about something, but his opponents rarely do. I'd like to see Kelly, in particular, spell out what an illegal order is, as he was the one singled out the most by Trump and Hegseth.
"Misunderstanding American cities as dystopian hell holes, Trump may have erred in targeting large cities where high concentrations of people can assemble and network."
No! Trump does not "misunderstand" American cities as dystopia hell holes. He knows better, but he has to throw red meat at his base. Trump is a broken record, talking about "dystopian hell holes" against any city or state that voted against him.
Thank you Alan. Trump knows that Minneapolis, Chicago, New York City and other big cities and their metropolitan areas are NOT hellholes. A big American city is just another convenient boogeyman for Trump. Too big, too diverse, too anti-Trump. Where would the MAGA people be without the $support of the residents of these areas? I don’t see anyone sending our $ back to us.
So send us our Hellhole $ back. Trump knows that NYC is not a hellhole. Many Americans have visited major cities and haven’t found the hellholes. But vilifying others is a MAGA hallmark.Makes them feel better.
The fact that he has declared his intent to invade a treaty ally should be all it could take for Congressional rethuglicans to act against him. Yet they just blow it off and bury their heads in the sand. His self enrichment should be all the High Crimes and Misdemeanors its would take to impeach, convict, and remove. He is destabilizing our great nation and to me that constitutes Treason. What's it going to take? Will they wait until he nukes Minneapolis?
They aren't just blowing it off, they are starting to agree with him - as usual.
"A small but growing group of Republicans in Congress is expressing openness to President Trump’s increasingly explicit push to acquire Greenland, along with his desire to punish European allies who resist the idea." NYT
Wait until the EU strikes back. They aren't helpless by any means. Cyber and economic weapons are just as powerful, if not more powerful, than military action.
The acquisition of the Dutch West Indies in 1917 involved a treaty with Denmark over Greenland. One of those Indies is very much in the news today. Amazing how all this comes together. Now there's a 'Survivors' episteinasode worth watching.
THE FEW REMAINING MORAL MEDIA OUTLETS should stop giving attention to the WH Crime Boss. They should deny him one of the things he craves most, attention. The next time he appears in person spewing his filthy sewage they should turn their backs and walk out. What comes out of his dirt hole is not news. It's just Fascist Porn for the MAGA Voodoo Cult.
Which NBC relabeled MSNOW so that the executives of NBC can cower under their desks and say it's not their fault when the Miller Machine comes to punish Rachel, Lawrence, Ari, et al for being clear and honest.
Every morning I wake up asking myself "shouldn't we the people, the greater than 3.5% of us, be demanding our Republican representatives in congress to begin impeachment proceedings immediately? And not limit it to Trump. The list is long. Impeach. Now.
Republicans ARE the problem. Republicans in Congress could turn this around today. They have the means and the power. They don’t because Trump is doing their wretchedness for them and they fully support it. These ‘lawmakers’ are not fools. They are fully accessories to the crimes. Fully culpable. They are aware that Trump is now stashing booty that he has extracted from Venezuela in a foreign bank account. That’s incredibly overt malfeasance. They do nothing. They are aware of the war crimes at sea. They do nothing. They are aware of militarizing a border patrol agency for dominance and power display that has absolutely nothing to do with border patrol. They do nothing. They are aware of Americans dying at the hands of this wretched, illegal, domination force in the streets. They do nothing. Absolutely nothing. They know that Trump is in terminal dementia. They do nothing. They see our ALLIES be demeaned and threatened. They do nothing. They see the regime flagrantly ignore a near unanimous Congressional order by not fully releasing the Epstein awfulness. They do nothing. Absolutely nothing. Don’t kid yourself. Republicans ARE the problem; 100%. They know Trump is a pedophile. So what? How much do you need to see, hear, read, understand? Republicans ARE the problem. If you love America, vote every single one of them out. All of them. If you have never voted any other way but Republican before; do the right thing. America hangs in the balance and Republicans can stop the destruction now. Why don’t they?
Republicans ARE the problem. Vote all of them out!!!!
I couldn't agree more. I would only add that they do nothing about all of that because they benefit personally with power and money. And not always with a great deal of power, e.g. the pathetic Lindsey Graham, "I just want to be relevant".
We're about to head into the midterms and will be besieged with media accounts of what is wrong with this or that Democrat; what focus groups said about a list of issues, and what polls said about a voting bloc concerns - "Do they agree, somewhat agree, or disagree?" - when it truly is as you say:
"Republicans ARE the problem. Vote all of them out!!!!"
This should be very simple, but then I thought that when the felon rapist ran AGAIN the last time too.
It will be below zero - both during the day and -20 at night - for the next several days. It’s unsafe to be outside for more than a few minutes. If it were any other season, you would see us outside confronting ICE like the Iranians are doing in their streets.
Every Democrat and others against the Criminal-in-Chief should be repeating Gallegos' true statement that you quoted here: GALLEGO: Yes, I’m sorry where are we at this moment where we don’t understand what’s happening in this country? The man is threatening war against a NATO ally. We all think this is rational, right? Let’s accept what’s happening here. He is not rational right now. He is destroying our world reputation or potentially our economic opportunity or economic mighty power around the world because he is being petty. None of this is rational. Everyone needs to stop pretending this is rational. It is a wonder why every Democrat does not talk this way (and tragic that media hosts feel compelled to express surprise when they do.
It is past time to put an end to Trump's tenure. The People in our Constitution decreed that "[t]he President . . . shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction" any "high Crimes [or high] Misdemeanors." Trump is guilty of "Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States," which Congress (and a previous president) defined in 18 U.S.C. § 371.
As the Preamble emphasizes, "We the People" did "ordain and establish [our] Constitution" for particularly important purposes, including to "establish Justice" and to "provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves." The People in Article VI established that "the supreme Law of the Land" consists exclusively of our "Constitution" and federal "Laws" that were "made in Pursuance thereof" and "all Treaties."
Trump already abused American military power and put American lives at danger needlessly to bomb Iran and Nigeria, invade Venezuela and summarily kill purported Venezuelans at sea. Now, Trump is abusing our economic and military power to threaten our allies in violation of treaties that are part of the supreme law of the land. Trump shouldn't be given the chance to take us to war (military or economic) against our most important allies--especially when they're already combatting one of our most powerful enemies after it invaded and is destroying another nation.
Too many times and too dangerously, Trump has trampled on our Constitution (especially the First Amendment), federal laws made in pursuance of our Constitution and treaties. It is past time to impeach, convict and remove Trump from office.
Jack, with the illegal tariffs the madman has declared economic war on the entire world and by extension, our country. With the invasion of Venezuela to kidnap Maduro (a bad guy for sure) and his wife plus killing +-80 in the process; bombing Iran without congressional approval; invading American cities with unidentified ICE goons who unlawfully harass the people without provocation and murder citizens (RIP Renee Nicole Good and others); with his incendiary rhetoric against our allies that imperils the very system the US created after WW2 in hopes of preventing yet another world war; blatantly ignoring court orders and giving the middle finger to the entire judiciary system.
I'll stop there. Bottom line: military and economic war has already been declared by this unfit, thin-skinned toddler. I agree: impeach, convict and send him packing.
Of course, we should never forget how he fought tooth and nail to stay in power after losing the 2020 election that culminated in the insurrectionists storming the Capitol on J6. As history has taught us, he will not go peacefully. And here we are.
Steven, I agree. There's no good reason to wait for things to get worse. Even assuming, arguendo, that Trump hadn't crossed the Rubicon before, he has now. Trump is openly attacking and expressly seeking to weaken our allies (and therefore the U.S.) and simultaneously offering aid and comfort to Putin, i.e., one of the potent and active threats to the U.S. and our allies today.
I am in full agreement with you both, but that is what is so frustrating, we cannot do it without the feckless Republicans. As Freddie says below, they don't trust each other not to buckle.
So well-said, Pam!
25th amendment also appropriate. We can all see he is mentally unfit to lead! Watching his speech in Davos is just embarrassing.... Then he began to refer, several times, to Iceland, when Greenland is actually the one at stake. He is destroying us both domestically and internationally. The U.S. will never be viewed the same. The secret is out. We have enough voters to elect a crazy, narcissist. Never to be trusted again!
I share your embarrassment. Don't these republicans see his mental illness?? Don't they see that world leaders are banding together against us? I thought the threatening letter to Norway's leaders in retaliation for not granting him the Nobel Peace Prize (which they have nothing to do with) was going to be the red line too far to cross. For God's sake, what will it take?
trump is a treasonous black bottomless hole and he is sucking us and the whole world into him
His remarks were so insulting that Christine Lagarde left the dinner rather than risk having to talk to him afterwards.
Ms. Lagarde apparently has more chutzpah than most of the other 100 people who attended that dinner. Sitting there and letting the fool and useful idiot Howard Lutnick berate Europe was more than she could stomach. You go, girl!
It was also reported that there were jeers and heckling as well. At the end, Al Gore and a few others made their voices heard. After Donald's incoherent rant at Davos, Mr. Gore also had some choice words about hating to be the factchecker of that screed.
What our former allies should do is to stop inviting these ingrates to any of these gatherings since apparently we are no longer on their side.
Vance is chomping at the bit to get to the Oval Office but is slightly less brazen about this ambitions than the current president is. There would need to be a huge push by Congressional Republicans before he would act. Maybe the equally ambitious (but less brazenly so) Rubio would do the dirty deed and get the ball rolling, in exchange for future support from the GOP.
Donna, you just mentioned the names of perhaps the 2 most despicable, deplorable MAGAts of all and there are MANY. James David Vance (or whatever he is calling himself today) is far more dangerous than the mad dictator. He is much more intelligent and comes off as being not quite as insane although JD most certainly is. The prospect of JD being POTUS makes me want to grab my passport and head to Canada
And speaking of soulless shells, little Marco is a crass opportunist. Apparently, he has a short memory and has forgotten how the mad dictator debased him time and time again. Apparently he is oblivious to all of this which makes me wonder if he hasn't had a lobotomy. Not a bad idea, huh?
I do share your views of the VP and the SecState, Steven. I'm sort of hoping they'll eat each other alive. And the big guy, while they're at it.
But Rubio is a big coward like the rest of them. He's getting something from not speaking out.
Vance is only withholding ambitions slightly to tiptoe around trump's ego. I think, with power, he would be even more cruel and certainly no more competent. I have 0 faith in the GOP to correct this mess on any level now.
Cyn B: "with power" and "with Steven Miller".
I would add the killing of 80+ men on boats whose identities and purposes we will never know, except DJT and Hegseth wanted them killed. They were people who should have been subject to, at least, international law. No, we just wanted them dead, so we killed them! And there was a scant ripple of concern, which seems to have dissipated as ripples do.
Lots and lots of ripples, Nancy, millions of them. Concerned & disgusted Americans who value peaceful protests - the only kind that really work. As Dr. King showed us…before he was assassinated by an extremist. How to protect ourselves?: safety in numbers.
President Loose Cannon has provided us with ample grounds for impeachment. He seems to commit an action that qualifies as a High Crime or Misdemeanor on a weekly basis. It's simply a question of which ones to include in the Articles of Impeachment. Once the charges are brought, it will be difficult for even this Congress to fail in its sworn duty.
Don't forget that Hexenbeist Bondi is the BIGGEST ENABLER!
I'm sure the current Congress will have no difficulty in failing its sworn duty.
Impeach? "Lock him up, lock him up." He hasn't got much longer, but I do wish he might feel some of the pain he has inflicted.
If anyone deserves to end their remaining days on earth in utter pain and misery, it is he who is the reincarnation of every one of the human race's most vile, evil and putrid specimens. The torture should be unbearable and slow. The level of needless suffering he has caused others rises to the level of war crimes. Oh, let's not leave his rabid hater of brown people and empty shell, Herr Stephen (Adolf Eichmann) Miller out of the torture plan. Ugh!!
I can't disagree with anything you say there, Steven.
all of the pain
He will not go peacefully and don’t forget he’s only the head of the snake (apologies to all reptiles everywhere). The body - his unelected cabinet, the tech billionaires who support him, Republican Senators/Representatives, and the armed, violent thugs who have been elevated to power - will not go easily either and must be dealt with.
I think the 25th is perhaps more appropriate at this point. The only problem is we have his entire, unqualified criminal cabal to deal with now, from Vance to the other incompetent Cabinet 'leaders'. I have a hard time seeing the GOP grow any sort of real spine at this point. We must vote them out of power.
Vote, legally and inescapably.
I think the reason they can’t get four Republican senators and 3-4 Republican members of house to agree to impeach is that they can’t trust each other to not buckle under pressure from Trump, leaving them exposed.
Heather Cox Richardson said in her Politics Chat last evening (her YouTube channel) that authoritarians are more often brought down by isolating them from their advisors.
I wonder how we managed to elect so many cowards to the highest legislative body in the United States! I would have bet that people who had the goals, resources, and will to reach the halls of Congress would have integrity and a sense of pride in themselves. Boy was I wrong.
It's not really a mystery, is it? You're probably aware of the Citizens United decision (2010), unleashing corporate $$$ in electoral politics. It didn't come out of nowhere: The nation elected its first Black president in 2008 and the white right went nuts. All five members of the Citizens United majority were appointed by Republican presidents. Now go back further, to the anti-democratic backlash against 9/11 (which is where ICE came from); back to the repeal of Glass-Steagall during the Clinton administration; back to the corporate consolidation of mainstream media; back to the Reagan campaign of 1980, which harnessed white grievance to boost corporate types into power.
It's so easy to see in hindsight. Unfortunately too many of us, including the leaders of the Democratic Party, weren't willing to see, really *see*, what the Republican Party was becoming, or how deep was the racism and sexism in so much of the white electorate.
I think they did see, but as Carney said in his speech last night, they kept putting the sign in the window. It was a collective denial of reality.
Indeed it was! What I keep harping on is that on the part of those in or close to power, there was a strong incentive for that denial.
Yeah. I try, at least, to reflect on my thoughts, perceptions and actions as a way to keep a check on my own interests. I like to (or need to?) believe that others do the same. I’m often disappointed and perhaps there are those who are disappointed in me. I’m guessing from what you’re saying that you have a similar attitude. But, when it comes down to it, elected officials who are reluctant leaders, who are truly committed to their constituents, not just for their vote but for their wellbeing, are rare. When anyone points that out, we’re chastised as cynics. I’ve thought for a long time that the boy who exclaimed that the emperor had no clothes couldn’t possibly have been celebrated when everyone else had been going along with the lie. But Carney is being celebrated. So, maybe that’s the breaking point.
Thank you for the historical rationale. I am aware of, and very much dislike, Citizens United, but I wouldn't have put all of the rest of it together as a through line.
You're welcome! Have to say, there are advantages to having been around a few decades, not always politically engaged but almost always politically aware. And having the sort of mind that loves to put disparate pieces together. <g>
So many roads lead back to Reagan. Here in Australia we regarded him as comically senile. One shop window near where I lived had two puppet-like dummies, one of them of a senile Reagan in a wheelchair, the other of his wife, who was pushing the wheelchair.
A scenario that resembles in some key ways that of Edith Wilson, who was pretty much running the show after her husband, President Woodrow Wilson, suffered a serious stroke about a year and a half before the end of his second term -- a critical period that included the end of World War I and the rise of the Bolsheviks in Russia.
That's something interesting I didn't know. He's legendary in France. Very elegant avenue leading to the Trocadéro. From AI: Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points was a plan for world peace after World War I, proposing open diplomacy, free trade, disarmament, self-determination, and the creation of a League of Nations, a general association of nations to guarantee independence and resolve disputes. While most points were compromised at the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations was established, though the U.S. never joined, weakening it. -
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/involuntary_civil_commitment
Indeed it is. Long past time. Project 2025 was a visible timebomb. People didn't hear it ticking - too comfortable under Biden's unflagging guidance?
Vance and his evil ways. Let's not neglect his support for covering up the Trumpstein files. Not exactly being a good Catholic boy. But I digress. What really galls me is how fascile he is and how he has flipped on a dime to join in the Trump flow into the sewers. Vance is Trump's foil nowadays. But please recall that it weren't always so:
JD Vance calls Trump ‘morally reprehensible’ in resurfaced emails:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/29/jd-vance-trump-comments?CMP=share_btn_url
Vance is proving to be a cheap opportunist without a moral compass.
Just the kind of leadership that we need. /S
Vance is a weasel. (Apology to weasels)
Apology noted. A snake or common garden slug is closer.
Please don't put snakes in the same category as Drumpf or Shady Vance. A Slug, maybe, but snakes are cool.
Good point. In the words or Maxwell Smart, "sorry about that, chief."
Yes snakes help the ecology.
Which we already have.
Bishop Hirschfeld’s words struck a chord with me. Everytime I leave my house for a march or protest or action of any kind, I ask myself if I am willing to take a bullet. In my mind’s eye I am. Who knows what reality would like, but the Bishop’s words elevated it to another level of potentiality for me. Thank you.
"I ask myself if I am willing to take a bullet?"
At 77 I have fulfilled all family obligations and prefer to go out with a bang if necessary (bad pun) in support of a just cause rather than put up with what we are currently enduring. The late John Lewis was right. It's time for "good trouble."
Better to die on one's feet than serve on one's knees, if it comes to that.
I am right there with you.
Yes, Steve, I've also thought that we the senior population should be ready to 'go' in the service of a good cause. Let US be on the frontlines. I only wish there were a Secret Service member in the presidential detail with the same mindset.
Diane, you are not alone in your thinking. I don't worry about it much, but it's definitely in the back of my mind and keeps me on my toes and a lot of that is dependent upon who I'm with, wife, family, etc. Alone, I don't give a shit, and that's how much I care for this country.
Completely understand and agree. Be brave. I stand with you.
Don't forget the impact of other religious groups, such as Tibetan Buddhists. A group of their monks are in NC today, having walked all the way from Ft. Worth, TX. Their ultimate destination is Washington, DC, where they will stand witness to the murderous excesses of this administration. People all along the way have supported them with food and water, and the rescue dog who walks with them has over a half million viewers on his Facebook page. The point here is that spiritual and moral values transcend any single religious interpretation of them. The virtues have been written about and celebrated by philosophers from many schools as well. Why? Because they are a part of who we are, innately. And who we must be more strongly, going forward.
Why isn't this getting better media coverage? Have they all been beaten down and cowed? This and other resistance movements need to be highlighted.
Agree, haven't seen anything much. But then the media has been ignoring all of our protests and marches.
That isn't quite correct, though the Trumpian noise certainly does get more attention. Much of the lack of coverage is due to the loss of local media. Our protest of the ICE arrest of a 20+ year resident restaurant owner in Staunton, Illinois got good coverage across the state.
I agree, that has been a bright spot, although dimmed by the Sinclair and other acquisitions.
This was the first I heard about this. Not even in our Substack silo.
Spread the word, brother James, spread the word.
Well, we here on Substack are doing our best to hold up important news stories which aren't being well covered by the corporate mainstream news outlets. This story emerged on Facebook, posted by a regular citizen. I amplified it on my substack yesterday. I'm pretty sure there are items on Threads and Blue Sky as well. It's our duty to pass along legitimate causes for hope, among other things, as best we're able. I tuck tidbits in my comments on other substackers' posts, like this one, too. Anyone can do it.
Thanks for doing this. Otherwise, I would not have heard about it.
Time for the Representatives and Senator(s) who bravely spoke out earlier to do so again, with specific examples of what would be illegal orders to the military.
Oh, good idea! I'd love to see that. Trump always "doubles down" as the media seems to like to point out when somebody suggests he's wrong about something, but his opponents rarely do. I'd like to see Kelly, in particular, spell out what an illegal order is, as he was the one singled out the most by Trump and Hegseth.
I think he may be able to use some recent examples? Extra legal boat blow-ups and murder?
"Misunderstanding American cities as dystopian hell holes, Trump may have erred in targeting large cities where high concentrations of people can assemble and network."
No! Trump does not "misunderstand" American cities as dystopia hell holes. He knows better, but he has to throw red meat at his base. Trump is a broken record, talking about "dystopian hell holes" against any city or state that voted against him.
Thank you Alan. Trump knows that Minneapolis, Chicago, New York City and other big cities and their metropolitan areas are NOT hellholes. A big American city is just another convenient boogeyman for Trump. Too big, too diverse, too anti-Trump. Where would the MAGA people be without the $support of the residents of these areas? I don’t see anyone sending our $ back to us.
The GOP has painted our large cities as hellholes for decades.
So send us our Hellhole $ back. Trump knows that NYC is not a hellhole. Many Americans have visited major cities and haven’t found the hellholes. But vilifying others is a MAGA hallmark.Makes them feel better.
I wonder how he'd define "dystopian".
are you serious ...he wouldn't even know it's a word...remember he has trouble with groceries
No, I wasn't serious! just idly curious as to what ingredient it might be in one of his word salads.
And any country in Africa or in a lesser developed country. What a racist.
The fact that he has declared his intent to invade a treaty ally should be all it could take for Congressional rethuglicans to act against him. Yet they just blow it off and bury their heads in the sand. His self enrichment should be all the High Crimes and Misdemeanors its would take to impeach, convict, and remove. He is destabilizing our great nation and to me that constitutes Treason. What's it going to take? Will they wait until he nukes Minneapolis?
They aren't just blowing it off, they are starting to agree with him - as usual.
"A small but growing group of Republicans in Congress is expressing openness to President Trump’s increasingly explicit push to acquire Greenland, along with his desire to punish European allies who resist the idea." NYT
Wait until the EU strikes back. They aren't helpless by any means. Cyber and economic weapons are just as powerful, if not more powerful, than military action.
The acquisition of the Dutch West Indies in 1917 involved a treaty with Denmark over Greenland. One of those Indies is very much in the news today. Amazing how all this comes together. Now there's a 'Survivors' episteinasode worth watching.
I just saw that today. Spineless sycophants. Vote Blue and get rid of MAGA Congress.
THE FEW REMAINING MORAL MEDIA OUTLETS should stop giving attention to the WH Crime Boss. They should deny him one of the things he craves most, attention. The next time he appears in person spewing his filthy sewage they should turn their backs and walk out. What comes out of his dirt hole is not news. It's just Fascist Porn for the MAGA Voodoo Cult.
Name one or two of the remaining moral media outlets and I might start watching!
MSNBC Ari Melber, Rachel Maddow, O’Donnell
Which NBC relabeled MSNOW so that the executives of NBC can cower under their desks and say it's not their fault when the Miller Machine comes to punish Rachel, Lawrence, Ari, et al for being clear and honest.
Associated Press https://apnews.com/ or any news organization that the Pus Bucket has attacked.
Totally agree about AP, I started giving to them a year ago.
Decomposes is right! It’s like we are watching him mentally and physically biodegrade right in front of our eyes. And he is throwing off toxic waste.
And the repugs are burying their heads in the waste bins.
Every morning I wake up asking myself "shouldn't we the people, the greater than 3.5% of us, be demanding our Republican representatives in congress to begin impeachment proceedings immediately? And not limit it to Trump. The list is long. Impeach. Now.
Powerful piece. Keep it up please!!!
Republicans ARE the problem. Republicans in Congress could turn this around today. They have the means and the power. They don’t because Trump is doing their wretchedness for them and they fully support it. These ‘lawmakers’ are not fools. They are fully accessories to the crimes. Fully culpable. They are aware that Trump is now stashing booty that he has extracted from Venezuela in a foreign bank account. That’s incredibly overt malfeasance. They do nothing. They are aware of the war crimes at sea. They do nothing. They are aware of militarizing a border patrol agency for dominance and power display that has absolutely nothing to do with border patrol. They do nothing. They are aware of Americans dying at the hands of this wretched, illegal, domination force in the streets. They do nothing. Absolutely nothing. They know that Trump is in terminal dementia. They do nothing. They see our ALLIES be demeaned and threatened. They do nothing. They see the regime flagrantly ignore a near unanimous Congressional order by not fully releasing the Epstein awfulness. They do nothing. Absolutely nothing. Don’t kid yourself. Republicans ARE the problem; 100%. They know Trump is a pedophile. So what? How much do you need to see, hear, read, understand? Republicans ARE the problem. If you love America, vote every single one of them out. All of them. If you have never voted any other way but Republican before; do the right thing. America hangs in the balance and Republicans can stop the destruction now. Why don’t they?
Republicans ARE the problem. Vote all of them out!!!!
I couldn't agree more. I would only add that they do nothing about all of that because they benefit personally with power and money. And not always with a great deal of power, e.g. the pathetic Lindsey Graham, "I just want to be relevant".
We're about to head into the midterms and will be besieged with media accounts of what is wrong with this or that Democrat; what focus groups said about a list of issues, and what polls said about a voting bloc concerns - "Do they agree, somewhat agree, or disagree?" - when it truly is as you say:
"Republicans ARE the problem. Vote all of them out!!!!"
This should be very simple, but then I thought that when the felon rapist ran AGAIN the last time too.
I live in Minneapolis St. Paul.
It will be below zero - both during the day and -20 at night - for the next several days. It’s unsafe to be outside for more than a few minutes. If it were any other season, you would see us outside confronting ICE like the Iranians are doing in their streets.
Resist.
Renounce.
No Kings.
No Trump.
No MAGA.
And… NO ICE.
Religious leaders are rightly concerned about his actions, but Trump thinks God is very proud of him.
Trump newly speaking for God now is an omino"us development. What can we expect next? "God wants me to have Greenland"?
like the rest of us, God wants him to shut up
God certainly has the power! Forever. I am hopeful every day
me too
Who here would be surprised if that would be exactly what he says…
Shades of Oklahoma's 900 foot Jesus.
I don't think trump and God are all that well acquainted...
Every Democrat and others against the Criminal-in-Chief should be repeating Gallegos' true statement that you quoted here: GALLEGO: Yes, I’m sorry where are we at this moment where we don’t understand what’s happening in this country? The man is threatening war against a NATO ally. We all think this is rational, right? Let’s accept what’s happening here. He is not rational right now. He is destroying our world reputation or potentially our economic opportunity or economic mighty power around the world because he is being petty. None of this is rational. Everyone needs to stop pretending this is rational. It is a wonder why every Democrat does not talk this way (and tragic that media hosts feel compelled to express surprise when they do.
He wants violent resistance so he can hammer down harder.
Authoritarians always do, yes.