So sickening, Dutch, that so much evil just keeps checking out here.
Still, it's simple. He’s a simpleton, the convicted criminal in the White House.
He also knows only to do damage: to insult, belittle, destroy alliances, break laws, bankrupt himself, obsess vengefulness, and rape & bully others.
We face greater damage from all this too because the Supreme Court has backed away from ruling on the 1798 Alien Enemy Act.
Rick Wilson and Stuart Stevens on one video yesterday cited White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on this criminal administration gearing up next to send American citizens to that El Salvador prison.
If that 1798 Alien Enemy Act gives the orange felon the right to do it, he could nationalize the National Guard. Could start kidnapping, rounding up. Federal judges. Critics on MSNBC. We on Heather’s Substack.
America, Rick Wilson and Stuart Stevens further note, used to be a world bastion of reliability, predictability, stability. Now, the underpinnings of all that – our laws, checks and balances, institutions maintaining respect for others – may all be gone, or going away.
U.S. K-12 decades ago rolled over to the thugs of standardized testing. Key universities, media conglomerates, and top tier law firms now roll over to the simple criminal in the White House.
The problem is, that Trump is only 1 man at the front - the real issue is the mafiosy-style organisation, called GOP, in the background. Even when you take Trump out, then you'll have Shady Vance - can you imagine where you'll go there? I just hope for you all that the 2026 elections won't be too late.
I think to hope that the GOP will fall into pieces if Trump is gone, I wouldn't bet on that. Too many have too much to lose.
Fxck it sucks to be you, and to an only slightly lesser degree to be us.
I only partially agree with this. Let me explain. I used to teach a course that included a section on root cause analysis. This is very similar to the concept that Toyota teaches for problem identification. Toyota calls it the "5 whys." One could also compare it to being a two year old and constantly asking why? As fantastic as it seems, the reality is that many people in Germany, even folks who bought into some of the fanaticism, did not know the full depth of the depravity of the Nazi leadership. The YouTube channel titled "World History" (@WorldHistoryVideos) has one on the story of Heinz Heydrich, the brother of the truly evil Reinhard Heydrich, and his reaction upon reading his brother's diaries after his death. It's worth watching to get a sense of just how complete the information bubble was that Joseph Goebbels was able to create. Well, the same thing has happened here - only even more effectively.
The information bubbles that have been created by taking advantage of the human herding behavior are quite real. Social Media and organizations like FOX News make their money from selling advertising. Their profit is critically dependent on how long they can hold their average viewer (called stickiness). This directly translates to higher ad revenue. Their audiences are fed whatever it takes to keep them engaged. Reality and decency have nothing to do with it, only greed.
Yes, there are a lot of awful people in positions of leadership in the GOP, but most of the grass roots are trusting fools who have allowed themselves to be sold a bill of goods. Their perception of reality is the problem. Many of them really believe the whole Demoncrat nonsense, and the crap that Musk spouted in Wisconsin about our conspiracy to bring in lefty immigrants to create a one party state that is antithetical to core American values. They really do believe we are no better than the Soviet Communist Party under Stalin, or the CCP under Mao. They exist in a different perception of the world that has been deliberately crafted.
Broadcast media like FOX will be very hard to regulate, but one thing we can reign in if we ever get back to some centrist sanity, is to legislatively treat the user profiling data required to enable content feed control on social media like the dangerous thing it is. It is euphemistically called business data or AI data, but it is more of a social poison than fentanyl ever thought of being. That is the real root cause of the current mess, and that is what needs to be attacked.
BTW, there is a looming electric power generation crisis. Earlier this week some of the AI folks were in DC complaining about it. That user profiling data and blockchain technology have been on a positive exponential growth trajectory for over a decade, and we are only about two years away from mandatory brown outs if things continue as they are. That may present an opportunity to start reigning in this crap.
Don't underestimate the power of racism. That truly is our original sin, and it has made it all the easier for this to occur. We know a strongman needs an 'other' to cast as villian, and our society was/is ready made for this, unfortunately.
I think it’s our karma, a rebalancing if you will, of something way out of balance. The universe with its creative chaos is sublimely balanced, that is the natural order, to be in balance, it’s how we walk on 2 feet. North America was fully occupied when the first Europeans crossed the Atlantic, what they did to those occupants was the beginning of our out of balance karma, then our forefathers in all of their wisdom introduced slavery which they used as a foundation of their prosperity. They fought a civil war over the need to protect that privilege and prosperity. What we are witnessing today, is a nightmare none of us would have dreamed would come true, but so many who were here before us experienced a nightmare that cost them their lives, that cost is what has left this country so out of balance. Just like the wheel of your car can be out of balance and drive seemingly smoothly at a certain speed, getting to that speed it will demonstrate that all is not well by vibrating and wearing unevenly until it self destructs. That’s us, we need to fix this, there is no getting around it, if we don’t it will destroy our nation as surely as an out of balance wheel will eventually fail and cause a wreck.
It's more than just racisim, it's fear and ultimately hatred of people who are different in some way that makes someone notice. Outward appearance is obvious, but things like gender preferences and religion fall into the same bag.
There are good evolutionary reasons for this attitude. For most of human and proto-human existence it has been the norm to interact with others who are perceived to be alien or a threat with violence. This was universal.
There were some good studies on voting behavior done back in the 1960s. I've since lost the references, but they were a central part of a course I took in school on public opinion and voting behavior. The single most predictive factor for whether a precinct would vote for something or someone considered to be liberal or conservative was housing density. Under 20 people per acre and a majority of the people in the precinct would reliably vote conservative. More than 25 and the majority would vote liberal.
The thinking was that when you pack people into tighter living spaces, we have to become more tolerant of each other's differences, and perhaps even embrace them. This maps perfectly to the political wisdom that the suburbs are where most of the swing precincts are. It also fits perfectly with those red/blue maps that the news media put out after every election.
This also fits well with the approach taken by the education program of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Their theme is "Teaching Tolerance."
Thank you, Sandra Campbell! We are “led” by three racists: Trump/ Vance/ Skum. We need a total impeachment. Cabinet and Department heads. Throw da bums out, in simple Americanese.
Sounds good. But, what is the legal process to "throw da bums out..." We need courageous and dedicated judges not afraid to use their legal perrogative to hold and jail those who thumb their noses at our judicial system.
So many comments here about racism, nothing about the looming possibility of deportations of anyone the administration wants to deport. Not that racism is unimportant, but it's not the only serious issue on the table.
Racism is powerful, but the “other” is all The Democrats because of “femnazis” lack of “good Christian values,” and Progressive programs that get blown up into threats.
Sadly, some Democrats keep adding new material to the reasons “The Other” are destroying this nations—per the well-developed propaganda machine.
I would argue that the people who lack Christian values are those that permit or shrug off torture, graft, the killing or imprisonment of children, unpunished rapes, pauperisation of the already poor, the antisemitic attacks on Democratic opponents at Passover and missile attacks on a Palm Sunday crowd.
But racism is predicated on masses of people taught to see life as categories only, groups to package, and behavior as linear only -- all the logic of testing prepping the tens of millions to stick to those worst habits of thought.
And all absent humanities, as testing also requires.
I think misogyny as well as racism - the "thinkers" (term used loosely) behind MAGA want to create a society dominated by white males, that puts women and all non-white people in their place. They are just so repulsive and yesteryear, if not yestercentury.
Craig, all good and interesting points. Here's my take:
There are indeed millions of low information Americans who have been sold a bill of goods by Fox and AM radio. They believe the lies because the people around them believe them. Family, friends and the PREACHER in the church.
But it is complicated. There is also a bigger, organic, epigenetic, built into the DNA, generational heritage HATE for the "other". It is an unshakable part of their identity. And when that fire of hate has gasoline poured on it by an entire political party and the President of the f**king United States of America - they are totally locked into their completely irrational belief system. They won't complain when American citizens are deported or imprisoned for being non-white....or Democrats who speak up.
This IS IT, folks. The pogroms have begun. If the administration ($Trump) doesn't bring back Garcia from El Salvador as ordered by the Supreme Court, the war has been declared our democracy will die a quick death if we don't do something new.
Bill A., from the way your comment is written, I can't tell if your reference to "organic, epigenetic ... hate" is literal or figurative. If the former, then I can't agree.
We are genetically programmed to gravitate to our own species. But hate, the culmination of fear, is learned. The learning occurs either through repeated harmful experience, or more usually, because it is taught by an authority figure: a parent, teacher, preacher, or other elder.
I would emphasize that hate is not the default human response to other beings, but the capacity to learn hate is a major characteristic that distinguishes us from all other animals.
I guess it doesn't really matter if the hate is inertly, inherently part of one's genetic make up. Inherited or taught from birth or some combination thereof = same behavior. Only respected leaders could shift that thinking. And I blame fake Christian preachers and their misguided disciples.
Isn't is it simple? How can a follower of Jesus support a creature like $Trump or $Musk? On what basis? The answer my friends, is the hate blowin' in the wind.
'Learned' behavior does not explain siblings from the same parents raised in essentially the same environment expressing vastly different positions. It's true in my own family, and apparently in many others given the discussions around how to peacefully co-exist at family gatherings.
You are correct, significant numbers of people are 'pre-wired' to want to accept this warped belief system. It's no different than a sales pitch that tells you what you want to hear.
Bill, the US is just the tip of the spear here. Technology is rapidly globalizing while human nature is fixed and well studied. Big Brother is watching me as I type.
Bill Alstrom: Yep: “There is also a bigger, organic, epigenetic, built into the DNA, generational heritage HATE for the "other". It is an unshakable part of their identity. And when that fire of hate has gasoline” = Right on and if you know, rings true with the line in Frank Zappa’s tune, Stink Foot "The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe" I have a hunch we have mutual friends in these parts. <> Consider these topic connections: Epigenetic expression altered by endemic PFAS - PFOA in the environment, now in human & animal bloodstream, sub-micron enough to pass through semipermeable membranes, into bloodstream, small enough to adhere to dna chromosome and alter genetic expression. (NIH funded studies soon to be washed from the interwebs) (47 bought by petrochemical industry) This combined with highly effective manipulation via television, techbro social media, hate podcasters, + hate radio - on same trajectory as Rwandan genocide stimulus, + neurological effect of projected light from electronic comm devices vs reflected light when reading a book: All conditioning / messaging systems engineered for rapid and deep manipulation of targets. <> It’s a powerful matrix carefully engineered and executed over about a 54 years period and gone full radical on Jan 20, 2025. It’s designed to be hegemonic but it’s operators know it’s vulnerable to dissolution by prolonged and massive boycott, & loss of prominence like The Man found out in late 60s early 70s cultural revolution that built resistance through the arts, and ultimately, by face to face conversation and sharing of stories that build personal connection over shared issues. = The key to busting up these wannabe dark enlightenment, new global nobility. They’ll retreat to the weird and dark fringes of society as they lose their economic control over us. How to create and sustain something better is the topic of extensive essays. This is long enough already as a comment but I think it is possible to build consensus that could launch recall elections of 47’s supine congresspeople. Having positive and productive replacements is a huge task but has to be achieved. Paradigm shifts need to occur or we’re long-term finished as even a flawed democracy.
Yes. PFAs and microplastics? What an awful and stupid experiment on all things living this is. Industry runs its tests on millions (billions?) of naive helpless humans. Then when the results are devastating enough, an agency or crusader steps in and says: "You are killing people. Stop." Sometimes it makes a difference. Sometimes not - and now???
Lead, asbestos, coal dust, radon, tobacco, Roundup. Paraquat, mercury - it's suffering and needless death on a scale that is dystopian and diabolical.
But yeah, Ronnie Raygun, the problem is the government. Unf**king unbelievable.
I wish I believed in prayer because I would spend my days chanting "paradigm shift, paradigm shift. please magic man, lead us to a paradigm shift, please..."
Interesting take on things. But yeah, I view the "rise of AI" as problematic, if even for one reason: power. Nobody realizes the amount of electricity that it would cost if we would do "everything with AI"; we simply don't have that kind of power at our disposal.
Unsure who you think "they" is, but highly unlikely to involve nuclear power in the USA. It would take 15-20 years to plan, build and begin to use another nuclear power plant in this country, and government approval for nuclear facilities is problematical. Most data centers (both private [such as Amazon] and public) are in Virginia (the leader in hosting data centers), Texas and California. It takes longer to build electricity generation and transmission facilities than it does to build a data center and that generation more likely will come from natural gas and renewables, such as solar.
I agree with most of your points, but am a bit concerned with the trusting grass roots fools - when you look closer at the Nazi grass roots you find, there were in the majority trusting fools as well, like my grandfather - and when he finally opened his eyes to reality, it was too late.
Yes, the profound hatred of the "lower ranked", so to speak, Trump supporters is just breathtaking.
The power thing is a great point! There may be opportunities to turn things around in the most unexpected places.
We are not safe if people (MAGAs) celebrate and tolerate this type of power which is becoming stronger than the democratic state. That is the essence of fascism - ownership of government by a few.
IMHO it's not the "trusting grass roots," rather Trump donors and enablers that have to be educated. It seems although they have money to burn, they aren't aware how THEY personally may have to pay for the consequences.
The ability of people to adapt to the rate of change brought on by tech.advances and climate change is stressing our ability to accommodate each other. One group considers its route to survival is expulsion and the degradation
of people they consider as not willing to accept their doctrine . The opposition sees their survival only in acceptance of these challenges and the ability to respond and attempt to resolve them. I hope we end up on the side of reason and temperance and not hate and fear.
Good post, Craig. It's impossible to hide the effects of the tariffs from the low-information voter. I called my reps yesterday about the tariffs, and got a real person at Sen Tillis' office. He read a statement about Tillis and his leadership in getting the tariff control back to Congress, where it should be. I think business must be shouting at Congress behind closed doors.
I think this is the issue that the people and business can't deny. If Congress does something, that could be a beginning of cracks for the WH. I hope everyone calls their reps today. If you have never done so, it's easy to start on a weekend because you will get a recording. Give your name, where you live (so they know you are a constituent) and a brief message. It could be "I want you to do something about the tariffs." Citizen pressure had an effect on school shootings after Uvalde and also on planned SS phone service cuts. It is the most powerful tool that we the people have. Every rep has a staff that pays attention to these calls. They simply log the issue. We must flood the zone.
It’s true that some of the right leaning voters I know accuse me of being hyperbolic if I try to open their eyes to the atrocities. Or they are convinced that “good people” will suffer an even worse fate if they don’t allow a “tiny fraction” to be sent to an offshore detention facility.
I had a friend ask me the other day, "Why are leftists so tense and worried right now? You're all going too far, you need to calm down! Everything is going to work out!" It's an amazing information bubble people are in.
Smacks of “the good old days” when women with opinions were labeled “hysterical “ to keep them quiet. This from AI:
The act of labeling someone, particularly a woman, as "hysterical" to silence them or dismiss their emotions is often referred to as emotional suppression, dismissal of female emotions, or the hysterical female trope. It's a form of gendered bias that often goes hand-in-hand with misogyny and gaslighting,
This is absolutely true, but I tend not to worry about it that much. The US is still routinely shutting down coal fired power plants, or converting them to use natural gas. That trend isn't going to change, so the commodity market for coal is not going to reverse its downward trend. Mining more doesn't create a market for it.
Plus, habitat recovery, especially for fish, makes it incredibly difficult to build a significant amount of hydro, and the construction costs and time required to build dams are enormous. Wind, tidal, and solar will help a little bit, but the real answer is closed system small modular nuclear stuff like Bill Gates has been funding. That said, just because we can build out more energy production capacity does not mean that we should use it for AI ad targeting or blockchain applications. And, Microsoft is just as guilty on this front as the other tech companies.
Read "Careless People" by Sarah Wynn-Williams. A look at all the information and data manipulation occuring behind the scenes as Facebook grew during the last 15 years. These tech people are soulless.
DId you see her comments on Facebook at the hearing before the Senate committee? She outed Mark Z.. And what will this mean....more security around tech information companies?
You are so on the mark Craig: "The information bubbles that have been created by taking advantage of the human herding behavior are quite real.
... They exist in a different perception of the world that has been deliberately crafted." Count me as one who's been long observing this with a high degree of concern.
Why is Trump and the GOP succeeding? Because the far right’s implicit message is “Anyone who disagrees with me is an idiot that should be ignored, and if they complain about being ignored, then they will regret it.”
Why is the far right’s implicit message successful? Because the far left’s implicit message is “Anyone who disagrees with me is an idiot that should be ignored, and if they complain about being ignored, then they will regret it.”
Why is there a far left and a far right? Because a far-left person brings a knife to a gun fight, and a far-right person brings a gun.
What is the root cause? The implicit “anyone who disagrees with me is an idiot that should be ignored, and if they complain about being ignored, then they will regret it” message.
How does one eliminate the root cause? Follow Taiichi Ohno’s implicit message, which is that when people draw conflicting conclusions and then openly share and challenge each other assumptions, the conflict gets resolved.
Need the positive, humane, intelligent, complicated-OK alternative, Craig (Dupler).
That is, reining in the algorithm savages, selling bills of crap goods -- it all needs first of all schools with far better standards than those the standardized testing assembly lines have left us.
There is no doubt that the powers that are manipulating our government, our economy, and the imminent destruction of our democracy will arrange the financing and construction of power plants to power the massive Data centers and continue the use of AI to take and keep power in the US and possibly other democracies around the world.
We are on the precipice now, and most people won't see our plight until it is far too late.
Attention is a commodity. An expensive one. And, yes, for sure the problem is that we need to teach in the digital age and how to think critically about social media and information.
I am extremely concerned about the wasteful consumption of our electricity by Bitcoin centers, data centers. There was one Rural Electric Co-operative in Oregon that told a crypto outfit that they refused to allow them to hook up and waste their electricity. But then Rural Electric Co-operatives were set up to severe the rural area and are NON PROFITS owned by the customers. Trump and Melania started their own Bitcoin companies just before Trump was sworn into office. What a piece of crap! And more electricity down the DRAIN.
Oh, Ally, trust me — the word is ‘faction’, but it rhymes with ‘duckery’. I can't even afford my swear jar anymore, and I'm the beneficiary. (And I sometimes call it the WTAF.)
Yeah... I think it's only a matter of time before the Convicted Orange Felon orders the US Military to go and help his "BFF" Putin and attack Ukraine and Europe.
Yeah Mike. This is why I wrote a piece. I am one of about 240,000 Americans living in Germany. It has clearly been a possibility that Trump will join Russia in attacking Ukraine and Europe, since he got elected. About 800,000 Americans live in Europe altogether.
I assume Trump wants to pass on his office to his children. A dynasty of criminals running the USA. He does not seem to like JDV. Looking at the chain of succession I am glad that Kristy Noam sadistic people and dog killer is last at 18th.
Hard to hit the "like" button on that one, too. But yes, Trump has been quite clear about it: he wants his children to 'inherit' the office of Emperor of the United States - he doesn't want new elections, unless these are "elections" Russia-style.
On Ruth Ben-Ghiat's Friday Zoom meeting with Representative Jake Auchencloss, a viewer asked what a JDV presidency would look like if something was to happen to Trump. He said he did not see Trump being out before his term was up and more likely to put his family in. Ben-Ghiat pointed out that Ivanka has been distancing herself from him, laying low, although her husband is not with his Gaza Resort plans. She thinks Trump would like her to take over. A dynasty of criminals.
I hadn't given any thought to the possibility of trump using our military to help Putin with Ukraine and Europe.
Before that happens, he will undoubtedly use the military to put down domestic pro-democracy activities and every individual they can single out as pro-democracy.
The most likely international outcome in my estimation is in the end China will rule over Asia, Russia will rule Europe and Trump's new US will rule the American continent including Greenland.
Whatever he chooses to do first, it will be important to be prepared. Of course, if he fills the intelligence community and military with nothing but loyalists, he will not have good intel, or good advice, not that he takes advice, and his own ideas are crazy. He is a madman, surrounded by madmen and madwomen.
Greenland would be first Dutch. It would be a low casualty experiment to se how Europe would react and take over the immensely rich on everything piece of real state.
Canada would have to help (at the very least give the US the right to use its airspace and waters), and I don’t see that happening, do you? Unless the US intends to treat Canada like Germany treated Belgium in 1914 and 1940, forgetting that Canada, unlike the US, has fought two world wars from start to finish and was never backwards in coming forwards.
I don't think Canada refusing permission to fly over Canadian air space while attacking Greenland will stop trumps military from doing as they please.
In fact, if Canada were to send up fighter jets to confront the US, trump would approve shooting down Canada's planes and then go on to take over both Greenland and Canada, as he has already said he wants to do.
I hope we'll have a 2026 election — a real one. Trump did tell an audience that they wouldn't have to vote again; that he'd fix it. "Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what? It'll be fixed; it'll be fine; you won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians."
— Trump, speaking at the Turning Point Action Believers Summit, July 26, 2024, West Palm Beach, Florida.
I completely agree with you Phil on the role played by the dumbing down of schools - it's key to the shallow vapidness of much of America and their lack of curiosity and empathy.
Lauriemcf, You and Phil must have missed what’s been happening with social media, corporate media, Supreme Court, and oligarchs pouring of dark money into our elections. Standardized testing in our schools also does not explain away the effects of Fox and Newsmaxx. Nor does it explain effects of gerrymandering, voter suppression, and gross effects of advertising. You need more a sophisticated understanding of American voters and politics in the last 10-20 years. Wake up and educate yourselves in the social and political sciences. You are naive. Elementary schooling didn’t explain Hitler’s rampage and it certainly doesn’t explain Trump and Musk.
No, I haven't missed all of that -- and really, how kind and courteous of you to call me naive and unsophisticated when you do not know me. All of those things you mention OBVIOUSLY have an enormous effect -- I think we all recognize that, without question. But -- the dumbing down of schools and the absence of teaching critical thinking makes the MAGA crowd putty who will believe anything. And I do think it's at the root of all of those who will believe Fox and Newsmaxx. So, bless your heart and have a nice day.
Thank you! Not to mention an extremely likely possibility of 2024 election tampering in swing state district tabulation engineered to fall just under the radar —their ‘little secret’ — check out The Election truth Alliance on Bluesky or YouTube. Lots of data. It could happen anywhere.
And it was the right that foisted standardized testing on our schools. And now instead of teaching critical thinking, teachers are teaching to the test and rote learning.
Let’s not ignore the effects of COVID and the radical evangelical local action on school boards. States foisting crap like Praeger U propaganda on the kids!! Then you have the model of Florida where schools were required to pretty much pledge allegiance to Trump via a recorded propaganda video made by the dept of Ed in that state.
Agree, Phil.. Too many have lost the ability to think critically because teaching to the test as a national strategy was the first step to dumbing down.
Those of us who think critically know that the standardized testing argument in public schools is way off base. See the Bonnie Svarstad comment above. If you say something enough times, it does not make it true.
Phil, pardon me for piggy-backing this late-to-game comment. It might. help in building the pro-Union coalition Adapted comment from Joyce Vance's column.
"Olivia Troye [Vice President Pence's National Security Advisor] is great. Various critics -- like you, Ma'am, Ms Troye, . . . [Ms Vance] . . . Dr Bandy Lee, Dr Timothy Snyder et al. -- need to close ranks to present a united much, much louder front. That front would be heard throughout the country. 💪⚖️ 🤝
"Hopefully that would break down Team Treason methodically through inter-disciplinary analyses and discussions. The loudness of the chorus would begin to break through the apathy of many resigned trumpers feeling pretty used right now." 🤞🛑✌🏽
EVERYONE NEEDS TO PROTEST IN EVERY WAY HE/SHE/IT (and all the other designations this 90-year old hasn’t learned—begging pardon)CAN. If you can listen to MSNBC you can immediately understand why. This morning all the horrors are on full display. Please, Everyone who reads this, find a way to contribute if you don’t want to lose US forever!🇺🇸🇺🇦
Please see the critique by George Packer in the Atlantic about not obeying in advance (Snyder's On Tyranny). He wonders why Snyders and Stanley have left the US.
Now for the sincere thanks to you for your insights. Though the circumstances differ with technology and events. it feels like we are at the 'Bleeding Kanas' inflection point of another civil war, at least civil disorder. As a sixty-eight year old bachelor with few possessions and fewer attachments. emotionally, I am girding me to fight. Since I am a card-carrying coward, the braver amongst us should be prepared, too. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7311612324933500928/ This essay describes the treason and my moral basis in responding to it. Each of us as 'virtuous' (i.e., living and breathing the 'spirit of the law or democracy', as per Montesquieu, has an obligation of looking within one's self in a moral examination of conscience on what (s)he will do. Not pleasant but necessary.
I agree. The earliest version of this idea that I have heard is Plato's report of a comment by Socrates that an unexamined life is not worth living. The word humility sums up this notion quite nicely. And, curiously, it is at the heart of the modern version of the scientific method (post Kuhn). Skepticism and an openness to revising or even discarding one's most dearly held beliefs can be a painful bridge to get across at first, but once one is on the other side, it is quite liberating.
I hope this movie ends with several dozen trumpists seeking asylum as exiles in El Salvador. I'm afraid we are soon to find out how riddled the US Marshall's, ICE, and the military are with wannabe gestapo agents. A public fissure in those organizations may be coming soon.
Standardized testing is a clearly false equivalence to the lawless thuggish authoritarian tactics of this administration. If you don’t like a law or regulation work to change it by legal means. Trump/MAGA/DOGE are defying the law and violating the Constitution.
Thank you for your bravery. Sounds paranoid doesn’t it. I am a licensed psychologist by profession. In my 50 plus years in my field, I worked in crisis intervention, juvenile “ justice “,and public mental health. Whoever walked through my door and whatever problems presented I had to address. I went to people’s homes. And I learned to respect and even admire “crazy “ and paranoid. Our “ guardrails of courts, military, law enforcement and the press are evaporating. And we are now hoping that these petty, vindictive morons will destroy themselves.
Trump is not a "simpleton." He is establishing a dictatorship. He is gaining control over every facet of our government and our lives. He is threatening everyone from governors to giant law firms to our best universities. Any resistance is eliminated. Every bit of power in this country will be in his hands. This new mega database will be able to single out any person in the country. This is like a combination of "The Matrix" and "1984." Canada, Greenland, and Panama are needed to expand the defensive perimeter.
DEMs need to focus. For now, DEMs must keep SS system alive and good. "Hands-off-SS Administration" Let's use every effort to accomplish this. Win here will give so much peace to the eldterly citizesn.
Although a small movement, there are some silver haired ladies offering to bring in lunches to rural social security offices so they can work a bit longer and stay off the inevitable collapse of the SSA. One more month getting a check vs. rice and beans. For many this is huge.
This is such a heart warming and yet sad state of our country. Please share this with your congress persons. They keep asking for money but no concrete action.
"Still, it's simple. He’s a simpleton, the convicted criminal in the White House.
He also knows only to do damage: to insult, belittle, destroy alliances, break laws, bankrupt himself, obsess vengefulness, and rape & bully others." So, would you call an elephant in musth a simpleton?
Welcome, fellow frogs. Those bubbles that are breaking the surface are not from people passing gas; the water is now boiling, and if you concentrate on only one aspect of the total destruction of the federal government and the rule of law, you may not be aware of all the ways the President, Oligarchs, right-wing Congresspeople are using every bit of data collected on you, your business, and your family members, now because of trump/musk, DOGE, and the right-wing Congresspeople, and
fascist Oligarchs, they now have the data collected by the IRS and Social Security to the data collected by your social media, e-mail, and shopping history.
Look around, the bubbles are coming ever more frequently.
I hope we can organize fast enough to save ourselves, we are our only hope.
They have your work history, your financial history, and your bank information, including your bank account numbers.
It looks like trump's tariff policy is all because he is at best, uninformed about the effect on the world's and the US economy.
At worst, it is part of a fascist plot to upend the world economy to facilitate the ultra-rich Oligarchs total control over the economys of economies of the " free " (democratic) world.
We are quickly running out of time to organize a massive citizen action "like nobody's ever seen before."
Even posting on substack comment threads can be dangerous.
Do you think Mark Andreeson (sp) would hesitate to share your data with trumps fascist government?
Jonathan Capehart on PBS last night said the tariffs and the fact that Trump announced "this is good time to buy" needs to be investigated. He also acknowledged that, that's probably not going to happen.
How much are the oligarchs making from the wild swings in the stock market? I learned a new phrase, disaster capitalization? I'm not an econ major but I take it to mean destroy the middle class and swoop in and buy their assets at bargain basement prices.
Collectively we have power. I agree with Mystic that we need to do a massive citizen's action. April 19th rally on a scale no one has ever seen before? Op-eds. Letters to the editors. Donations to the ACLU. I can check all of the above.
A Jewish friend keeps on harping about the cattle cars going off to concentration camps. When disembarking, the prisoners could have overwhelmed the guards. He said the first row, maybe the second row would be riddled with bullets and the rest could have escaped. Some would be captured but maybe some might escape. He said it would have been better than the gas chamber.
Heard that tripe from 2015, he’s just a businessman who has money so he can’t be bought. Well, duh. When he said he could murder someone and get away with it, the cult agreed. His sexual abuse of women was common knowledge, but he was just “one of the boys.” So sick of half the moronic people in this country. But even more sick of the repubs who signed on to cheating and divisive bullschittery long before chump appeared on the national scene. Congress and SC complicit and cheering him on. They have screwed the world worse than the Axis did and have lost what so many died to gain.
Yep, the GOP is the real issue. And to me ultimately capitalism that got more and more extreme - Trump and Musk are the perfect preverted symbols of late stage capitalism.
In Trump's mind, the vast income discrepancy in this country neatly divides us into "winners" and "losers" -- those are the only two categories he sees.
Exactly and he demands that we ALL see him as a winner. Hope he holds his breath because it will never happen, no matter the lies, propaganda and stolen power…
No surprise here, but just bought “The Venture Alchemists” about the way tech money bought power. Don’t expect many surprises, but I remember when I thought Bill Gates was the poster boy for tech morals. At least he had more empathy in a toe than the right-wing cretins have in total. I thought Peter Thiel was the outlier, turns out Bill was…
Yes, I think tech power undergirds all this. Tech journalist Kara Swisher says that no industry in our history has ever been so unregulated, meaning that they have so much money.
"he’s just a businessman who has money so he CAN be bought. "
There, fixed it for you. It's the basis of his rule: if you give me money and kiss my ass long enough, I'll get you what you want (as long as it doesn't interfere with my wealth).
True Dutch Mike, but the moronic folks in my orbit figured that if he had his own money, he wouldn’t be desperate and subject to influence peddling. What fools we mortals be. And it was known by many how he got his money. Our media has failed on every level. Not just Fox. Truth telling is divisive, say our truth tellers.
It's probably because the understanding what "money" is, is very different for us great unwashed to the billionaires. For us it's wonderful lifestyle, not having to work etc, for them it's purely power.
As Sam Rayburn said, it only takes one jackass to knock down a barn, but it takes a community of carpenters to build one. And a jackass is sitting on our throne.
I've kept an eye on him since he bought the Eastern Shuttle (the closest thing ever in the airline industry to printing money) and turned it into a lawn dart.
Since I first read about the April 20 date, and his accompanying threats, I thought it curious ... it's Easter Sunday. So is that what the white Christian nationalists in the administration and those who support it (fiscally and by their design of Project 2025, as well as those who pay him homage) plan to do to celebrate the holy day?
Wow! Had forgotten that date! Good memory. Makes me think that I was right to think that the only book the Orange (Stupid) Menace has read is “Mein Kampf.” Too bad it wasn’t “Moscow 1937.”
We are running into the hard wall of reality -- we have become a Nazi state. We are being led by an entire administration with limited capacity for empathy or charity or goodness. Their actions are soul-crushing. The pernicious effect of forcing citizens to prisons without due process is appalling and is being tacitly supported by the Supreme Court - which Norm Eisen has renamed the Roberts Court. ( If you are familiar with Thomas Eagan, who writes for the NY Times, he has written that Hispanics and Black men voted for Trump in large numbers because they didn't want to be governed by a woman. Our country is being highjacked by misogynists, who vote against their narrow selfish interests while leaving us with dysfunction and illusion.)
How is this "completely untrue"? The majority of white women voted for Trump. See the article below: "Trump won support from 53 percent of white women". As far as I know, 53% is a majority - or do you have another definition?
Well, as far as I'm concerned any percentage over 10 who votes for a personality as venal, violent, disturbed, vindictive, toxic, etc. as Trump is way too high....and I question their reasons.
Women did not vote for Kamala because she is black. They voted against her because she showed zero ability to communicate a coherent message about policy. She said on the view “nothing comes to mind” when asked about something she would change from Biden’s policies. No one in their right mind could vote for that, black, white or otherwise. Hispanic and black men voted for Trump’s policies- listen to the podcasts out there by the black and Hispanics who revealed the motives very clearly prior to the election. However Kamala identified- male or female. She made no case for being qualified to be the Commander in Chief .
Really, and Trump was more qualified? Although her statement on "The View" which I consider soft non-news was very poor, her qualifications were so much more than Trump's it wasn't even funny. Look at facts, not soft, fuzzy news programs.
She was a partner for Joe, she and Joe tried to work for those who had been hurt the most. Damn, the 1% really need the rest of our treasury. Guess you watch Fox. Where else are people so misinformed (lied to).
I urge everyone who hasn't to read Heather's book How the South Won the Civil War. It is not surprising that we are who we are, despite a few decent administrations. It has always been an Everest type battle to overcome the assault on our social and political system.
Stephanie, that was the first book of Professor Richardson's that I bought. I loaned it out, and now must go get another copy since it is so freaking relevant today.
I talk about and recommend this book endlessly since I first read it (soon after publishing). I agree that it explains exactly how we are where we are.
Naked cruelty - check; misogyny - check; global economic destabilization - check; alienation of allies - check; plans for internment camps - check. The list could go on and on and on. Congress, the Supreme Court, Big Law and top Universities have all let us down. We are on our own together.
So during the light of day on 4/11 rather than in the dark 2:00 am there is ample evidence to support Dutch Mikes's conclusion:
Developments in Judge PAULA XINIS' court underscore more facts need to be uncovered in the on-going federal case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia vs. Kristi Noem.
Case No: 8:25-cv-00953-PX.
Read Justice SOTOMAYOR criticisms of the new obstacle for individual prisoners' habeas corpus applications. Justice Sotomayor calls out that new barriers are a life or likely death matter for other human beings.
Judge Xinis has excused the know-nothing U.S.G. witness, Drew Ensign. Late 4/11 Friday, Judge Xinis ordered daily government reports on Abrego Garcia release & has ordered a U.S.G. witness to appear in her courtroom.
CRYSTALIZING PICTURE: I share Professor Joyce Vance's conclusion stated on Ari Melbar's Friday 4/11 show that we now have reached the constitutional crisis that has been growing since noon January 20, 2025 the 1st day of Trump 2.0.
Also, consider MARCO RUBIO's statement that "we" will expel "legal residents" based on "expected beliefs and statements". In short, we can expel you based on what we "think you are about to think".
True. But, I picked up on Joyce's tone after Ari's first 20 minutes recitation of real world facts. And, I did not even mention the price of Eggs up 60% over last year. Some folks may not boil eggs for Easter. Not joking.
Because the several seasons of "Handmaid's Tale" is entering its final season, I decided to watch. Starting with Season 1 (which I watched before the pandemic), I see how much detail I had forgotten, including the feel of seeing armed men on the streets, the great restraint in the main character June (now Offred) to save her life, the tension of constant threat, the inexplicable cruelty of the patriarchy and enablers. . .
It is not as if I don't know these things from Margaret Atwood's novel, but coming again to the sequence of events, how the Commander and his colleagues plan the subjugation of women and anyone who is considered feeble or malformed, f.ex., is to witness in art what is happening even now in our actual lives.
June's incredulity at the beginning when her credit card is refused and her money is gone and she is "let go" from her job as a book editor and not allowed any longer to read anything (lest the enforcers catch her and cut off one of her fingers) is to be watching the trajectory of current events. This is not hyperbole. You all know that. I'm glad for the collegiality that is formed when we can share our views of reality.
ICE has delegated its work to several private companies, chiefly GeoGroup and CoreCivic, who lobbied for strict immigration policies and can detain for months in poor conditions and without basic human rights.
Deportations and detentions delegated to private companies - a telltale sign you're living under a fascist regime: making profit off of the misery of minorities.
Sophie, I’ve begun to think of ICE & adjacent orgs as the new Brown Shirts…at least those who would not turn away from unconstitutional and cruel treatment of those living in the USA. I no longer recognize my country, or rather those currently controlling it. There WILL BE resistance!
I believe that cheeto is using El Salvador as a concentration camp, testing the water how Americans will respond and eventually weakening our resolve to his building concentration camps in the USA.
I read that they have already set aside billions of dollars to build detention centers ( they are concentration camps). Let’s not be fooled by the biggest idiot ever elected.
And all of this scheiße with a mentally impaired President, a Vice President blinded by ambition, and an addled glad-handing -- with suspicious tattoos -- SecDef sitting on top of up to five thousand nuclear war-heads. 💔 Fascism never had it so good. 🤢 ¡Oy vey! 😱
Thank you for your courageous insight. I suspect that on April 20,2025 Trump will do what he has always wanted to do and what he told us he would do , weaponize our military to serve him and only him. And to my friends who put this pathetic creature and his enablers in the position to carry out his selfish petty and vindictive goals because you were afraid that the liberals will take away your guns, do you really think that once these pathetic morons no longer need your support they will permit you to have any weapon.
True, the fascist cancer is invading virtually every aspect of government. The SAVE Act is designed to disenfranchise female voters. Democracy is lying in the coffin, not dead yet, but not looking good.
As I read Heather's letter, I thought, "The Trump regime has gone full Hitler."
Sending "undesirables" to an offshore prison where prisoners are tortured and die premature deaths is no different from sending Jews to domestic concentration camps. And we now know that such camps are actually scheduled for construction on U.S. soil.
Hitler and his Nazi party also objected to tattoos. except to identify their soldiers' blood type and catalog their prisoners.
In fact, the only feature I see missing from the Trump regime is gas chambers. But then, I'm not familiar with El Salvadoran prison facilities.
I’m living in a nightmare. As a naturalized citizen (16+ years, having lived here since 1981) I now wonder what could happen with my legal status, and my ability to file for social security.
My husband is also a naturalized citizen -- and also here since 1981. So far Social Security has been fine -- but I do fear what will happen. In this racist administration, the fact that my husband is British and white probably puts him in a relatively safer place than people from many other countries. It's clear the GOP wants America to be the land of white men.
But the immigration status could be leverage against any naturalized citizen to “shut up and not speak out or act out against the current regime. This goes also for your citizen-by-birth loved ones. Their political activity could imperil your life. It’s text-book East-German Stasi control-tactics. They have files to exploit on all of us, and a dearth of lawyers or judges or legislators with spines to fight back.
That thought has crossed my mind too. My husband is also a naturalized citizen, and I’m the child of a naturalized citizen. To top it off, I have a trans child. I’m afraid to call any attention to our family. My social media presence has shrunk to horses, dogs, and food, and I thought twice about posting this comment. In three short months (or maybe they lasted an eternity) we arrived here.
Family and friends reporting on each other as in East Germany. They saved many of tapes to let people see who ratted on who, but it seems most found it too upsetting and would rather not know.
Our current regime seems to want to destroy all records of their crimes and other data they might want to misuse (maybe just keeping it for themselves.
It reminds me that Sam Adams wanted no such personal communications or much else that could be used against him during and after our revolution.
I don't trust those who want all our information but deny us all of theirs (plus all the science and other data already collected or that should be collected and shared.
I don't feel complacent - I am just stating that white people tend to get a better shot than brown people under this administration -- it's definitely not a get out of jail free card though.
I know that as a 75 year-old white woman whose family has long been in the US, I am privileged. I probably wouldn't be hassled by ICE or ordinary cops just for making a wrong turn in Detroit and ending up in Windsor.
BUT - my nephew's immigrant wife isn't privileged (she doesn't step out of the house without all her papers), my niece's trans spouse isn't privileged (they are both terrified). My friends with racially mixed families are scared, I know business owners who employ green card holders who are worried about the safety of their workers if they should travel out of our (supposedly) safe area.
No, I don't think I'd be picked up just for my skin color, tattoos, or accent.
And those of us who aren't obvious targets need to stand up for those who are targets, and for those who feel like they have to stay silent to keep their families safe.
Because if we don't stand up NOW, then when ICE (and probably soon the FBI) run out of easy targets, they'll find reasons to pick us up, too. Remember that trump cartoon you shared on facebook? Remember that comment you made about Musk on some substack? (will being a subscriber to Heather, Joyce, Robert, The Guardian etc be seen as 'disloyal'). Do you support your local NPR station? Did you contribute to the GoFundMe for that library in Vermont/Quebec? Were you on the street corner with a sign on April 5th?(I missed this one, I was still recovering from a bad bout of vertigo the day before, but I'll be at the next one) Were you at a Peace Rally in 1970?
All that and more could get you in trouble no matter how white, Anglo-Saxon, 'had ancestors who fought in the Revolution' you are.
Now is not the time to let someone younger, more politically savvy, more important in the community to do the job of holding the government accountable.
Now is the time for all of us who can, to do all we can.
Thank you for the link. I'd read the story before when it first appeared in The Guardian. It's even more impactful on a second reading. I think I need to read it at least once a week as a reminder that what the US is going through is not some bad episode of Game of Thrones or even a WWII movie. This is real, this is now.
I am worried about naturalized citizens being deported, too. Where does it end?? How about taking the citizenship of Melania Trump away? She is technically an illegal alien as she violated her Visitor's Visa rules. Visitor Visas do not allow one to work. She did as a model. But money talks. I will pray for all Naturalized Citizens except for Elon Musk. I assume Elon is a naturalized citizen or not? He can be deported for all I care.
As a US citizen living overseas, I will only enter the US if my sister’s health deteriorates. I would fly into Canada. I would have to leave my phone behind. This is reminding me of the Stasi.
Same here Betsy. I wouldn’t dare and I would advise any European travelers with summer plans to cancel. This Regime has gone from a slouch to a kamikaze light speed assault towards Bethlehem. The center is impossible to see through this chaotic cruelty and corruption.
I have friends who are from another European country; both women and married to each other. One has dual citizenship. The one with only her country of origin citizenship will no longer come to the US to visit.
She will not be alone in staying away, the “snowbirds” from Canada are staying home in the thousands, the numbers of Europeans who decide to vacation or get their education elsewhere is going to be significant, the airlines, hotels and restaurants that used to benefit from them no longer will. 🤷♂️💥
Ally House.. I don’t think the pre deprivation denial of due process distinguishes between the rights of a dual citizen verses the rights of someone who has no citizenship rights or, for that matter, someone who has been singularly a US citizen. As for tourists and visa holders, Rubber Rubio has made it clear that if you don’t toe the line un your heart and mind in issues like the attacks on Palestine, you can be detained not just refused entry. If they can seize you based on the misgotten and, often, mistaken data correlations that we have already seen play out, any one who has the wrong body art, the wrong gender id in an identification, the wrong post on their social media account….fair game to meet the quota for the day or satiate the power trip of the empowered agent in charge.
Yeah, with my social media history I probably would have no chance getting into the US - not that I ever, ever wanted to - and by now probably not into Germany either.
Quick, how the fascists took over. They may not be as thick as we think, and considering their end goal seems to be the destruction of US society, they are doing a pretty good job in that direction.
As we tend to learn neither from history nor from the experiences witnessed in front of our eyes, the US may possibly just be leading the way. We're usually about 5 years behind here in Aus.
I so hope that the remainder of the West - Canada, Australia/NZ and Europe - can regroup sans US and built its own, not to be underestimated power. With friendly relations with the BRICS and in the future a hopefully reformed US.
I can imagine - it is very scary and in a way I'm glad many people don't really understand how scary it is, else everybody would just panic. In a way that would be good if they understood, on the other hand it's important to build up a good, strong resistance calmly.
Our democracy, our rule of law is going down the tube. Trump and Musk are evil, but the Republican controlled House and Senate are as responsible, it is their job to stop the destruction. Be afraid.
Add SCOTUS to that responsibility agenda. With out Congressional support to STOP the takeover, SCOTUS and the profiteers are shredding the federeal programs and balance of power. Change is inevitable, destruction is unnecessary
The right-wing Justices on the Supreme Court installed by the Federalist Society that is controlled by Opus Die radical Catholic white Christian nationalist, funded by ultra-rich Oligarchs are responsible for opening up political donations to unlimited unregulated Oligarch purchase of politicians and the government of the United States. We are experiencing the results of decades of right-wing anti-democracy plotting. This has been happening long before trump entered politics.
Itvwas not happening ar this speed and intensity but it was happening. It took them 40 years of planning and try and error and now, consumables experts are implementing every aspect of Proyect 2025, the onevtrump didn't know anything about, remember?
It's difficult to hold the line when you don't have the votes in the House or the Senate nor in the White House. Apparently there are few Republicans who are willing to stop the president.
“ The Senate confirmed Retired Air Force Lieutenant General John Dan Caine, who goes by the nickname “Razin,” for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by a vote of 60–25. U.S.”
It wasn’t just Repubs that accepted this appointment.
I believe that Democrats try to be supportive when they can, as not to be seen as a party that just votes NO under any circumstances. John Caine may not have been the best choice, but he may be better than many others. We shall see. Of course, if he is better, he may not be around very long. Sad time in America.
Rene, the Democrats in the Senate that represent Colorado have really shocked me after checking how they voted on the confirmation of Cain for Joint Chief of Staff. Bennett didn't vote, I will find out why. Hickenlooper voted yes to confirm. I believe Hick is a closet Republican because he came from the oil and gas industry. I never cared for him as a governor and have totally dismissed him as my Senator.
In 1995 the US agreed an extradition pact with El Salvador.
If Garcia had committed murder in the US and fled to El Salvador, and then been detained by the El Salvador authorities, the US government would have NO problem getting him returned.
Seems it doesn't pay to be innocent in the US today.
It’s called ‘KIDNAPPING’… plain and simple. 90% of those sent to El Salvador had no criminal records. It could happen to anyone of us. We now live in an oligarchy.
Thank you! I was wondering that - it can't be too hard to prove that they very well would be able to get the man back.
Amazing, isn't it, while all governments call to kiss Trump's backside to have tariffs lowered, you would have thought he has a bit of power over the El Salvadorian government.
I admit I know very little about El Salvador. I now know "next to nothing" after reading the Wikipedia entry. I hesitate to write what I'm thinking about El Salvador for obvious reasons after reading Heather's letter today.
Here is an excerpt-
"As of February 2025, El Salvador had the highest prisoner rate worldwide, with over 1,600 prisoners per 100,000 of the national population.
El Salvador’s Cecot mega-prison, officially called the Center for Terrorism Confinement, is considered the largest prison in the Americas with a capacity of 40,000 inmates. The incarcerations have been part of president Bukele’s efforts to reduce high crime rates and gang violence.In March 2025, the United States transferred more than 200 immigrants, alleged members of a Venezuelan gang, to be imprisoned in El Salvador.
Armed Forces of El Salvador
The Armed Forces of El Salvador have three branches: the Salvadoran Army, the Salvadoran Air Force and the Navy of El Salvador. There are around 25,000 personnel in the armed forces in total.
Human rights in El Salvador
Amnesty International has drawn attention to several arrests of police officers for unlawful police killings. Other issues to gain Amnesty International's attention include missing children, failure of law enforcement to properly investigate and prosecute crimes against women, and rendering organized labour illegal.
Abortion is banned, with no exceptions for rape, incest, or threat to the mother's life; as a result, 180 women have been imprisoned in the last two decades, some for up to 30 years. Discrimination against LGBT people in El Salvador is very widespread. According to 2013 survey by Pew Research, 53% of Salvadorans believe that homosexuality should not be accepted by society. Although homosexuality itself is legal, gay marriage is legally not recognized, as proposals were rejected twice in 2006, and once again in 2009.
More and more it seems that the Trump camp is obsessed with all immigrants and determined to get rid of them by any means possible legal or not. They don't care about their rights or due process or previous promises made to these usually desperate people; they don't see them as human beings - only as nasty bugs who have "invaded" our lovely white-dominated "great" country. I am sickened.
How horrid to think of the US being occupied by clones of old white men and clones of the muskrats, and nothing else. Loved our “melting pot,” imperfect as it was. So wonder how long it will take Native Americans to boot the rest of us interlopers out. Kidding of course. They will not be “white” enough to deserve a place in their own country. Evil has the upper hand today. Wish I could see a smackdown coming.
I have called us mutts ever since I spent time doing genealogy research. No such thing as a pure white race. So true. But anybody not in a coma would be aware that there are smart and dumb in any group. For myriad reasons. Race/skin are stupid reasons to slap a label on. Thanks for your comment.
Science has no final answers for anything. Religion has the only answers to everything. A quote from a kid said that it’s better to figure things out than to make things up. Don’t remember where I saw it but best quote ever.
Paul Krugman had an interview today that pointed out the importance of immigrants to our economy and how the deportation of so many will add another sign leading to a recession.
Yes. I can’t wait until there isn’t anyone willing to pick their food. I am lucky enough to live in a rural area with people around who grow food and raise animals that I can’t do myself.
As I consider the stream of news coupled with your valuable "Letters" it seems clear that through the chaos and control of the news cycle, the criminal-elect has been shifting loyalists into key military positions to carry out any directives from Trump, Hegseth, or Noem.
There is already plenty of deep concern about this criminal enterprise simply taking more power and control, I won't speculate as to the United States we will awaken to on April 21st.
It seems clear to me that, although we were adequately warned about enemies foreign and domestic, our system of justice was never sufficiently insulated from concentrated wealth coupled with an authoritarian intent to subvert the system and effectively use it to destroy itself.
While continuing protests are important, I fear the only non-violent recourse we may have is through a prolonged general strike until a new, temporary government is formed, the current regime is removed and a special investigator and court is established to investigate, indict, convict, imprison, and performs asset seizures of all who have participated in this sustained attack on United States, including those who conspired with this administration, interfered with and obstructed justice and investigations, those who have acted as accessories after the fact, and those who provided significant financial or in-kind support for this sustained attack.
Our current system is completely ineffective in holding power to account (by design). Half-measures (such as the impeachment of the criminal-elect, or the invocation of the 25th Amendment is insufficient as it will leave an entire array of criminal bad actors in place in the Executive Branch, the Supreme Court, Congress, and State/Local governments.
"Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signed the agreement with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem." I wonder if any of these people ever read "Catch 22".
" a prolonged general strike". The key word here is prolonged. This will take solidarity, willingness to bear the cost. and it will be high, organization and a high degree of discontent. So then Strive for Solidarity. Do not be satisfied with too little and agitate toward intelligent discontent. Willingly bear the the cost. Am I, in this moment ready for this? Now that is the question I must ask myself. I must answer Yes.
Thank you Gregg. I think it is important that in the formation of a temporary new government, people that suffered the loss of income and employment are compensated as a priority, especially from a pool of seized funds from the criminal regime and their major donors.
I do not speak of monetary cost only, if at all. " I would rather a thousand times be a free soul in jail than to be a sycophant and coward in the streets. Eugene V. Debs Convict No. 9653
So true, but we can still go the games, the malls, and church. Well, some of us can. Most of us have our comfort zones. As someone put, nice, compliant neighbors were the best friends of Nazi evil.
Thank you Sabine. One can argue that in the denial of due process and state-sponsored kidnapping/deportation it is already violent. Still I would like a prolonged economic action. The GOP supply lines flow from Musk, Thiel, Adelson, and others. I’d like to cut the supply.
Understand that violence is what they are hoping for. If sane US patriots don't take the bait, the plan is for some MAGA plants to start it. Take out a supreme, a senator, or a cabinet member (all disposable). Once the finger can be pointed in the direction of enemies within, it will be easy to declare martial law, with the next logical step being the cancellation of elections.
While I believe the only hope is to avoid any and all violence so we can get to the 2026 elections, if we get close to November 2026 and the polling shows a complete trouncing of the MAGA party, the plants will be employed so that the elections can be cancelled.
As David Brooks (PBS) reiterated last night ,on the NewsHour( the Capone Years structure is well in place ) “we have a mob boss and henchmen styled government”…I did paraphrase that.
Capone was viewed by his associates as a powerful and feared leader. The text describes how he had a network of loyal followers who were willing to carry out his orders and protect him from rivals or enemies.(Wiki)
Frankly the incessant disinformation , chatter, and repetitive lies have so chaotically become a reality , where we stand few can speculate an outcome . That makes it hard for any business to plan ahead.
Protest would have to be tripled in numbers and frequency to be affective.
Boycotting.
Self sufficient community co-operatives must barter, trade, be creative.
Staying low keyed/visibility best class actions.
I don’t feel this current chaos is sustainable ,in fact, likely its own demise. However, will render tremendous damage to world order, let alone America’s leadership ability…making us all very vulnerable. Nearly everyone who has participated or been set in place for this HAS.TO.GO.
Accountability for such disruptive design and implementation has got to happen.
There is shared blame. The former political party known as the GOP now acting as a criminal enterprise had multiple opportunities to hold Trump to account in his earlier crime wave. And our subverted justice system, from the incompetence and betrayal of justice by Aileen Cannon to the very bent so-called “Supreme” Court where Thomas and Alito gleefully provide top cover for a tyrant and his regime. Then the wealthy donors who want permanent tax cuts and are anti-democracy to the willfully ignorant who believe Trump loves them and will make them all wealthy.
This administration is more and more lawless every day. Until I wrote that, I wouldn't have thought that "lawless" could be a comparative, but it's clear now that our laws are being broken and disregarded at an increasingly alarming rate.
Yesterday, in a piece about Rumeysa Ozturk, I wrote the following in response to some of the other more appalling comments:
It's lucky for me that I wasn't there when a group of masked men in black, no other identification, attacked a woman walking alone on the street at night. If I'd been there, I'd have told them in my strictest teacher voice to take their hands off her. And I would have been hustled into the van alongside Ms. Ozturk. But I guess that many of those who commented here are fine with the way she was abducted. Kidnapping is against the law, and that's what we all saw happening. Depriving someone of medication necessary for her health may not be against the law--I'm not a legal scholar, so I don't know--but I do know that it's inhumane, and that people with asthma can die without their medication. So please, think before you "celebrate" Ms. Ozturk's arrest and her treatment in prison.
I was horrified when I saw that young women’s arrest. The image of her being surrounded by 6 agents was terrifying! I would have screamed at them too. I would probably be hauled away somewhere. Why could anyone think her treatment was justified?
Betsy, I've thought about this situation. I'm a retired cop; if I had seen that, I would NOT have assumed the people taking Ms. Ozturk were in any way official, and would have responded in a manner consistent with that observation.
If Trump ordered your Sheriff to detain people illegally and he gave the order to everyone under his command, would all of the deputies obeyed?
Since Trump is replacing many of the officers in the military with his sycophants would they order something illegal to be done to American citizens, naturalized citizens, birthright citizens, judges, Congressmen, Senators, etc.?
At least, so far, they appear to be sending ALL of the detainees to El Salvador a country that could easily be overthrown by any NATO ally. Once they find several other countries to "dump" deportees in, things will get more difficult.
Thanks for offering this well documented summary of our country’s leadership’s ongoing abandonment of core constitutional values. Don’t know how else to say it. I guess we still just go shopping for groceries and go to junior’s athletic event but at some point it’s going to be more real to all of us.
Yes. We continue to document and list the atrocities each day and tell each other how wrong they are but I hear few calls for any specific action to stop the horrors.
Carney’s Checkmate: How Canada's Quiet Bond Play Forced Trump to Drop Tariffs
April 10, 2025
Let’s talk about the moment Donald Trump blinked. It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t a tweetstorm or a rally rant. When the tariff threats that had the world on edge—125% on China, 25% on Canada’s autos, a global trade war in the making—suddenly softened. A “pause,” he called it. A complete turnaround from the chest-thumping of the past week. And the reason? Mark Carney and a slow, deliberate financial maneuver that most people didn’t even notice: the coordinated Treasury bond slow bleed.
This wasn’t about bravado. It was about leverage. Cold, calculated, and devastatingly effective.
Trump’s pause wasn’t because people were getting yippy…
Rewind a bit. While Trump was gearing up his trade war machine, Carney, Canada’s Prime Minister, wasn’t just sitting in Ottawa twiddling his thumbs. He’d been quietly increasing Canada’s holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds—over $350 billion worth by early 2025, part of the $8.53 trillion foreign countries hold in U.S. debt. On the surface, it looked like a safe play, a hedge against economic chaos. But it wasn’t just defense. It was a loaded gun.
Carney didn’t stop there. He took his case to Europe. Not for photo ops, but for closed-door meetings with the EU’s heavy hitters—Germany, France, the Netherlands. Japan was in the room too, listening closely. The pitch was simple: if Trump went too far with tariffs, Canada wouldn’t just retaliate with duties on American cars or steel. It would start offloading those Treasury bonds. Not a fire sale—nothing so crude. A slow, steady bleed. A signal to the markets that the U.S. dollar’s perch wasn’t so secure.
Here’s a brief explainer about Treasury Bonds and why Carney encouraged other countries to follow Canada’s lead, and why it worked:
How Treasury Bonds Work and Why a Global Sell-Off Could Tank the U.S.
• What Are Treasury Bonds?
o They’re IOUs the U.S. government issues to borrow money.
o Countries, banks, and investors buy them, lending cash to the U.S.
o The U.S. promises to pay back the loan with interest over time (e.g., 10 years).
• Who Owns Them?
o Foreign countries hold $8.5 trillion of U.S. debt (as of 2025).
o Big players: Japan ($1 trillion+), Canada ($350 billion), EU nations ($1.5 trillion combined).
o They buy bonds to park money safely and earn steady interest.
• How Do They Affect the U.S.?
o The U.S. uses this borrowed cash to fund everything—military, Social Security, tax cuts.
o Cheap borrowing keeps the economy humming; the government spends more than it collects in taxes.
• What Happens in a Coordinated Sell-Off?
o If countries like Canada, Japan, and the EU start selling bonds together (even slowly):
Flood of Bonds: Too many bonds hit the market at once.
Prices Drop: More supply than demand pushes bond prices down.
Interest Rates Spike: When bond prices fall, yields (interest rates) rise to attract buyers.
• Why Does This Hurt the U.S.?
o Borrowing Gets Expensive: Higher interest rates mean the U.S. pays more to borrow.
o Debt Snowballs: The U.S. owes $34 trillion already; pricier loans make it harder to manage.
o Dollar Weakens: Selling bonds means dumping dollars, so the currency’s value drops.
• How Does This Cause a Depression?
o Spending Dries Up: Government cuts back as borrowing costs soar—fewer jobs, less aid.
o Businesses Tank: Higher rates choke loans; companies can’t expand or hire.
o Imports Cost More: A weaker dollar makes foreign goods (oil, tech) pricier, jacking up inflation.
o Markets Crash: Panic hits stocks and banks as confidence in U.S. debt fades.
• The Domino Effect:
o Jobs vanish, prices spike, savings erode—classic depression triggers.
o A slow, coordinated sell-off isn’t a bluff; it’s a quiet gut punch that would take the US YEARS to recover from.
And here’s the kicker: Canada wasn’t alone. Japan, holding over $1 trillion in U.S. debt, signed on and started to sell those US Treasury bonds which scared Trump shitless. Key EU countries—collectively sitting on another $1.5 trillion—nodded in agreement. This wasn’t a bluff. It was a silent pact. A coordinated move to remind Trump that the free world doesn’t just roll over when he swings his tariff bat. Hurt us, Carney said, and we’ll hurt you—right where it counts.
The U.S. Treasury market is the backbone of the global economy. Foreign holders like Canada, Japan, and the EU keep it humming, financing everything from America’s military to its tax cuts. Start selling those bonds in unison, even gradually, and the yields spike. The dollar wobbles. Borrowing costs climb. Suddenly, Trump’s “beautiful” bond market—he bragged about it just yesterday—looks like a house of cards in a stiff breeze.
That’s the message Carney delivered in his call with Trump last week. No leaks on the exact words, but the outcome speaks volumes. Trump didn’t just pause the tariffs; he backpedaled hard. China’s still in the crosshairs—125% duties are no joke—but Canada? The EU? Japan? They’re off the hit list. For now, at least. Why? Because Carney’s play wasn’t noise. It was power.
Let’s be real: Trump’s spent years calling Canada a freeloader—remember his 2019 NATO jabs?—while ignoring the inconvenient truth. Canada’s $350 billion in U.S. debt isn’t charity. It’s a lifeline. Japan’s trillion-plus? Same deal. The EU’s pile? Ditto. These countries aren’t just buying bonds to be nice; they’re bankrolling the U.S. government. And when they threaten to pull the plug, even slowly, Washington listens.
This was the determining factor in Trump’s surrender. Not the public spats, not the retaliatory tariffs Canada slapped on U.S. autos (though those stung). It was the quiet, coordinated threat of a Treasury bond unwind that bent Trump’s knee. Carney didn’t need to shout. He didn’t need to posture. He lined up the free world—Japan, the EU, Canada in lockstep—and showed Trump the cliff’s edge. Strategic brilliance doesn’t get louder than that.
Carney also issued Canadian Treasury bonds in USD which was another brilliant way to strengthen Canada’s position and financial reputation. Little triggers and strategies you get when the world’s most respected economist is your PM…
When Trump announced his tariff “pause,” it wasn’t a victory lap. It was a concession. Carney moved markets without firing a shot. He gave Canada a seat at the power table and proved that global respect isn’t won with bluster—it’s earned with moves that hit where it hurts. Trump talks tough. Carney plays chess. And right now, the board’s his.
Want the raw data? Check the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s “Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities” report. Look at Canada’s holdings. Japan’s. The EU’s. Then ask yourself: who’s really holding “the cards.”
OH, and will Canada’s tariffs and countermeasures remain in place until after the election on April 28th? Yup.
Carney made sure to tell the world that despite Trump kissing our northern ring, we’re not negotiating shit until after the election. He also said we’re still moving away from our relationship with the US for greener, saner pastures.
I thought of the bond problem. I thought China also holds U.S. bonds. Thanks, Dean.
In light of how our info is being collected and used, I'm concerned that in order to vote in the primaries in our state, we must register with a political party. The county keeps the records for many years, and you can inexpensively buy a copy of the lists of everyone who voted in past primaries, including how they voted, which includes their addresses at the time. I know because I have purchased them to target neighborhoods to help candidates. They are on a CD. I tossed mine because they were outdated.
Do we have to have a court order to have them erased? The Trump regime wouldn't like my voting record. Should we hide our books?
Bertha - Thank you so much for explaining that we have friends who know how to fight back! We need all the help we can get. It may be that international pressure may have more effect than anything we can do from here.
The tariffs, and the uncertainty about what Trump will do, are a vulnerability for the WH. I hope everyone calls their reps, floods the zone, about the tariffs. Their effects are something that no voter can hide in the sand about. Inflation got Trump the presidency. He did not win by much.
Thank you so much for explaining how the bond market works! Very enlightening information! Now it all makes sense. You are very wise and I appreciate your knowledge. I am a curious person and I needed someone to explain to me exactly how bonds work. Thank you again. I just subscribed to you.
"... a database that enables officials to search for people by filtering for “hundreds of different, highly specific categories,” including scars or tattoos, bankruptcy filings ..."
Hmmm. If deporting people based on bankruptcy filings is possible now, I can think of an excellent place to start.
“Sick at heart & mad in my mind.” I am getting shock treatment for the mad part, and was able to march in the April 5 protest. Then I blew my back out and now I’m only able to walk with a walker and I’m only 73. Fist in the air, having a pity party! This is what my father fought against in WWII.
Judge Xinis has demanded daily updates from government lawyers about the efforts to 'facilitate' the return of Abrego Garcia. She wanted them even if there was nothing to report - perhaps a sign of her exasperation at how badly she has been let down by the six conservative judges on the Supreme Court who have left her without the means to end this shameful slow-walking by the administration of its compliance with her order. She has complained that “the Supreme Court has spoken quite clearly and yet I can’t get an answer,” and added that “we’re not going to slow walk this, We’re not relitigating what the Supreme Court already put to bed.” The trouble is that the Supreme Court did no such thing and justice Sotomayor's comments outline very clearly her dissatisfaction with the judgement.
I feel that the administration's attitude toward Xinis is "yeah, so make me. Whaddaya gonna do about it if we don't comply, huh?" What can she do about it? And just to add some seasoning - the Judge is a woman, which immediately makes her 'less than' in their eyes.
With puffed-up chests and evil in their eyes, they dare her to do anything. They know they have full support from the DOJ, FBI, the military, Congress, and Trump. Our rule of law is crumbling as each day goes by. The horror will continue until they have complete control of all aspects of our lives. There will be no one coming to help us.
Government lawyers are managing this by dissembling and prevarication, not by outright lies as we've seen in other cases. In fact, the only government lawyer who has been truthful before judge Xinis, Erez Reuveni, was supended by an angry Pam Bondi. Her reasons for the suspension: "...I firmly said on Day 1, I issued a memo that you are to vigorously advocate on behalf of the United States. Our client in this matter was Homeland Security — is Homeland Security. He did not argue. He shouldn’t have taken the case. He shouldn’t have argued it, if that’s what he was going to do. He’s on administrative leave now." Of course, by advocate for the United States she means advocate for Donald Trump. The same lawyer had only recently been promoted to acting deputy director of the Office of Immigration Litigation. His offence - merely admitting that the DHS had made a mistake and that he didn't know why Garcia had been sent to the prison in El Salvador. Even that dope Leavitt admitted as much before hastily covered her back by falsely claiming that DHS had 'lots of evidence' that Garcia was an MS13 gang member and that she had seen it.
Which means we have a government of bad faith actors, that judges no longer can assume that the government attorneys are telling the truth and have justice as their guiding principle rather than winning. Horrifying.
Having spent my toddler years in Germany during the Nuremberg Trials and Berlin Airlift, I seem to have paid a bit more attention than most to how Germany in particular ended up following Hitler as he implemented such atrocious policies. I also often heard Goebbels attributed it to using tactics learned from watching how our country treated slaves and other races, ethnicities, or minorities.
I thought internment or relocation camps, limiting information, speech, real education (not "reeducation" or indoctrination) were the stuff of repressive regimes suppressing all criticism, etc, most recognized by Americans in other (especially fascist), governments.
When I learned that I was mortified. We were the good guys, but that fantasy has always been just that. I was innocent no more…. I’m still shocked that so many are so disconnected from the sacrifices of our grandparents. I grew up seeing my aunt suffer from the death of her 18-year-old in Italy in 1943. Her grandchildren in Georgia are MAGAts. The disconnect is brutal.
I only realised that in the last year - we were never the good guys. Our ancestors came from Europe all over the world, like the plague, killing, stealing and pillaging whatever they felt like.
Ultimately they built nations on genocides in Canada, the US and Australia. Never having been held to account.
And then we lied ourselves a pretty history together - with "enlightenment" and "human rights" (small print: predominantly to whites).
That made us the "good guys" in our opinion, really not so much in the rest of the world.
So true, and more whitewashing coming. A little truth would take us down a peg or two. In my youth, Ike was the hero and I believe he truly was. But my horizon was just over my head. As it rose the ugly truth emerged. Now we are hunkered down waiting for Armageddon
Well, Israel did set the new bar of what total military destruction looks like to a level so low, never seen before in the world. All with the help of the good ol' US and the rest of the West.
For all our faults I believe we set the new "goal standard" with the Declaration of Independence and as good a path as possible (despite some compromises that could have been poison pills if not gradually following better branches of the path to a future that fully lived up to the goal).
The Constitution as described on September 17, 1787 needed/needs updates adjusted as well as possible to ensure it keeps getting closer to the goal, at least keeping the balance of power of the 3 branches, and equal rights for all.
P.S. I intended this comment to be here, but misplaced a longer version of it.
I did intentionally use Goal Standard instead of Gold Standard, since I have seen and heard of Constitutions in particular that sound better on paper than ours, but aren't worth the paper they are written on.
Like fiat money, is more like your word is your bound, it has to be trusted and backed with honor and earned trust.
To me our imperfect Constitution still had world class trust by its progress towards the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
For all our faults I believe we set the new "goal standard" with the Declaration of Independence and as good a path as possible (despite some compromises that could have been poison pills if not gradually following better branches of the path to a future that fully lived up to the goal).
The Constitution as described on September 17, 1787 needed/needs updates adjusted as well as possible to ensure it keeps getting closer to the goal, at least keeping the balance of power of the 3 branches, and equal rights for all.
Watching EuroNews this morning, its seems the European Union is trying to live up to our original goals better than our current administration, even mentioning accepting refugees from the US. I assume that may mean not only our best scientists and public officials, not only with ancestors back to at least 1619 like our family's from England, but also (or maybe even especially), from the most recent Green Card holders, and others, who are rejected or have family members/spouses rejected. The show today included mention of reliable pensions and FDIC like guarantees of bank deposits throughout the whole of the EU.
It leaves me wondering why we are abandoning some of the best practices we led on, as others are taking up the similar paths we are abandoning to improve their societies and (fair) economic competitiveness in the world.
(A death yesterday, and other health issues in the family in other parts of the country will again limit attention to current news and participation.)
Anyone who thinks we can vote our way out of this shit is fooling themselves. It’s going to take lethal force. They will never ever give up peacefully the power they are amassing. The enabling (who the hell were the Democratic senators who voted for that unqualified blowhard as head of the Joint Chiefs) is sickening. The kettle is almost at full boil. We’re on our way to becoming North Korea, not Russia, not China, not Turkey or any other thugocracy.
Wanton deportations? Check.
Politicization of the military? Check.
Contempt for the rule of law? Check.
One guy calling the shots without any checks and balances? Check.
Misogyny? Check.
Racism? Check.
Dehumanizing minorities?
Violence against citizens? Check.
Stasi? Check.
Gestapo? Check.
Naked cruelty? Check.
Plans for internment camps? Check.
But noooo, it’s sooo unfair to compare Trump to Hitler…
So sickening, Dutch, that so much evil just keeps checking out here.
Still, it's simple. He’s a simpleton, the convicted criminal in the White House.
He also knows only to do damage: to insult, belittle, destroy alliances, break laws, bankrupt himself, obsess vengefulness, and rape & bully others.
We face greater damage from all this too because the Supreme Court has backed away from ruling on the 1798 Alien Enemy Act.
Rick Wilson and Stuart Stevens on one video yesterday cited White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on this criminal administration gearing up next to send American citizens to that El Salvador prison.
If that 1798 Alien Enemy Act gives the orange felon the right to do it, he could nationalize the National Guard. Could start kidnapping, rounding up. Federal judges. Critics on MSNBC. We on Heather’s Substack.
America, Rick Wilson and Stuart Stevens further note, used to be a world bastion of reliability, predictability, stability. Now, the underpinnings of all that – our laws, checks and balances, institutions maintaining respect for others – may all be gone, or going away.
U.S. K-12 decades ago rolled over to the thugs of standardized testing. Key universities, media conglomerates, and top tier law firms now roll over to the simple criminal in the White House.
The problem is, that Trump is only 1 man at the front - the real issue is the mafiosy-style organisation, called GOP, in the background. Even when you take Trump out, then you'll have Shady Vance - can you imagine where you'll go there? I just hope for you all that the 2026 elections won't be too late.
I think to hope that the GOP will fall into pieces if Trump is gone, I wouldn't bet on that. Too many have too much to lose.
Fxck it sucks to be you, and to an only slightly lesser degree to be us.
I only partially agree with this. Let me explain. I used to teach a course that included a section on root cause analysis. This is very similar to the concept that Toyota teaches for problem identification. Toyota calls it the "5 whys." One could also compare it to being a two year old and constantly asking why? As fantastic as it seems, the reality is that many people in Germany, even folks who bought into some of the fanaticism, did not know the full depth of the depravity of the Nazi leadership. The YouTube channel titled "World History" (@WorldHistoryVideos) has one on the story of Heinz Heydrich, the brother of the truly evil Reinhard Heydrich, and his reaction upon reading his brother's diaries after his death. It's worth watching to get a sense of just how complete the information bubble was that Joseph Goebbels was able to create. Well, the same thing has happened here - only even more effectively.
The information bubbles that have been created by taking advantage of the human herding behavior are quite real. Social Media and organizations like FOX News make their money from selling advertising. Their profit is critically dependent on how long they can hold their average viewer (called stickiness). This directly translates to higher ad revenue. Their audiences are fed whatever it takes to keep them engaged. Reality and decency have nothing to do with it, only greed.
Yes, there are a lot of awful people in positions of leadership in the GOP, but most of the grass roots are trusting fools who have allowed themselves to be sold a bill of goods. Their perception of reality is the problem. Many of them really believe the whole Demoncrat nonsense, and the crap that Musk spouted in Wisconsin about our conspiracy to bring in lefty immigrants to create a one party state that is antithetical to core American values. They really do believe we are no better than the Soviet Communist Party under Stalin, or the CCP under Mao. They exist in a different perception of the world that has been deliberately crafted.
Broadcast media like FOX will be very hard to regulate, but one thing we can reign in if we ever get back to some centrist sanity, is to legislatively treat the user profiling data required to enable content feed control on social media like the dangerous thing it is. It is euphemistically called business data or AI data, but it is more of a social poison than fentanyl ever thought of being. That is the real root cause of the current mess, and that is what needs to be attacked.
BTW, there is a looming electric power generation crisis. Earlier this week some of the AI folks were in DC complaining about it. That user profiling data and blockchain technology have been on a positive exponential growth trajectory for over a decade, and we are only about two years away from mandatory brown outs if things continue as they are. That may present an opportunity to start reigning in this crap.
Don't underestimate the power of racism. That truly is our original sin, and it has made it all the easier for this to occur. We know a strongman needs an 'other' to cast as villian, and our society was/is ready made for this, unfortunately.
Absolutely right, Sandra. I think the US is going under because of the festering racism and misogyny that never went away after the Civil War...
I think it’s our karma, a rebalancing if you will, of something way out of balance. The universe with its creative chaos is sublimely balanced, that is the natural order, to be in balance, it’s how we walk on 2 feet. North America was fully occupied when the first Europeans crossed the Atlantic, what they did to those occupants was the beginning of our out of balance karma, then our forefathers in all of their wisdom introduced slavery which they used as a foundation of their prosperity. They fought a civil war over the need to protect that privilege and prosperity. What we are witnessing today, is a nightmare none of us would have dreamed would come true, but so many who were here before us experienced a nightmare that cost them their lives, that cost is what has left this country so out of balance. Just like the wheel of your car can be out of balance and drive seemingly smoothly at a certain speed, getting to that speed it will demonstrate that all is not well by vibrating and wearing unevenly until it self destructs. That’s us, we need to fix this, there is no getting around it, if we don’t it will destroy our nation as surely as an out of balance wheel will eventually fail and cause a wreck.
It's more than just racisim, it's fear and ultimately hatred of people who are different in some way that makes someone notice. Outward appearance is obvious, but things like gender preferences and religion fall into the same bag.
There are good evolutionary reasons for this attitude. For most of human and proto-human existence it has been the norm to interact with others who are perceived to be alien or a threat with violence. This was universal.
There were some good studies on voting behavior done back in the 1960s. I've since lost the references, but they were a central part of a course I took in school on public opinion and voting behavior. The single most predictive factor for whether a precinct would vote for something or someone considered to be liberal or conservative was housing density. Under 20 people per acre and a majority of the people in the precinct would reliably vote conservative. More than 25 and the majority would vote liberal.
The thinking was that when you pack people into tighter living spaces, we have to become more tolerant of each other's differences, and perhaps even embrace them. This maps perfectly to the political wisdom that the suburbs are where most of the swing precincts are. It also fits perfectly with those red/blue maps that the news media put out after every election.
This also fits well with the approach taken by the education program of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Their theme is "Teaching Tolerance."
It does seem that the rural folks tended to vote trump.
Thank you, Sandra Campbell! We are “led” by three racists: Trump/ Vance/ Skum. We need a total impeachment. Cabinet and Department heads. Throw da bums out, in simple Americanese.
Sounds good. But, what is the legal process to "throw da bums out..." We need courageous and dedicated judges not afraid to use their legal perrogative to hold and jail those who thumb their noses at our judicial system.
So many comments here about racism, nothing about the looming possibility of deportations of anyone the administration wants to deport. Not that racism is unimportant, but it's not the only serious issue on the table.
Racism is not our original sin; it is taught.
There is no racism in SS benefits. Let's focus protecting SSA.
These racists do not realize that their group might be next to be persecuted.
Racism is powerful, but the “other” is all The Democrats because of “femnazis” lack of “good Christian values,” and Progressive programs that get blown up into threats.
Sadly, some Democrats keep adding new material to the reasons “The Other” are destroying this nations—per the well-developed propaganda machine.
I would argue that the people who lack Christian values are those that permit or shrug off torture, graft, the killing or imprisonment of children, unpunished rapes, pauperisation of the already poor, the antisemitic attacks on Democratic opponents at Passover and missile attacks on a Palm Sunday crowd.
And Christian Nationalism to go with the racism - they walk hand in hand.
Yes, Gina, true.
But racism is predicated on masses of people taught to see life as categories only, groups to package, and behavior as linear only -- all the logic of testing prepping the tens of millions to stick to those worst habits of thought.
And all absent humanities, as testing also requires.
I think misogyny as well as racism - the "thinkers" (term used loosely) behind MAGA want to create a society dominated by white males, that puts women and all non-white people in their place. They are just so repulsive and yesteryear, if not yestercentury.
Craig, all good and interesting points. Here's my take:
There are indeed millions of low information Americans who have been sold a bill of goods by Fox and AM radio. They believe the lies because the people around them believe them. Family, friends and the PREACHER in the church.
But it is complicated. There is also a bigger, organic, epigenetic, built into the DNA, generational heritage HATE for the "other". It is an unshakable part of their identity. And when that fire of hate has gasoline poured on it by an entire political party and the President of the f**king United States of America - they are totally locked into their completely irrational belief system. They won't complain when American citizens are deported or imprisoned for being non-white....or Democrats who speak up.
This IS IT, folks. The pogroms have begun. If the administration ($Trump) doesn't bring back Garcia from El Salvador as ordered by the Supreme Court, the war has been declared our democracy will die a quick death if we don't do something new.
Bill A., from the way your comment is written, I can't tell if your reference to "organic, epigenetic ... hate" is literal or figurative. If the former, then I can't agree.
We are genetically programmed to gravitate to our own species. But hate, the culmination of fear, is learned. The learning occurs either through repeated harmful experience, or more usually, because it is taught by an authority figure: a parent, teacher, preacher, or other elder.
I would emphasize that hate is not the default human response to other beings, but the capacity to learn hate is a major characteristic that distinguishes us from all other animals.
I agree with the rest of your comment.
I guess it doesn't really matter if the hate is inertly, inherently part of one's genetic make up. Inherited or taught from birth or some combination thereof = same behavior. Only respected leaders could shift that thinking. And I blame fake Christian preachers and their misguided disciples.
Isn't is it simple? How can a follower of Jesus support a creature like $Trump or $Musk? On what basis? The answer my friends, is the hate blowin' in the wind.
Thanks for the comment.
'Learned' behavior does not explain siblings from the same parents raised in essentially the same environment expressing vastly different positions. It's true in my own family, and apparently in many others given the discussions around how to peacefully co-exist at family gatherings.
I agree. Compassion and empathy are the default but they are hidden under learned responses.
You are correct, significant numbers of people are 'pre-wired' to want to accept this warped belief system. It's no different than a sales pitch that tells you what you want to hear.
Bill, the US is just the tip of the spear here. Technology is rapidly globalizing while human nature is fixed and well studied. Big Brother is watching me as I type.
That is very accurate; what you describe is only one way the right-wing politicians, ultra-rich Oligarchs manipulate the masses.
Unless people wake up now, we are truly screwed.
Bill Alstrom: Yep: “There is also a bigger, organic, epigenetic, built into the DNA, generational heritage HATE for the "other". It is an unshakable part of their identity. And when that fire of hate has gasoline” = Right on and if you know, rings true with the line in Frank Zappa’s tune, Stink Foot "The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe" I have a hunch we have mutual friends in these parts. <> Consider these topic connections: Epigenetic expression altered by endemic PFAS - PFOA in the environment, now in human & animal bloodstream, sub-micron enough to pass through semipermeable membranes, into bloodstream, small enough to adhere to dna chromosome and alter genetic expression. (NIH funded studies soon to be washed from the interwebs) (47 bought by petrochemical industry) This combined with highly effective manipulation via television, techbro social media, hate podcasters, + hate radio - on same trajectory as Rwandan genocide stimulus, + neurological effect of projected light from electronic comm devices vs reflected light when reading a book: All conditioning / messaging systems engineered for rapid and deep manipulation of targets. <> It’s a powerful matrix carefully engineered and executed over about a 54 years period and gone full radical on Jan 20, 2025. It’s designed to be hegemonic but it’s operators know it’s vulnerable to dissolution by prolonged and massive boycott, & loss of prominence like The Man found out in late 60s early 70s cultural revolution that built resistance through the arts, and ultimately, by face to face conversation and sharing of stories that build personal connection over shared issues. = The key to busting up these wannabe dark enlightenment, new global nobility. They’ll retreat to the weird and dark fringes of society as they lose their economic control over us. How to create and sustain something better is the topic of extensive essays. This is long enough already as a comment but I think it is possible to build consensus that could launch recall elections of 47’s supine congresspeople. Having positive and productive replacements is a huge task but has to be achieved. Paradigm shifts need to occur or we’re long-term finished as even a flawed democracy.
Yes. PFAs and microplastics? What an awful and stupid experiment on all things living this is. Industry runs its tests on millions (billions?) of naive helpless humans. Then when the results are devastating enough, an agency or crusader steps in and says: "You are killing people. Stop." Sometimes it makes a difference. Sometimes not - and now???
Lead, asbestos, coal dust, radon, tobacco, Roundup. Paraquat, mercury - it's suffering and needless death on a scale that is dystopian and diabolical.
But yeah, Ronnie Raygun, the problem is the government. Unf**king unbelievable.
I wish I believed in prayer because I would spend my days chanting "paradigm shift, paradigm shift. please magic man, lead us to a paradigm shift, please..."
I'm going to have to Google "epigenetic".
What do you suggest we do something that is new.
Stanley, you’re in good company:). I had to check Merriam also. I’m learning new vocabulary at age 85!
Interesting take on things. But yeah, I view the "rise of AI" as problematic, if even for one reason: power. Nobody realizes the amount of electricity that it would cost if we would do "everything with AI"; we simply don't have that kind of power at our disposal.
They will use the latest nuclear power technology to power AI's data centers. And they will be government-financed.
Unsure who you think "they" is, but highly unlikely to involve nuclear power in the USA. It would take 15-20 years to plan, build and begin to use another nuclear power plant in this country, and government approval for nuclear facilities is problematical. Most data centers (both private [such as Amazon] and public) are in Virginia (the leader in hosting data centers), Texas and California. It takes longer to build electricity generation and transmission facilities than it does to build a data center and that generation more likely will come from natural gas and renewables, such as solar.
I agree with most of your points, but am a bit concerned with the trusting grass roots fools - when you look closer at the Nazi grass roots you find, there were in the majority trusting fools as well, like my grandfather - and when he finally opened his eyes to reality, it was too late.
Yes, the profound hatred of the "lower ranked", so to speak, Trump supporters is just breathtaking.
The power thing is a great point! There may be opportunities to turn things around in the most unexpected places.
We are not safe if people (MAGAs) celebrate and tolerate this type of power which is becoming stronger than the democratic state. That is the essence of fascism - ownership of government by a few.
IMHO it's not the "trusting grass roots," rather Trump donors and enablers that have to be educated. It seems although they have money to burn, they aren't aware how THEY personally may have to pay for the consequences.
The ability of people to adapt to the rate of change brought on by tech.advances and climate change is stressing our ability to accommodate each other. One group considers its route to survival is expulsion and the degradation
of people they consider as not willing to accept their doctrine . The opposition sees their survival only in acceptance of these challenges and the ability to respond and attempt to resolve them. I hope we end up on the side of reason and temperance and not hate and fear.
Good post, Craig. It's impossible to hide the effects of the tariffs from the low-information voter. I called my reps yesterday about the tariffs, and got a real person at Sen Tillis' office. He read a statement about Tillis and his leadership in getting the tariff control back to Congress, where it should be. I think business must be shouting at Congress behind closed doors.
I think this is the issue that the people and business can't deny. If Congress does something, that could be a beginning of cracks for the WH. I hope everyone calls their reps today. If you have never done so, it's easy to start on a weekend because you will get a recording. Give your name, where you live (so they know you are a constituent) and a brief message. It could be "I want you to do something about the tariffs." Citizen pressure had an effect on school shootings after Uvalde and also on planned SS phone service cuts. It is the most powerful tool that we the people have. Every rep has a staff that pays attention to these calls. They simply log the issue. We must flood the zone.
"They exist in a world that has been carefully crafted"
BINGO!! That is exactly what I see in my MAGAt cop cohort.
It’s true that some of the right leaning voters I know accuse me of being hyperbolic if I try to open their eyes to the atrocities. Or they are convinced that “good people” will suffer an even worse fate if they don’t allow a “tiny fraction” to be sent to an offshore detention facility.
I had a friend ask me the other day, "Why are leftists so tense and worried right now? You're all going too far, you need to calm down! Everything is going to work out!" It's an amazing information bubble people are in.
Smacks of “the good old days” when women with opinions were labeled “hysterical “ to keep them quiet. This from AI:
The act of labeling someone, particularly a woman, as "hysterical" to silence them or dismiss their emotions is often referred to as emotional suppression, dismissal of female emotions, or the hysterical female trope. It's a form of gendered bias that often goes hand-in-hand with misogyny and gaslighting,
Disillusioned, in denial, head in the sand, was given false hope by one these now ubiquitous psychics?
And their rationale for that is....??? They got any data, or just a gut feeling?
Trump wants to use coal to power new mega power plants.
Trump has friends/bribers who own coal plants.
This is absolutely true, but I tend not to worry about it that much. The US is still routinely shutting down coal fired power plants, or converting them to use natural gas. That trend isn't going to change, so the commodity market for coal is not going to reverse its downward trend. Mining more doesn't create a market for it.
Plus, habitat recovery, especially for fish, makes it incredibly difficult to build a significant amount of hydro, and the construction costs and time required to build dams are enormous. Wind, tidal, and solar will help a little bit, but the real answer is closed system small modular nuclear stuff like Bill Gates has been funding. That said, just because we can build out more energy production capacity does not mean that we should use it for AI ad targeting or blockchain applications. And, Microsoft is just as guilty on this front as the other tech companies.
Read "Careless People" by Sarah Wynn-Williams. A look at all the information and data manipulation occuring behind the scenes as Facebook grew during the last 15 years. These tech people are soulless.
DId you see her comments on Facebook at the hearing before the Senate committee? She outed Mark Z.. And what will this mean....more security around tech information companies?
Brilliant! Thank you.
You are so on the mark Craig: "The information bubbles that have been created by taking advantage of the human herding behavior are quite real.
... They exist in a different perception of the world that has been deliberately crafted." Count me as one who's been long observing this with a high degree of concern.
Man is a social animal. Sheep, penguins, lemmings are examples of herding behaviors. <The Fast Runner> is a good example of man as a social animal.
Yes my friend, that I've not had the pleasure of meeting...
Why is Trump and the GOP succeeding? Because the far right’s implicit message is “Anyone who disagrees with me is an idiot that should be ignored, and if they complain about being ignored, then they will regret it.”
Why is the far right’s implicit message successful? Because the far left’s implicit message is “Anyone who disagrees with me is an idiot that should be ignored, and if they complain about being ignored, then they will regret it.”
Why is there a far left and a far right? Because a far-left person brings a knife to a gun fight, and a far-right person brings a gun.
What is the root cause? The implicit “anyone who disagrees with me is an idiot that should be ignored, and if they complain about being ignored, then they will regret it” message.
How does one eliminate the root cause? Follow Taiichi Ohno’s implicit message, which is that when people draw conflicting conclusions and then openly share and challenge each other assumptions, the conflict gets resolved.
Need the positive, humane, intelligent, complicated-OK alternative, Craig (Dupler).
That is, reining in the algorithm savages, selling bills of crap goods -- it all needs first of all schools with far better standards than those the standardized testing assembly lines have left us.
There is no doubt that the powers that are manipulating our government, our economy, and the imminent destruction of our democracy will arrange the financing and construction of power plants to power the massive Data centers and continue the use of AI to take and keep power in the US and possibly other democracies around the world.
We are on the precipice now, and most people won't see our plight until it is far too late.
It won't be long now.
Attention is a commodity. An expensive one. And, yes, for sure the problem is that we need to teach in the digital age and how to think critically about social media and information.
I am extremely concerned about the wasteful consumption of our electricity by Bitcoin centers, data centers. There was one Rural Electric Co-operative in Oregon that told a crypto outfit that they refused to allow them to hook up and waste their electricity. But then Rural Electric Co-operatives were set up to severe the rural area and are NON PROFITS owned by the customers. Trump and Melania started their own Bitcoin companies just before Trump was sworn into office. What a piece of crap! And more electricity down the DRAIN.
Now we can see why the Prez thinks coal mining is a good idea.
Sabine, shouldn't be called GOP. The GOP died a while ago and now it's the MAGA Patty.
Ricardo, I call them the WTF: the White Totalitarian Faction.
I'd use a more vulgar word for the "F", which is the same as the original Urban Dictionary version of WTF.
Oh, Ally, trust me — the word is ‘faction’, but it rhymes with ‘duckery’. I can't even afford my swear jar anymore, and I'm the beneficiary. (And I sometimes call it the WTAF.)
No it is the fascist GOP and every right-winger is complicit with the diabolical fascist coup taking place now.
Yeah... I think it's only a matter of time before the Convicted Orange Felon orders the US Military to go and help his "BFF" Putin and attack Ukraine and Europe.
Yeah Mike. This is why I wrote a piece. I am one of about 240,000 Americans living in Germany. It has clearly been a possibility that Trump will join Russia in attacking Ukraine and Europe, since he got elected. About 800,000 Americans live in Europe altogether.
https://lindaweide.substack.com/p/germany-prepares-for-war-updated?r=f0qfn
I assume Trump wants to pass on his office to his children. A dynasty of criminals running the USA. He does not seem to like JDV. Looking at the chain of succession I am glad that Kristy Noam sadistic people and dog killer is last at 18th.
Hard to hit the "like" button on that one, too. But yes, Trump has been quite clear about it: he wants his children to 'inherit' the office of Emperor of the United States - he doesn't want new elections, unless these are "elections" Russia-style.
On Ruth Ben-Ghiat's Friday Zoom meeting with Representative Jake Auchencloss, a viewer asked what a JDV presidency would look like if something was to happen to Trump. He said he did not see Trump being out before his term was up and more likely to put his family in. Ben-Ghiat pointed out that Ivanka has been distancing herself from him, laying low, although her husband is not with his Gaza Resort plans. She thinks Trump would like her to take over. A dynasty of criminals.
Then I hope he chooses Tiffany to be the Prez.
I hadn't given any thought to the possibility of trump using our military to help Putin with Ukraine and Europe.
Before that happens, he will undoubtedly use the military to put down domestic pro-democracy activities and every individual they can single out as pro-democracy.
The most likely international outcome in my estimation is in the end China will rule over Asia, Russia will rule Europe and Trump's new US will rule the American continent including Greenland.
Whatever he chooses to do first, it will be important to be prepared. Of course, if he fills the intelligence community and military with nothing but loyalists, he will not have good intel, or good advice, not that he takes advice, and his own ideas are crazy. He is a madman, surrounded by madmen and madwomen.
Greenland would be first Dutch. It would be a low casualty experiment to se how Europe would react and take over the immensely rich on everything piece of real state.
Canada would have to help (at the very least give the US the right to use its airspace and waters), and I don’t see that happening, do you? Unless the US intends to treat Canada like Germany treated Belgium in 1914 and 1940, forgetting that Canada, unlike the US, has fought two world wars from start to finish and was never backwards in coming forwards.
I don't think Canada refusing permission to fly over Canadian air space while attacking Greenland will stop trumps military from doing as they please.
In fact, if Canada were to send up fighter jets to confront the US, trump would approve shooting down Canada's planes and then go on to take over both Greenland and Canada, as he has already said he wants to do.
Ricardo...I think it's going to be Panama. Apparently, they are already moving US soldiers there.
I think you're right on that one. Greenland would be a nice "test case" for Emperor Trump.
He's started his attack, Dutch.
With tariffs.
Yes. Every country got those tariffs smacked on them - except, of course [you fill in the blank]
Scary but, imaginable.
But it’s also the billionaire authors who wrote project 2025 who are deeply involved with this too. They are the backbone not the felon dictator
As well as the weirdos from Silicon Valley
The problem is the corporations lobbying and buying all those politicians, including those with lucrative ICE contracts.
I remember being scared that Pence would take over if trump was ousted, but that is nothing compared to how JD would scare me if....
I hope we'll have a 2026 election — a real one. Trump did tell an audience that they wouldn't have to vote again; that he'd fix it. "Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what? It'll be fixed; it'll be fine; you won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians."
— Trump, speaking at the Turning Point Action Believers Summit, July 26, 2024, West Palm Beach, Florida.
Yep, he surely didn’t hold back during his campaign, and nobody is really arguing hard that he didn’t win the last election.
Tells you actually a lot about the US population - seems they got what they wanted.
Although I blame the Democrats to a degree - their submissive compliance to the orders of AIPAC and Israel gave Trump the win.
I’m afraid the elections won’t actually happen or that they’ll be so rigged they will be useless.
I completely agree with you Phil on the role played by the dumbing down of schools - it's key to the shallow vapidness of much of America and their lack of curiosity and empathy.
Lauriemcf, You and Phil must have missed what’s been happening with social media, corporate media, Supreme Court, and oligarchs pouring of dark money into our elections. Standardized testing in our schools also does not explain away the effects of Fox and Newsmaxx. Nor does it explain effects of gerrymandering, voter suppression, and gross effects of advertising. You need more a sophisticated understanding of American voters and politics in the last 10-20 years. Wake up and educate yourselves in the social and political sciences. You are naive. Elementary schooling didn’t explain Hitler’s rampage and it certainly doesn’t explain Trump and Musk.
No, I haven't missed all of that -- and really, how kind and courteous of you to call me naive and unsophisticated when you do not know me. All of those things you mention OBVIOUSLY have an enormous effect -- I think we all recognize that, without question. But -- the dumbing down of schools and the absence of teaching critical thinking makes the MAGA crowd putty who will believe anything. And I do think it's at the root of all of those who will believe Fox and Newsmaxx. So, bless your heart and have a nice day.
Thank you! Not to mention an extremely likely possibility of 2024 election tampering in swing state district tabulation engineered to fall just under the radar —their ‘little secret’ — check out The Election truth Alliance on Bluesky or YouTube. Lots of data. It could happen anywhere.
And it was the right that foisted standardized testing on our schools. And now instead of teaching critical thinking, teachers are teaching to the test and rote learning.
Let’s not ignore the effects of COVID and the radical evangelical local action on school boards. States foisting crap like Praeger U propaganda on the kids!! Then you have the model of Florida where schools were required to pretty much pledge allegiance to Trump via a recorded propaganda video made by the dept of Ed in that state.
Agree, Phil.. Too many have lost the ability to think critically because teaching to the test as a national strategy was the first step to dumbing down.
Those of us who think critically know that the standardized testing argument in public schools is way off base. See the Bonnie Svarstad comment above. If you say something enough times, it does not make it true.
You're absolutely right, Phil. It's hard to hit the "like" button on that one...
Phil, pardon me for piggy-backing this late-to-game comment. It might. help in building the pro-Union coalition Adapted comment from Joyce Vance's column.
"Olivia Troye [Vice President Pence's National Security Advisor] is great. Various critics -- like you, Ma'am, Ms Troye, . . . [Ms Vance] . . . Dr Bandy Lee, Dr Timothy Snyder et al. -- need to close ranks to present a united much, much louder front. That front would be heard throughout the country. 💪⚖️ 🤝
"Hopefully that would break down Team Treason methodically through inter-disciplinary analyses and discussions. The loudness of the chorus would begin to break through the apathy of many resigned trumpers feeling pretty used right now." 🤞🛑✌🏽
We all need the piggy-backing on each other, Ned.
Thank you, Sir, for your gracious response; your magnanimity inspires me.
EVERYONE NEEDS TO PROTEST IN EVERY WAY HE/SHE/IT (and all the other designations this 90-year old hasn’t learned—begging pardon)CAN. If you can listen to MSNBC you can immediately understand why. This morning all the horrors are on full display. Please, Everyone who reads this, find a way to contribute if you don’t want to lose US forever!🇺🇸🇺🇦
Next step:
Olivia Troye, Joyce Vance, Bandy Lee, Timothy Snyder now "national security risks" and must be incarcerated somewhere.
Please see the critique by George Packer in the Atlantic about not obeying in advance (Snyder's On Tyranny). He wonders why Snyders and Stanley have left the US.
Perfectly understand why Timothy Snyder has left. Could, would Yale protect him?
They can hide at my house.
Ha! If you are in Canada, may I? 😉🤭🤫
Sadly, there is a logic to that these days.
Now for the sincere thanks to you for your insights. Though the circumstances differ with technology and events. it feels like we are at the 'Bleeding Kanas' inflection point of another civil war, at least civil disorder. As a sixty-eight year old bachelor with few possessions and fewer attachments. emotionally, I am girding me to fight. Since I am a card-carrying coward, the braver amongst us should be prepared, too. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7311612324933500928/ This essay describes the treason and my moral basis in responding to it. Each of us as 'virtuous' (i.e., living and breathing the 'spirit of the law or democracy', as per Montesquieu, has an obligation of looking within one's self in a moral examination of conscience on what (s)he will do. Not pleasant but necessary.
I agree. The earliest version of this idea that I have heard is Plato's report of a comment by Socrates that an unexamined life is not worth living. The word humility sums up this notion quite nicely. And, curiously, it is at the heart of the modern version of the scientific method (post Kuhn). Skepticism and an openness to revising or even discarding one's most dearly held beliefs can be a painful bridge to get across at first, but once one is on the other side, it is quite liberating.
I hope this movie ends with several dozen trumpists seeking asylum as exiles in El Salvador. I'm afraid we are soon to find out how riddled the US Marshall's, ICE, and the military are with wannabe gestapo agents. A public fissure in those organizations may be coming soon.
Chilling, but evidence continues to support. It is no longer a "theory."
Standardized testing is a clearly false equivalence to the lawless thuggish authoritarian tactics of this administration. If you don’t like a law or regulation work to change it by legal means. Trump/MAGA/DOGE are defying the law and violating the Constitution.
Thank you for your bravery. Sounds paranoid doesn’t it. I am a licensed psychologist by profession. In my 50 plus years in my field, I worked in crisis intervention, juvenile “ justice “,and public mental health. Whoever walked through my door and whatever problems presented I had to address. I went to people’s homes. And I learned to respect and even admire “crazy “ and paranoid. Our “ guardrails of courts, military, law enforcement and the press are evaporating. And we are now hoping that these petty, vindictive morons will destroy themselves.
I’m afraid it will and we may have a Tiananmen square incident.
Trump is not a "simpleton." He is establishing a dictatorship. He is gaining control over every facet of our government and our lives. He is threatening everyone from governors to giant law firms to our best universities. Any resistance is eliminated. Every bit of power in this country will be in his hands. This new mega database will be able to single out any person in the country. This is like a combination of "The Matrix" and "1984." Canada, Greenland, and Panama are needed to expand the defensive perimeter.
Since they have access to NSA's technology, even dropping all non-Trump ass kissing media and blogs would be useless, IMHO.
DEMs need to focus. For now, DEMs must keep SS system alive and good. "Hands-off-SS Administration" Let's use every effort to accomplish this. Win here will give so much peace to the eldterly citizesn.
Although a small movement, there are some silver haired ladies offering to bring in lunches to rural social security offices so they can work a bit longer and stay off the inevitable collapse of the SSA. One more month getting a check vs. rice and beans. For many this is huge.
I just sent this story to my state senator, urging her to help protect SSA.
This is such a heart warming and yet sad state of our country. Please share this with your congress persons. They keep asking for money but no concrete action.
"Still, it's simple. He’s a simpleton, the convicted criminal in the White House.
He also knows only to do damage: to insult, belittle, destroy alliances, break laws, bankrupt himself, obsess vengefulness, and rape & bully others." So, would you call an elephant in musth a simpleton?
I suspect Trump won’t use just the National Guard. He meant it when he told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.”
Welcome, fellow frogs. Those bubbles that are breaking the surface are not from people passing gas; the water is now boiling, and if you concentrate on only one aspect of the total destruction of the federal government and the rule of law, you may not be aware of all the ways the President, Oligarchs, right-wing Congresspeople are using every bit of data collected on you, your business, and your family members, now because of trump/musk, DOGE, and the right-wing Congresspeople, and
fascist Oligarchs, they now have the data collected by the IRS and Social Security to the data collected by your social media, e-mail, and shopping history.
Look around, the bubbles are coming ever more frequently.
I hope we can organize fast enough to save ourselves, we are our only hope.
They have your work history, your financial history, and your bank information, including your bank account numbers.
It looks like trump's tariff policy is all because he is at best, uninformed about the effect on the world's and the US economy.
At worst, it is part of a fascist plot to upend the world economy to facilitate the ultra-rich Oligarchs total control over the economys of economies of the " free " (democratic) world.
We are quickly running out of time to organize a massive citizen action "like nobody's ever seen before."
Even posting on substack comment threads can be dangerous.
Do you think Mark Andreeson (sp) would hesitate to share your data with trumps fascist government?
Jonathan Capehart on PBS last night said the tariffs and the fact that Trump announced "this is good time to buy" needs to be investigated. He also acknowledged that, that's probably not going to happen.
How much are the oligarchs making from the wild swings in the stock market? I learned a new phrase, disaster capitalization? I'm not an econ major but I take it to mean destroy the middle class and swoop in and buy their assets at bargain basement prices.
Collectively we have power. I agree with Mystic that we need to do a massive citizen's action. April 19th rally on a scale no one has ever seen before? Op-eds. Letters to the editors. Donations to the ACLU. I can check all of the above.
A Jewish friend keeps on harping about the cattle cars going off to concentration camps. When disembarking, the prisoners could have overwhelmed the guards. He said the first row, maybe the second row would be riddled with bullets and the rest could have escaped. Some would be captured but maybe some might escape. He said it would have been better than the gas chamber.
Heard that tripe from 2015, he’s just a businessman who has money so he can’t be bought. Well, duh. When he said he could murder someone and get away with it, the cult agreed. His sexual abuse of women was common knowledge, but he was just “one of the boys.” So sick of half the moronic people in this country. But even more sick of the repubs who signed on to cheating and divisive bullschittery long before chump appeared on the national scene. Congress and SC complicit and cheering him on. They have screwed the world worse than the Axis did and have lost what so many died to gain.
Yep, the GOP is the real issue. And to me ultimately capitalism that got more and more extreme - Trump and Musk are the perfect preverted symbols of late stage capitalism.
I call it end stage predatory capitalism - they want it all...they are mentally ill like hoarders.
In Trump's mind, the vast income discrepancy in this country neatly divides us into "winners" and "losers" -- those are the only two categories he sees.
And the “Losers” are expendable.
completely.
Aren't we always?
Don’t forget the suckers. You know, our military men and women. Suckers and losers.
Excellent point, lauriemcf!
He believes everything is a zero-sum game.
Exactly and he demands that we ALL see him as a winner. Hope he holds his breath because it will never happen, no matter the lies, propaganda and stolen power…
No surprise here, but just bought “The Venture Alchemists” about the way tech money bought power. Don’t expect many surprises, but I remember when I thought Bill Gates was the poster boy for tech morals. At least he had more empathy in a toe than the right-wing cretins have in total. I thought Peter Thiel was the outlier, turns out Bill was…
Yes, I think tech power undergirds all this. Tech journalist Kara Swisher says that no industry in our history has ever been so unregulated, meaning that they have so much money.
Will Rogers knew, in 1932, that money trickled up, not down.
Don’t forget Vance, the “good Nazi.”
"he’s just a businessman who has money so he CAN be bought. "
There, fixed it for you. It's the basis of his rule: if you give me money and kiss my ass long enough, I'll get you what you want (as long as it doesn't interfere with my wealth).
True Dutch Mike, but the moronic folks in my orbit figured that if he had his own money, he wouldn’t be desperate and subject to influence peddling. What fools we mortals be. And it was known by many how he got his money. Our media has failed on every level. Not just Fox. Truth telling is divisive, say our truth tellers.
It's probably because the understanding what "money" is, is very different for us great unwashed to the billionaires. For us it's wonderful lifestyle, not having to work etc, for them it's purely power.
Power is alluring for those who are empty. Public service is not about power. Be leery of one who is obsessed with power. We were warned.
JDinTX. So damn sick of the idiot acting on his impulses to destroy all that this country has worked to build and to care for All people.
As Sam Rayburn said, it only takes one jackass to knock down a barn, but it takes a community of carpenters to build one. And a jackass is sitting on our throne.
I've kept an eye on him since he bought the Eastern Shuttle (the closest thing ever in the airline industry to printing money) and turned it into a lawn dart.
April 20 is Hitler’s birthday. Why did Herr 47 pick that date for a report on militarizing our Southern border / martial law?
I think the same reason why he has a copy of "Mein Kampf".
But can he read? If he can, has he read it? Hi is so disgusting I want to puke daily.
He's one of the most sorry excuses for a human being I ever saw.
Dutch 🤬💩
Since I first read about the April 20 date, and his accompanying threats, I thought it curious ... it's Easter Sunday. So is that what the white Christian nationalists in the administration and those who support it (fiscally and by their design of Project 2025, as well as those who pay him homage) plan to do to celebrate the holy day?
They are hypocrites, and hypocrisy is the only sin that cannot be forgiven, as I read somewhere. I agree.
Doing the Proud Boys and the Three Percenters a solid.
Wow! Had forgotten that date! Good memory. Makes me think that I was right to think that the only book the Orange (Stupid) Menace has read is “Mein Kampf.” Too bad it wasn’t “Moscow 1937.”
John. 🤬💩
We are running into the hard wall of reality -- we have become a Nazi state. We are being led by an entire administration with limited capacity for empathy or charity or goodness. Their actions are soul-crushing. The pernicious effect of forcing citizens to prisons without due process is appalling and is being tacitly supported by the Supreme Court - which Norm Eisen has renamed the Roberts Court. ( If you are familiar with Thomas Eagan, who writes for the NY Times, he has written that Hispanics and Black men voted for Trump in large numbers because they didn't want to be governed by a woman. Our country is being highjacked by misogynists, who vote against their narrow selfish interests while leaving us with dysfunction and illusion.)
"Hispanics and Black men voted for Trump in large numbers because they didn't want to be governed by a woman. "
And many white women voted for Trump because they didn't want to be ruled by someone who is Black. Wonderful combination.
Absolutely spot on. As my bro said, when I said you didn’t vote for a women, and he said not a black one. Beyond embarrassing.
You’re all insane. That is completely untrue. Stop spreading lies.
How is this "completely untrue"? The majority of white women voted for Trump. See the article below: "Trump won support from 53 percent of white women". As far as I know, 53% is a majority - or do you have another definition?
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/interactive-how-key-groups-of-americans-voted-in-2024-according-to-ap-votecast
Well, as far as I'm concerned any percentage over 10 who votes for a personality as venal, violent, disturbed, vindictive, toxic, etc. as Trump is way too high....and I question their reasons.
Women did not vote for Kamala because she is black. They voted against her because she showed zero ability to communicate a coherent message about policy. She said on the view “nothing comes to mind” when asked about something she would change from Biden’s policies. No one in their right mind could vote for that, black, white or otherwise. Hispanic and black men voted for Trump’s policies- listen to the podcasts out there by the black and Hispanics who revealed the motives very clearly prior to the election. However Kamala identified- male or female. She made no case for being qualified to be the Commander in Chief .
Really, and Trump was more qualified? Although her statement on "The View" which I consider soft non-news was very poor, her qualifications were so much more than Trump's it wasn't even funny. Look at facts, not soft, fuzzy news programs.
Jenny K, what Trump policies appealed to those black and Hispanic men? What motives were revealed in the podcasts you listened too?
She was a partner for Joe, she and Joe tried to work for those who had been hurt the most. Damn, the 1% really need the rest of our treasury. Guess you watch Fox. Where else are people so misinformed (lied to).
Many women I know vote how their husbands do. Smart ones as well as the dumbarses
You live in a different world than i do. I’m so sorry for you
NOT lies!
It was all there when Reagan sat down with David Duke.
I urge everyone who hasn't to read Heather's book How the South Won the Civil War. It is not surprising that we are who we are, despite a few decent administrations. It has always been an Everest type battle to overcome the assault on our social and political system.
Stephanie, that was the first book of Professor Richardson's that I bought. I loaned it out, and now must go get another copy since it is so freaking relevant today.
I talk about and recommend this book endlessly since I first read it (soon after publishing). I agree that it explains exactly how we are where we are.
The Oscar for pretending to be president…
Err, the dufuss award for leading role in cheesiest reality teevee crime show…..
Said much better than I did…
Add GeStaPo to that list.
You're right; I fixed it.
Naked cruelty - check; misogyny - check; global economic destabilization - check; alienation of allies - check; plans for internment camps - check. The list could go on and on and on. Congress, the Supreme Court, Big Law and top Universities have all let us down. We are on our own together.
Yep, you are... Still unbelievable, that a democracy that was built up in 250 years, was destroyed in merely 25 days.
Saturday Update at 10 AM PDT courtesy of ALEX WITT on her mid-morning MSNBC show.
Alex showed footage from an unreliable source that would be Wreck himself on Air Force 1.
As to Garcia's return to the U.S.A., here are DJT's verbatim words:
"If the Supreme Court said to bring some one back ... I would do it."
The Government has until 5:00 PM Eastern to report to Juge Xinis that's about 2 hours from now.
******************************************************************************************
So during the light of day on 4/11 rather than in the dark 2:00 am there is ample evidence to support Dutch Mikes's conclusion:
Developments in Judge PAULA XINIS' court underscore more facts need to be uncovered in the on-going federal case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia vs. Kristi Noem.
Case No: 8:25-cv-00953-PX.
Read Justice SOTOMAYOR criticisms of the new obstacle for individual prisoners' habeas corpus applications. Justice Sotomayor calls out that new barriers are a life or likely death matter for other human beings.
Judge Xinis has excused the know-nothing U.S.G. witness, Drew Ensign. Late 4/11 Friday, Judge Xinis ordered daily government reports on Abrego Garcia release & has ordered a U.S.G. witness to appear in her courtroom.
CRYSTALIZING PICTURE: I share Professor Joyce Vance's conclusion stated on Ari Melbar's Friday 4/11 show that we now have reached the constitutional crisis that has been growing since noon January 20, 2025 the 1st day of Trump 2.0.
Also, consider MARCO RUBIO's statement that "we" will expel "legal residents" based on "expected beliefs and statements". In short, we can expel you based on what we "think you are about to think".
...or: "we can expel you based on everything we can make up as a good reason to get rid of you."
Like your Edit.
Chilling information, Counselor.
True. But, I picked up on Joyce's tone after Ari's first 20 minutes recitation of real world facts. And, I did not even mention the price of Eggs up 60% over last year. Some folks may not boil eggs for Easter. Not joking.
i.e. Doublethink!
Bless Rachel Maddow for making certain that we all pay attention to what we might think next week, month, year.
Dutch Mike:
Because the several seasons of "Handmaid's Tale" is entering its final season, I decided to watch. Starting with Season 1 (which I watched before the pandemic), I see how much detail I had forgotten, including the feel of seeing armed men on the streets, the great restraint in the main character June (now Offred) to save her life, the tension of constant threat, the inexplicable cruelty of the patriarchy and enablers. . .
It is not as if I don't know these things from Margaret Atwood's novel, but coming again to the sequence of events, how the Commander and his colleagues plan the subjugation of women and anyone who is considered feeble or malformed, f.ex., is to witness in art what is happening even now in our actual lives.
June's incredulity at the beginning when her credit card is refused and her money is gone and she is "let go" from her job as a book editor and not allowed any longer to read anything (lest the enforcers catch her and cut off one of her fingers) is to be watching the trajectory of current events. This is not hyperbole. You all know that. I'm glad for the collegiality that is formed when we can share our views of reality.
Yes! Yes! Yes! Exactly. Art predicts, envisions.
ICE has delegated its work to several private companies, chiefly GeoGroup and CoreCivic, who lobbied for strict immigration policies and can detain for months in poor conditions and without basic human rights.
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/06/private-prison-industry-shifts-focus-to-immigrant-detention-centers-funding-immigration-hawks/
https://theappeal.org/geo-group-earnings-mass-deportations/
https://investors.geogroup.com/news-releases/news-release-details/geo-group-awarded-15-year-contract-us-immigration-and-customs
Deportations and detentions delegated to private companies - a telltale sign you're living under a fascist regime: making profit off of the misery of minorities.
Sophie, I’ve begun to think of ICE & adjacent orgs as the new Brown Shirts…at least those who would not turn away from unconstitutional and cruel treatment of those living in the USA. I no longer recognize my country, or rather those currently controlling it. There WILL BE resistance!
I believe that cheeto is using El Salvador as a concentration camp, testing the water how Americans will respond and eventually weakening our resolve to his building concentration camps in the USA.
I read that they have already set aside billions of dollars to build detention centers ( they are concentration camps). Let’s not be fooled by the biggest idiot ever elected.
Accurate and Correct!
Until it happens to them people don't care. If they do care, they want someone else to fix it for them.
It's going to boil down to, if citizens are willing to fight, which will encompass all forms of the word fight!
I think it will have to come down to that, too...
And all of this scheiße with a mentally impaired President, a Vice President blinded by ambition, and an addled glad-handing -- with suspicious tattoos -- SecDef sitting on top of up to five thousand nuclear war-heads. 💔 Fascism never had it so good. 🤢 ¡Oy vey! 😱
Thank you for your courageous insight. I suspect that on April 20,2025 Trump will do what he has always wanted to do and what he told us he would do , weaponize our military to serve him and only him. And to my friends who put this pathetic creature and his enablers in the position to carry out his selfish petty and vindictive goals because you were afraid that the liberals will take away your guns, do you really think that once these pathetic morons no longer need your support they will permit you to have any weapon.
And when they try to take them, the Civil War starts.
True, the fascist cancer is invading virtually every aspect of government. The SAVE Act is designed to disenfranchise female voters. Democracy is lying in the coffin, not dead yet, but not looking good.
As I read Heather's letter, I thought, "The Trump regime has gone full Hitler."
Sending "undesirables" to an offshore prison where prisoners are tortured and die premature deaths is no different from sending Jews to domestic concentration camps. And we now know that such camps are actually scheduled for construction on U.S. soil.
Hitler and his Nazi party also objected to tattoos. except to identify their soldiers' blood type and catalog their prisoners.
In fact, the only feature I see missing from the Trump regime is gas chambers. But then, I'm not familiar with El Salvadoran prison facilities.
Yeah, the only thing missing in your list is the final solution. I do not believe for a minute that isn't on the table.
I’m living in a nightmare. As a naturalized citizen (16+ years, having lived here since 1981) I now wonder what could happen with my legal status, and my ability to file for social security.
I am so sorry you have to go through this.
My husband is also a naturalized citizen -- and also here since 1981. So far Social Security has been fine -- but I do fear what will happen. In this racist administration, the fact that my husband is British and white probably puts him in a relatively safer place than people from many other countries. It's clear the GOP wants America to be the land of white men.
But the immigration status could be leverage against any naturalized citizen to “shut up and not speak out or act out against the current regime. This goes also for your citizen-by-birth loved ones. Their political activity could imperil your life. It’s text-book East-German Stasi control-tactics. They have files to exploit on all of us, and a dearth of lawyers or judges or legislators with spines to fight back.
That thought has crossed my mind too. My husband is also a naturalized citizen, and I’m the child of a naturalized citizen. To top it off, I have a trans child. I’m afraid to call any attention to our family. My social media presence has shrunk to horses, dogs, and food, and I thought twice about posting this comment. In three short months (or maybe they lasted an eternity) we arrived here.
Yes and that includes the toady Congressional members who roll over without even asking "how far".
Yes -- frightening!
Family and friends reporting on each other as in East Germany. They saved many of tapes to let people see who ratted on who, but it seems most found it too upsetting and would rather not know.
Our current regime seems to want to destroy all records of their crimes and other data they might want to misuse (maybe just keeping it for themselves.
It reminds me that Sam Adams wanted no such personal communications or much else that could be used against him during and after our revolution.
I don't trust those who want all our information but deny us all of theirs (plus all the science and other data already collected or that should be collected and shared.
Don’t be so complacent. ICE has no compunction in detaining and deporting white Anglo-Saxons.
I don't feel complacent - I am just stating that white people tend to get a better shot than brown people under this administration -- it's definitely not a get out of jail free card though.
I dont know. Look at Krebs and Taylor.
I know that as a 75 year-old white woman whose family has long been in the US, I am privileged. I probably wouldn't be hassled by ICE or ordinary cops just for making a wrong turn in Detroit and ending up in Windsor.
BUT - my nephew's immigrant wife isn't privileged (she doesn't step out of the house without all her papers), my niece's trans spouse isn't privileged (they are both terrified). My friends with racially mixed families are scared, I know business owners who employ green card holders who are worried about the safety of their workers if they should travel out of our (supposedly) safe area.
No, I don't think I'd be picked up just for my skin color, tattoos, or accent.
And those of us who aren't obvious targets need to stand up for those who are targets, and for those who feel like they have to stay silent to keep their families safe.
Because if we don't stand up NOW, then when ICE (and probably soon the FBI) run out of easy targets, they'll find reasons to pick us up, too. Remember that trump cartoon you shared on facebook? Remember that comment you made about Musk on some substack? (will being a subscriber to Heather, Joyce, Robert, The Guardian etc be seen as 'disloyal'). Do you support your local NPR station? Did you contribute to the GoFundMe for that library in Vermont/Quebec? Were you on the street corner with a sign on April 5th?(I missed this one, I was still recovering from a bad bout of vertigo the day before, but I'll be at the next one) Were you at a Peace Rally in 1970?
All that and more could get you in trouble no matter how white, Anglo-Saxon, 'had ancestors who fought in the Revolution' you are.
Now is not the time to let someone younger, more politically savvy, more important in the community to do the job of holding the government accountable.
Now is the time for all of us who can, to do all we can.
Well said.
There’s been a steady stream of them, non-criminals. Perhaps you don’t hear about them in the US but in Europe, Canada and Australia, it’s big news.
Here is one:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/canadian-detained-us-immigration-jasmine-mooney
Thank you for the link. I'd read the story before when it first appeared in The Guardian. It's even more impactful on a second reading. I think I need to read it at least once a week as a reminder that what the US is going through is not some bad episode of Game of Thrones or even a WWII movie. This is real, this is now.
And obedient women
Yeah, that's probably where I'm gonna get nailed.
I am worried about naturalized citizens being deported, too. Where does it end?? How about taking the citizenship of Melania Trump away? She is technically an illegal alien as she violated her Visitor's Visa rules. Visitor Visas do not allow one to work. She did as a model. But money talks. I will pray for all Naturalized Citizens except for Elon Musk. I assume Elon is a naturalized citizen or not? He can be deported for all I care.
I am honestly shocked that Rep. Ilhan Omar's legal status hasn't been attacked yet.
As a US citizen living overseas, I will only enter the US if my sister’s health deteriorates. I would fly into Canada. I would have to leave my phone behind. This is reminding me of the Stasi.
Same here Betsy. I wouldn’t dare and I would advise any European travelers with summer plans to cancel. This Regime has gone from a slouch to a kamikaze light speed assault towards Bethlehem. The center is impossible to see through this chaotic cruelty and corruption.
I have friends who are from another European country; both women and married to each other. One has dual citizenship. The one with only her country of origin citizenship will no longer come to the US to visit.
She will not be alone in staying away, the “snowbirds” from Canada are staying home in the thousands, the numbers of Europeans who decide to vacation or get their education elsewhere is going to be significant, the airlines, hotels and restaurants that used to benefit from them no longer will. 🤷♂️💥
Ally House.. I don’t think the pre deprivation denial of due process distinguishes between the rights of a dual citizen verses the rights of someone who has no citizenship rights or, for that matter, someone who has been singularly a US citizen. As for tourists and visa holders, Rubber Rubio has made it clear that if you don’t toe the line un your heart and mind in issues like the attacks on Palestine, you can be detained not just refused entry. If they can seize you based on the misgotten and, often, mistaken data correlations that we have already seen play out, any one who has the wrong body art, the wrong gender id in an identification, the wrong post on their social media account….fair game to meet the quota for the day or satiate the power trip of the empowered agent in charge.
So frightening. My son is flying to LA soon for business; I am worried
That poem has been on a doom loop in my mind for months. It’s my favorite poem, and now it scares the heck out of me.
Yeah, with my social media history I probably would have no chance getting into the US - not that I ever, ever wanted to - and by now probably not into Germany either.
Quick, how the fascists took over. They may not be as thick as we think, and considering their end goal seems to be the destruction of US society, they are doing a pretty good job in that direction.
As we tend to learn neither from history nor from the experiences witnessed in front of our eyes, the US may possibly just be leading the way. We're usually about 5 years behind here in Aus.
I so hope that the remainder of the West - Canada, Australia/NZ and Europe - can regroup sans US and built its own, not to be underestimated power. With friendly relations with the BRICS and in the future a hopefully reformed US.
A girl can dream.
From sitting in the midst of it, I have trouble dreaming.
I can imagine - it is very scary and in a way I'm glad many people don't really understand how scary it is, else everybody would just panic. In a way that would be good if they understood, on the other hand it's important to build up a good, strong resistance calmly.
People are too calm where I am, are ostriches unstressed.
I imagine it’s more nightmare than dreams.
Indeed it is
You can dream Sabine but not for too long.
I moved to the UK forty years ago and last visited two years ago. I will never go back now for so many reasons
Our democracy, our rule of law is going down the tube. Trump and Musk are evil, but the Republican controlled House and Senate are as responsible, it is their job to stop the destruction. Be afraid.
Add SCOTUS to that responsibility agenda. With out Congressional support to STOP the takeover, SCOTUS and the profiteers are shredding the federeal programs and balance of power. Change is inevitable, destruction is unnecessary
The right-wing Justices on the Supreme Court installed by the Federalist Society that is controlled by Opus Die radical Catholic white Christian nationalist, funded by ultra-rich Oligarchs are responsible for opening up political donations to unlimited unregulated Oligarch purchase of politicians and the government of the United States. We are experiencing the results of decades of right-wing anti-democracy plotting. This has been happening long before trump entered politics.
Itvwas not happening ar this speed and intensity but it was happening. It took them 40 years of planning and try and error and now, consumables experts are implementing every aspect of Proyect 2025, the onevtrump didn't know anything about, remember?
People elected the Republicans in the House and Senate.
Very poor decision making, but they were elected.
But the Democrats are helping! Why are they not holding the line?
It's difficult to hold the line when you don't have the votes in the House or the Senate nor in the White House. Apparently there are few Republicans who are willing to stop the president.
“ The Senate confirmed Retired Air Force Lieutenant General John Dan Caine, who goes by the nickname “Razin,” for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by a vote of 60–25. U.S.”
It wasn’t just Repubs that accepted this appointment.
I believe that Democrats try to be supportive when they can, as not to be seen as a party that just votes NO under any circumstances. John Caine may not have been the best choice, but he may be better than many others. We shall see. Of course, if he is better, he may not be around very long. Sad time in America.
He was unqualified for the position. In normal times he never would have been nominated or confirmed. I see this as the Democrats caving and for what?
I don't disagree with you.
He was UNQUALIFIED according to pre-determined criteria (as written in HCR’s post.) Dems could have at least made a stand.
Rene, the Democrats in the Senate that represent Colorado have really shocked me after checking how they voted on the confirmation of Cain for Joint Chief of Staff. Bennett didn't vote, I will find out why. Hickenlooper voted yes to confirm. I believe Hick is a closet Republican because he came from the oil and gas industry. I never cared for him as a governor and have totally dismissed him as my Senator.
I checked my Senator's votes on JCS. Merkley voted NO, Wyden didn't vote. I'm asking him why.
Could it be that the Democrats insist on following the rule of law? How naive.
Regarding Arbrego Garcia.
In 1995 the US agreed an extradition pact with El Salvador.
If Garcia had committed murder in the US and fled to El Salvador, and then been detained by the El Salvador authorities, the US government would have NO problem getting him returned.
Seems it doesn't pay to be innocent in the US today.
At this point, I am hoping Abrego Garcia does return of course. But I hope also he will be alive and functioning.
There is so much at risk. His family needs him. All of us need him.
"ALL OF US NEED HIM"
Yes.
We need him so that trump and his thugs learn that they can't just "disappear" people.
It would be nice to think they can learn something. So fat life doesn’t appear to have gifted them in that area.
It’s called ‘KIDNAPPING’… plain and simple. 90% of those sent to El Salvador had no criminal records. It could happen to anyone of us. We now live in an oligarchy.
Well said, Bill. The nation needs him.
Yes his family needs him and we need him. And there are those in our govt that definitely don’t need him and will do anything to make that a reality.
Thank you! I was wondering that - it can't be too hard to prove that they very well would be able to get the man back.
Amazing, isn't it, while all governments call to kiss Trump's backside to have tariffs lowered, you would have thought he has a bit of power over the El Salvadorian government.
I'd suggest it's not about his lack of power; rather about his will to do harm.
I admit I know very little about El Salvador. I now know "next to nothing" after reading the Wikipedia entry. I hesitate to write what I'm thinking about El Salvador for obvious reasons after reading Heather's letter today.
Here is an excerpt-
"As of February 2025, El Salvador had the highest prisoner rate worldwide, with over 1,600 prisoners per 100,000 of the national population.
El Salvador’s Cecot mega-prison, officially called the Center for Terrorism Confinement, is considered the largest prison in the Americas with a capacity of 40,000 inmates. The incarcerations have been part of president Bukele’s efforts to reduce high crime rates and gang violence.In March 2025, the United States transferred more than 200 immigrants, alleged members of a Venezuelan gang, to be imprisoned in El Salvador.
Armed Forces of El Salvador
The Armed Forces of El Salvador have three branches: the Salvadoran Army, the Salvadoran Air Force and the Navy of El Salvador. There are around 25,000 personnel in the armed forces in total.
Human rights in El Salvador
Amnesty International has drawn attention to several arrests of police officers for unlawful police killings. Other issues to gain Amnesty International's attention include missing children, failure of law enforcement to properly investigate and prosecute crimes against women, and rendering organized labour illegal.
Abortion is banned, with no exceptions for rape, incest, or threat to the mother's life; as a result, 180 women have been imprisoned in the last two decades, some for up to 30 years. Discrimination against LGBT people in El Salvador is very widespread. According to 2013 survey by Pew Research, 53% of Salvadorans believe that homosexuality should not be accepted by society. Although homosexuality itself is legal, gay marriage is legally not recognized, as proposals were rejected twice in 2006, and once again in 2009.
More and more it seems that the Trump camp is obsessed with all immigrants and determined to get rid of them by any means possible legal or not. They don't care about their rights or due process or previous promises made to these usually desperate people; they don't see them as human beings - only as nasty bugs who have "invaded" our lovely white-dominated "great" country. I am sickened.
How horrid to think of the US being occupied by clones of old white men and clones of the muskrats, and nothing else. Loved our “melting pot,” imperfect as it was. So wonder how long it will take Native Americans to boot the rest of us interlopers out. Kidding of course. They will not be “white” enough to deserve a place in their own country. Evil has the upper hand today. Wish I could see a smackdown coming.
The clones of "...old white men.." have a surprise coming, there's no such thing as a pure, white race.
https://www.mic.com/articles/106856/geneticists-have-found-something-surprising-about-the-dna-of-white-people
I have called us mutts ever since I spent time doing genealogy research. No such thing as a pure white race. So true. But anybody not in a coma would be aware that there are smart and dumb in any group. For myriad reasons. Race/skin are stupid reasons to slap a label on. Thanks for your comment.
Understanding that would require them to accept science - another enemy of the fascist state.
Science has no final answers for anything. Religion has the only answers to everything. A quote from a kid said that it’s better to figure things out than to make things up. Don’t remember where I saw it but best quote ever.
Paul Krugman had an interview today that pointed out the importance of immigrants to our economy and how the deportation of so many will add another sign leading to a recession.
Yes. I can’t wait until there isn’t anyone willing to pick their food. I am lucky enough to live in a rural area with people around who grow food and raise animals that I can’t do myself.
I don't think they care about anybody, whether they are citizens or not.
Pro-democracy citizens are next in line to be persecuted and disappeared.
Thank you, Professor Richardson.
As I consider the stream of news coupled with your valuable "Letters" it seems clear that through the chaos and control of the news cycle, the criminal-elect has been shifting loyalists into key military positions to carry out any directives from Trump, Hegseth, or Noem.
There is already plenty of deep concern about this criminal enterprise simply taking more power and control, I won't speculate as to the United States we will awaken to on April 21st.
It seems clear to me that, although we were adequately warned about enemies foreign and domestic, our system of justice was never sufficiently insulated from concentrated wealth coupled with an authoritarian intent to subvert the system and effectively use it to destroy itself.
While continuing protests are important, I fear the only non-violent recourse we may have is through a prolonged general strike until a new, temporary government is formed, the current regime is removed and a special investigator and court is established to investigate, indict, convict, imprison, and performs asset seizures of all who have participated in this sustained attack on United States, including those who conspired with this administration, interfered with and obstructed justice and investigations, those who have acted as accessories after the fact, and those who provided significant financial or in-kind support for this sustained attack.
Our current system is completely ineffective in holding power to account (by design). Half-measures (such as the impeachment of the criminal-elect, or the invocation of the 25th Amendment is insufficient as it will leave an entire array of criminal bad actors in place in the Executive Branch, the Supreme Court, Congress, and State/Local governments.
"Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signed the agreement with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem." I wonder if any of these people ever read "Catch 22".
Good point Anne-Louise. In this case, I think Yossarian was right. They are shooting at all of us.
Ergo...
" a prolonged general strike". The key word here is prolonged. This will take solidarity, willingness to bear the cost. and it will be high, organization and a high degree of discontent. So then Strive for Solidarity. Do not be satisfied with too little and agitate toward intelligent discontent. Willingly bear the the cost. Am I, in this moment ready for this? Now that is the question I must ask myself. I must answer Yes.
Thank you Gregg. I think it is important that in the formation of a temporary new government, people that suffered the loss of income and employment are compensated as a priority, especially from a pool of seized funds from the criminal regime and their major donors.
I do not speak of monetary cost only, if at all. " I would rather a thousand times be a free soul in jail than to be a sycophant and coward in the streets. Eugene V. Debs Convict No. 9653
Or we could just re-do the Civil War and let the south secede this time and let the rest of us have our democracy back.
So true, but we can still go the games, the malls, and church. Well, some of us can. Most of us have our comfort zones. As someone put, nice, compliant neighbors were the best friends of Nazi evil.
Insulated by privilege and/or self-delusion.
Both, chump is very aware of his effect on others, like a good mob boss.
Or just disengaged, happily drifting through life with no clue of the danger their ignorance has made possible.
I don't think the GOP administration will allow that. I can't see a way that this will be solved without violence.
Thank you Sabine. One can argue that in the denial of due process and state-sponsored kidnapping/deportation it is already violent. Still I would like a prolonged economic action. The GOP supply lines flow from Musk, Thiel, Adelson, and others. I’d like to cut the supply.
Understand that violence is what they are hoping for. If sane US patriots don't take the bait, the plan is for some MAGA plants to start it. Take out a supreme, a senator, or a cabinet member (all disposable). Once the finger can be pointed in the direction of enemies within, it will be easy to declare martial law, with the next logical step being the cancellation of elections.
While I believe the only hope is to avoid any and all violence so we can get to the 2026 elections, if we get close to November 2026 and the polling shows a complete trouncing of the MAGA party, the plants will be employed so that the elections can be cancelled.
Maybe Lovely Laura Loomer has her own plan for just that... It's quite a snake pit.
TY George, quite well stated.
As David Brooks (PBS) reiterated last night ,on the NewsHour( the Capone Years structure is well in place ) “we have a mob boss and henchmen styled government”…I did paraphrase that.
Capone was viewed by his associates as a powerful and feared leader. The text describes how he had a network of loyal followers who were willing to carry out his orders and protect him from rivals or enemies.(Wiki)
Frankly the incessant disinformation , chatter, and repetitive lies have so chaotically become a reality , where we stand few can speculate an outcome . That makes it hard for any business to plan ahead.
Protest would have to be tripled in numbers and frequency to be affective.
Boycotting.
Self sufficient community co-operatives must barter, trade, be creative.
Staying low keyed/visibility best class actions.
I don’t feel this current chaos is sustainable ,in fact, likely its own demise. However, will render tremendous damage to world order, let alone America’s leadership ability…making us all very vulnerable. Nearly everyone who has participated or been set in place for this HAS.TO.GO.
Accountability for such disruptive design and implementation has got to happen.
Thank you Patricia I remember thinking during his first crime wave that Trump/Kushner were a disorganized crime family.
LOL…that’s artistic George ,quite funny actually, “disorganized crime family..” being left with a humorous sum up rather marks my day …better.🫶
It’s a cold spring day , a bluster in the midst of the cluster-muck 😂
Dare I say “Yours in service”?
🤓
😂Patricia Davis is marked “better today” thanks to George A.Polisner …🙌😂
There is shared blame. The former political party known as the GOP now acting as a criminal enterprise had multiple opportunities to hold Trump to account in his earlier crime wave. And our subverted justice system, from the incompetence and betrayal of justice by Aileen Cannon to the very bent so-called “Supreme” Court where Thomas and Alito gleefully provide top cover for a tyrant and his regime. Then the wealthy donors who want permanent tax cuts and are anti-democracy to the willfully ignorant who believe Trump loves them and will make them all wealthy.
This administration is more and more lawless every day. Until I wrote that, I wouldn't have thought that "lawless" could be a comparative, but it's clear now that our laws are being broken and disregarded at an increasingly alarming rate.
Yesterday, in a piece about Rumeysa Ozturk, I wrote the following in response to some of the other more appalling comments:
It's lucky for me that I wasn't there when a group of masked men in black, no other identification, attacked a woman walking alone on the street at night. If I'd been there, I'd have told them in my strictest teacher voice to take their hands off her. And I would have been hustled into the van alongside Ms. Ozturk. But I guess that many of those who commented here are fine with the way she was abducted. Kidnapping is against the law, and that's what we all saw happening. Depriving someone of medication necessary for her health may not be against the law--I'm not a legal scholar, so I don't know--but I do know that it's inhumane, and that people with asthma can die without their medication. So please, think before you "celebrate" Ms. Ozturk's arrest and her treatment in prison.
Such repressive tactics should never be made legal and are not fine with me.
I was horrified when I saw that young women’s arrest. The image of her being surrounded by 6 agents was terrifying! I would have screamed at them too. I would probably be hauled away somewhere. Why could anyone think her treatment was justified?
Betsy, I've thought about this situation. I'm a retired cop; if I had seen that, I would NOT have assumed the people taking Ms. Ozturk were in any way official, and would have responded in a manner consistent with that observation.
If Trump ordered your Sheriff to detain people illegally and he gave the order to everyone under his command, would all of the deputies obeyed?
Since Trump is replacing many of the officers in the military with his sycophants would they order something illegal to be done to American citizens, naturalized citizens, birthright citizens, judges, Congressmen, Senators, etc.?
Not all of us. I have worked for a Sheriff I know would have complied, 4 that I’m unsure of, and 2 that would not.
Interesting
At least, so far, they appear to be sending ALL of the detainees to El Salvador a country that could easily be overthrown by any NATO ally. Once they find several other countries to "dump" deportees in, things will get more difficult.
Thanks for offering this well documented summary of our country’s leadership’s ongoing abandonment of core constitutional values. Don’t know how else to say it. I guess we still just go shopping for groceries and go to junior’s athletic event but at some point it’s going to be more real to all of us.
It is so scary and Congress still has its collective head in the sand
Yes. We continue to document and list the atrocities each day and tell each other how wrong they are but I hear few calls for any specific action to stop the horrors.
Carney’s Checkmate: How Canada's Quiet Bond Play Forced Trump to Drop Tariffs
April 10, 2025
Let’s talk about the moment Donald Trump blinked. It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t a tweetstorm or a rally rant. When the tariff threats that had the world on edge—125% on China, 25% on Canada’s autos, a global trade war in the making—suddenly softened. A “pause,” he called it. A complete turnaround from the chest-thumping of the past week. And the reason? Mark Carney and a slow, deliberate financial maneuver that most people didn’t even notice: the coordinated Treasury bond slow bleed.
This wasn’t about bravado. It was about leverage. Cold, calculated, and devastatingly effective.
Trump’s pause wasn’t because people were getting yippy…
Rewind a bit. While Trump was gearing up his trade war machine, Carney, Canada’s Prime Minister, wasn’t just sitting in Ottawa twiddling his thumbs. He’d been quietly increasing Canada’s holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds—over $350 billion worth by early 2025, part of the $8.53 trillion foreign countries hold in U.S. debt. On the surface, it looked like a safe play, a hedge against economic chaos. But it wasn’t just defense. It was a loaded gun.
Carney didn’t stop there. He took his case to Europe. Not for photo ops, but for closed-door meetings with the EU’s heavy hitters—Germany, France, the Netherlands. Japan was in the room too, listening closely. The pitch was simple: if Trump went too far with tariffs, Canada wouldn’t just retaliate with duties on American cars or steel. It would start offloading those Treasury bonds. Not a fire sale—nothing so crude. A slow, steady bleed. A signal to the markets that the U.S. dollar’s perch wasn’t so secure.
Here’s a brief explainer about Treasury Bonds and why Carney encouraged other countries to follow Canada’s lead, and why it worked:
How Treasury Bonds Work and Why a Global Sell-Off Could Tank the U.S.
• What Are Treasury Bonds?
o They’re IOUs the U.S. government issues to borrow money.
o Countries, banks, and investors buy them, lending cash to the U.S.
o The U.S. promises to pay back the loan with interest over time (e.g., 10 years).
• Who Owns Them?
o Foreign countries hold $8.5 trillion of U.S. debt (as of 2025).
o Big players: Japan ($1 trillion+), Canada ($350 billion), EU nations ($1.5 trillion combined).
o They buy bonds to park money safely and earn steady interest.
• How Do They Affect the U.S.?
o The U.S. uses this borrowed cash to fund everything—military, Social Security, tax cuts.
o Cheap borrowing keeps the economy humming; the government spends more than it collects in taxes.
• What Happens in a Coordinated Sell-Off?
o If countries like Canada, Japan, and the EU start selling bonds together (even slowly):
Flood of Bonds: Too many bonds hit the market at once.
Prices Drop: More supply than demand pushes bond prices down.
Interest Rates Spike: When bond prices fall, yields (interest rates) rise to attract buyers.
• Why Does This Hurt the U.S.?
o Borrowing Gets Expensive: Higher interest rates mean the U.S. pays more to borrow.
o Debt Snowballs: The U.S. owes $34 trillion already; pricier loans make it harder to manage.
o Dollar Weakens: Selling bonds means dumping dollars, so the currency’s value drops.
• How Does This Cause a Depression?
o Spending Dries Up: Government cuts back as borrowing costs soar—fewer jobs, less aid.
o Businesses Tank: Higher rates choke loans; companies can’t expand or hire.
o Imports Cost More: A weaker dollar makes foreign goods (oil, tech) pricier, jacking up inflation.
o Markets Crash: Panic hits stocks and banks as confidence in U.S. debt fades.
• The Domino Effect:
o Jobs vanish, prices spike, savings erode—classic depression triggers.
o A slow, coordinated sell-off isn’t a bluff; it’s a quiet gut punch that would take the US YEARS to recover from.
And here’s the kicker: Canada wasn’t alone. Japan, holding over $1 trillion in U.S. debt, signed on and started to sell those US Treasury bonds which scared Trump shitless. Key EU countries—collectively sitting on another $1.5 trillion—nodded in agreement. This wasn’t a bluff. It was a silent pact. A coordinated move to remind Trump that the free world doesn’t just roll over when he swings his tariff bat. Hurt us, Carney said, and we’ll hurt you—right where it counts.
The U.S. Treasury market is the backbone of the global economy. Foreign holders like Canada, Japan, and the EU keep it humming, financing everything from America’s military to its tax cuts. Start selling those bonds in unison, even gradually, and the yields spike. The dollar wobbles. Borrowing costs climb. Suddenly, Trump’s “beautiful” bond market—he bragged about it just yesterday—looks like a house of cards in a stiff breeze.
That’s the message Carney delivered in his call with Trump last week. No leaks on the exact words, but the outcome speaks volumes. Trump didn’t just pause the tariffs; he backpedaled hard. China’s still in the crosshairs—125% duties are no joke—but Canada? The EU? Japan? They’re off the hit list. For now, at least. Why? Because Carney’s play wasn’t noise. It was power.
Let’s be real: Trump’s spent years calling Canada a freeloader—remember his 2019 NATO jabs?—while ignoring the inconvenient truth. Canada’s $350 billion in U.S. debt isn’t charity. It’s a lifeline. Japan’s trillion-plus? Same deal. The EU’s pile? Ditto. These countries aren’t just buying bonds to be nice; they’re bankrolling the U.S. government. And when they threaten to pull the plug, even slowly, Washington listens.
This was the determining factor in Trump’s surrender. Not the public spats, not the retaliatory tariffs Canada slapped on U.S. autos (though those stung). It was the quiet, coordinated threat of a Treasury bond unwind that bent Trump’s knee. Carney didn’t need to shout. He didn’t need to posture. He lined up the free world—Japan, the EU, Canada in lockstep—and showed Trump the cliff’s edge. Strategic brilliance doesn’t get louder than that.
Carney also issued Canadian Treasury bonds in USD which was another brilliant way to strengthen Canada’s position and financial reputation. Little triggers and strategies you get when the world’s most respected economist is your PM…
When Trump announced his tariff “pause,” it wasn’t a victory lap. It was a concession. Carney moved markets without firing a shot. He gave Canada a seat at the power table and proved that global respect isn’t won with bluster—it’s earned with moves that hit where it hurts. Trump talks tough. Carney plays chess. And right now, the board’s his.
Want the raw data? Check the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s “Major Foreign Holders of Treasury Securities” report. Look at Canada’s holdings. Japan’s. The EU’s. Then ask yourself: who’s really holding “the cards.”
OH, and will Canada’s tariffs and countermeasures remain in place until after the election on April 28th? Yup.
Carney made sure to tell the world that despite Trump kissing our northern ring, we’re not negotiating shit until after the election. He also said we’re still moving away from our relationship with the US for greener, saner pastures.
That’s my PM.
Dean Blundell, Substack
I thought of the bond problem. I thought China also holds U.S. bonds. Thanks, Dean.
In light of how our info is being collected and used, I'm concerned that in order to vote in the primaries in our state, we must register with a political party. The county keeps the records for many years, and you can inexpensively buy a copy of the lists of everyone who voted in past primaries, including how they voted, which includes their addresses at the time. I know because I have purchased them to target neighborhoods to help candidates. They are on a CD. I tossed mine because they were outdated.
Do we have to have a court order to have them erased? The Trump regime wouldn't like my voting record. Should we hide our books?
Bertha - Thank you so much for explaining that we have friends who know how to fight back! We need all the help we can get. It may be that international pressure may have more effect than anything we can do from here.
The tariffs, and the uncertainty about what Trump will do, are a vulnerability for the WH. I hope everyone calls their reps, floods the zone, about the tariffs. Their effects are something that no voter can hide in the sand about. Inflation got Trump the presidency. He did not win by much.
And China holds a vast amount of US treasuries.
Thank you so much for explaining how the bond market works! Very enlightening information! Now it all makes sense. You are very wise and I appreciate your knowledge. I am a curious person and I needed someone to explain to me exactly how bonds work. Thank you again. I just subscribed to you.
Wow, best news I've read in forever!! Thank you for sharing this brilliant checkmate.
Bertha, I went to Dean's substack, but can't seem to find where he wrote this, can you direct me?? Thank you.
"... a database that enables officials to search for people by filtering for “hundreds of different, highly specific categories,” including scars or tattoos, bankruptcy filings ..."
Hmmm. If deporting people based on bankruptcy filings is possible now, I can think of an excellent place to start.
Sick at heart and mad in my mind.
“Sick at heart & mad in my mind.” I am getting shock treatment for the mad part, and was able to march in the April 5 protest. Then I blew my back out and now I’m only able to walk with a walker and I’m only 73. Fist in the air, having a pity party! This is what my father fought against in WWII.
Well it sounds like the United States of America has been occupied by domestic terrorist(s)......plain and simple
Judge Xinis has demanded daily updates from government lawyers about the efforts to 'facilitate' the return of Abrego Garcia. She wanted them even if there was nothing to report - perhaps a sign of her exasperation at how badly she has been let down by the six conservative judges on the Supreme Court who have left her without the means to end this shameful slow-walking by the administration of its compliance with her order. She has complained that “the Supreme Court has spoken quite clearly and yet I can’t get an answer,” and added that “we’re not going to slow walk this, We’re not relitigating what the Supreme Court already put to bed.” The trouble is that the Supreme Court did no such thing and justice Sotomayor's comments outline very clearly her dissatisfaction with the judgement.
I feel that the administration's attitude toward Xinis is "yeah, so make me. Whaddaya gonna do about it if we don't comply, huh?" What can she do about it? And just to add some seasoning - the Judge is a woman, which immediately makes her 'less than' in their eyes.
With puffed-up chests and evil in their eyes, they dare her to do anything. They know they have full support from the DOJ, FBI, the military, Congress, and Trump. Our rule of law is crumbling as each day goes by. The horror will continue until they have complete control of all aspects of our lives. There will be no one coming to help us.
Agree - it's frightening.
Government lawyers are managing this by dissembling and prevarication, not by outright lies as we've seen in other cases. In fact, the only government lawyer who has been truthful before judge Xinis, Erez Reuveni, was supended by an angry Pam Bondi. Her reasons for the suspension: "...I firmly said on Day 1, I issued a memo that you are to vigorously advocate on behalf of the United States. Our client in this matter was Homeland Security — is Homeland Security. He did not argue. He shouldn’t have taken the case. He shouldn’t have argued it, if that’s what he was going to do. He’s on administrative leave now." Of course, by advocate for the United States she means advocate for Donald Trump. The same lawyer had only recently been promoted to acting deputy director of the Office of Immigration Litigation. His offence - merely admitting that the DHS had made a mistake and that he didn't know why Garcia had been sent to the prison in El Salvador. Even that dope Leavitt admitted as much before hastily covered her back by falsely claiming that DHS had 'lots of evidence' that Garcia was an MS13 gang member and that she had seen it.
Which means we have a government of bad faith actors, that judges no longer can assume that the government attorneys are telling the truth and have justice as their guiding principle rather than winning. Horrifying.
But on the plus side this DoJ now has fewer and fewer lawyers to implement its retribution and deportation agenda according to Bloomberg Law. The fact that senior DoJ positions are now occupied by Trump's personal lawyers shows that the well is running dry - https://legalnewsfeed.com/2025/02/27/department-of-justice-recruits-lawyers-amid-surge-in-trump-administration-legal-challenges/
Having spent my toddler years in Germany during the Nuremberg Trials and Berlin Airlift, I seem to have paid a bit more attention than most to how Germany in particular ended up following Hitler as he implemented such atrocious policies. I also often heard Goebbels attributed it to using tactics learned from watching how our country treated slaves and other races, ethnicities, or minorities.
I thought internment or relocation camps, limiting information, speech, real education (not "reeducation" or indoctrination) were the stuff of repressive regimes suppressing all criticism, etc, most recognized by Americans in other (especially fascist), governments.
When I learned that I was mortified. We were the good guys, but that fantasy has always been just that. I was innocent no more…. I’m still shocked that so many are so disconnected from the sacrifices of our grandparents. I grew up seeing my aunt suffer from the death of her 18-year-old in Italy in 1943. Her grandchildren in Georgia are MAGAts. The disconnect is brutal.
I only realised that in the last year - we were never the good guys. Our ancestors came from Europe all over the world, like the plague, killing, stealing and pillaging whatever they felt like.
Ultimately they built nations on genocides in Canada, the US and Australia. Never having been held to account.
And then we lied ourselves a pretty history together - with "enlightenment" and "human rights" (small print: predominantly to whites).
That made us the "good guys" in our opinion, really not so much in the rest of the world.
So true, and more whitewashing coming. A little truth would take us down a peg or two. In my youth, Ike was the hero and I believe he truly was. But my horizon was just over my head. As it rose the ugly truth emerged. Now we are hunkered down waiting for Armageddon
Well, Israel did set the new bar of what total military destruction looks like to a level so low, never seen before in the world. All with the help of the good ol' US and the rest of the West.
We can't say the fall of the West is undeserved.
The people tried to toss him out. They had about as much luck as we will have when evil is entrenched.
For all our faults I believe we set the new "goal standard" with the Declaration of Independence and as good a path as possible (despite some compromises that could have been poison pills if not gradually following better branches of the path to a future that fully lived up to the goal).
The Constitution as described on September 17, 1787 needed/needs updates adjusted as well as possible to ensure it keeps getting closer to the goal, at least keeping the balance of power of the 3 branches, and equal rights for all.
P.S. I intended this comment to be here, but misplaced a longer version of it.
I did intentionally use Goal Standard instead of Gold Standard, since I have seen and heard of Constitutions in particular that sound better on paper than ours, but aren't worth the paper they are written on.
Like fiat money, is more like your word is your bound, it has to be trusted and backed with honor and earned trust.
To me our imperfect Constitution still had world class trust by its progress towards the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence.
Are there any studies on how this direction can be changed once you're already so far down the road?
For all our faults I believe we set the new "goal standard" with the Declaration of Independence and as good a path as possible (despite some compromises that could have been poison pills if not gradually following better branches of the path to a future that fully lived up to the goal).
The Constitution as described on September 17, 1787 needed/needs updates adjusted as well as possible to ensure it keeps getting closer to the goal, at least keeping the balance of power of the 3 branches, and equal rights for all.
Watching EuroNews this morning, its seems the European Union is trying to live up to our original goals better than our current administration, even mentioning accepting refugees from the US. I assume that may mean not only our best scientists and public officials, not only with ancestors back to at least 1619 like our family's from England, but also (or maybe even especially), from the most recent Green Card holders, and others, who are rejected or have family members/spouses rejected. The show today included mention of reliable pensions and FDIC like guarantees of bank deposits throughout the whole of the EU.
It leaves me wondering why we are abandoning some of the best practices we led on, as others are taking up the similar paths we are abandoning to improve their societies and (fair) economic competitiveness in the world.
(A death yesterday, and other health issues in the family in other parts of the country will again limit attention to current news and participation.)
Anyone who thinks we can vote our way out of this shit is fooling themselves. It’s going to take lethal force. They will never ever give up peacefully the power they are amassing. The enabling (who the hell were the Democratic senators who voted for that unqualified blowhard as head of the Joint Chiefs) is sickening. The kettle is almost at full boil. We’re on our way to becoming North Korea, not Russia, not China, not Turkey or any other thugocracy.