"...we have an out-of-power ex-president who is in effect dictating American foreign policy on behalf of a foreign dictator or with the interests of a foreign dictator in mind.”
This goes beyond merely acting in bad faith and veers towards the criminal.
Every congressperson taking orders from an ex-"president" at the expense of their country is culpable.
TRUMP: “I think Snowden is a terrible threat, I think he’s a terrible traitor and you know what we used to do in the good old days when we were a strong country, you know what we used to do to traitors right?”
TFFG is suing the co-founders of Truth Social, the two who proposed the idea to TFFG, claiming that they are entitled to NOTHING. TFFG will do the same to those who vote for him. But, those voters can't see it. It's the first fault in exercising critical thinking processes: confirmation bias. My hero is Melanie Trecek-King, a biology professor at a community college in Mass. She has a website for teaching critical thinking skills. One can start here: https://thinkingispower.com/foundations-in-critical-thinking/
Thank you for this link. At the age of 84, I realize I lack good critical thinking skills. I also believe it's never too late to learn. I never skip the comments section after reading Heather's letter because I learn so much from them too.
Diane, the learning process is a "constant state of becoming." I'm 83, almost 84, and I absolutely love what Melanie Trecek-King is doing. Her program needs to be adopted nation wide at all levels, from grade school to grad school. I am contacting the school boards here in Polk County, Florida, recommending that they begin implementing Melanie's program.
It is nice to see familiar names. I haven't seen one name in a while. I believed he gave up trying to spread discord with us. He believed that no children were kidnapped in Ukraine. I sent him articles and he tore apart everyone (without cause)
First rule, when you have been screwed, don't lay yourself wide open again. Second rule, when you see it happen to someone else, beware, and heed the lesson. Thank you
Jeri, it comes back to the critical thinking rule: those who do not learn from past experiences (i.e., major screw-ups, being conned, etc.) are doomed to repeat them. So, I wonder, is the definition of stupid the inability to think critically? I think that it is now obvious that we, as a nation of educators, have failed to teach critical thinking and how democracy works. The white Christian nationalists supporting Trump are mistaken if they think that TFFG will do anything at all for them. If elected, he'll simply be a dictator and dictators never help the masses, they exploit them.
Thank you Richard, I am huge advocate of deductive reasoning my favorite Jury Instruction.
Related News development, TFFG & Trump Media & Technology (TMTG) Corp have counter-sued its Co-founders, WESLEY (Wes) MOSS & ANDREW (Andy) LITINSKY in Florida after the disclosure of TMTG's 21% loss in 2023 among an internal litigation explosion.
In the category of 'You Can't Make This Up', Andy Moss & Wes Litinsky are former 'Apprentice' contestants. I guess those two were never really "fired".
Per BUSINESS INSIDER today at 1:30 PM Eastern the Stock of the parent company is traded publicly now & listed as "DJT". DJT was trading DOWN another 6.76 % before the NASDAQ close this afternoon.
UPDATED after the 4:00 PM Close, DJTWW was down 10.06%
Footnote: One source says DAVID NUNES is the faux CEO of one of the corporate shells.
Memo to NASDAQ,: Delist DJTWW immediately. No after-hours trading no "dark pool" trading!
Loyalty, Gratitude. Fair. These are terms that are totally alien to the malignant narcissist. And yet, the evangelicals believe that the "evil one" is an instrument of God. G.W. Bush was right on 3-31-2001 when at the White House Correspondents' Dinner he said: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on."
I dove into Thinking is Power at your recommendation, Richard. I have never been a scientist, and in fact all my education is in the creative arts - writing, dancing, theatrical design, painting, singing. However, as a writer I feel obligated to dig deep to find human universalities as opposed to personal whatevers. As such I decided a long time ago to distinguish between what I think, what I believe, and what I know. Turns out I know hardly anything, I believe a few things, and I think a lot about a lot. Trecek-King makes a similar distinction, so of course I love it! Confirmation bias AND consensus. Life is good. No, wait, life stinks, we still hafta get rid of the man who would be king, and I use the term "man" very loosely.
Lauren, you write: " No, wait, life stinks, we still hafta get rid of the man who would be king, and I use the term "man" very loosely."
What we know is this: that "man" is a real threat to our way of life. If he gets power, he'll destroy government and turn it into a weapon to enrich himself (as with Putin) and kill off his political enemies. We've got a problem.
Wow, I just started at the six most misunderstood words in science! This is excellent knowledge and could end a lot of screaming and offensive arguing! Thank you!!
Something starting with "Critical" seems to be a red flag for the repubs. I just skimmed a few pages, but will certainly read the entire lesson! BTW Richard, I am also up there in age :-)
Unbelievably, Sean Hannity is probably one American who could actually turn the ship in the channel and get it heading back to democracy. If he wanted to.
First of all, April 1st is Trans Gender Visibility Day while Easter is a transient holiday which is the celebration of Jesus rising from the dead. Really? There are Greek, Roman and Norse mythology stories more believable than this.
Everyday, the administration puts out a list of holidays that various groups celebrate. And Republicans apparently want all LGBTQ people to be invisible.
This morning a talking head on MSNBC called this an "unforced error." So what? This is a "tan suit" moment not a BFD.
Meanwhile Trump tweets his vile BS on Truth Social 77 times and not a peep from most of the MSM. It's totally normal to tweet hate and fear on the two most important Christian holidays but put out a boiler plate memo celebrating a holiday and it's a major faux pas.
Republicans lie that Biden made Sunday a transgender holiday. In fact, on Friday Pres. Biden affirmed the equal rights of some of our most vulnerable neighbors. This is another good reason to vote for Biden.
On Friday, Pres. Biden released a proclamation to “honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect union — where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives.”
There are many reasons to vote for Joe Biden. Including his defense of the constitutional
foundations of our nation. Affirming and defending the equal rights of trans persons is another way Joe Biden defends our democracy.
But,Snowden was not a traitor but a hero who told the American public that we were being illegally spied on by our own government. Where the hell do we turn the corner from immaturity and self-centeredness to adult hood and self educated by actually reading facts. My my oh my I am scared.
Quite fascinating and hopeful article by the Federalist Society. It seems to say that the Secretary of State and not the DOJ brings the case. “My envoy” seems like enough to take action against tffg and Grenell. 🙏🏼. This is NOT political. It’s obviously illegal and shocking even for this madman.
Professor Heather describes the history of the Logan Act. It clearly makes international meddling against internal disputes a crime. This is treason, and agent orange does not care that he is a traitor against the United States.
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
I agree GiGi. I also think at this point we take NATO out of the US. I don’t know all the pros and cons of that sort of action but unfortunately, very unfortunately, I do not know how this year’s vote will swing. It is important to protect what we can in case. I’d like to believe there is a lot more of that in different areas going on quietly to protect our country and alliances.
I agree about protecting everything we can from the crazies. NATO’s headquarters are in Brussels. Are you thinking about the UN? It’s a good thought to set up some safe alternate place. Don the con certainly embarrassed us there when he was president.
DJT and his envoy should be arrested. Especially if he is publicly saying that this is what he is doing. This is treason. Just because the 9 are bought, the public should be aware it is going on and it is against the law. This law and his actions are pretty simple so the public could understand and some would be upset. Sure the Dept of Justice has a lot going, and tffg says he’s being persecuted, but those aren’t reasons to allow treason.
Regarding the Logan Act. The enforcement is generally handled by the State Department.
"Enforcement: While the Logan Act has rarely been enforced, there have been instances where the State Department used it to impose passport suspensions and travel restrictions. Additionally, a U.S. serviceman faced a court martial for conduct barred by the statute.
Prosecutions: Surprisingly, only two people have ever been indicted under the Logan Act—one in 1802 and the other in 1852. Neither of them was convicted.
In summary, the Logan Act remains an intriguing piece of legislation, even though its enforcement has been infrequent over the years."
The public should be crazy, bat-s**t upset.The public should stop going about their daily lives, feeling they are too busy or "what's the point", and do whatever they can to support the preservation of their rights and freedoms. VOTE BLUE!
I agree GiGi. I also think at this point we take NATO out of the US. I don’t know all the pros and cons of that sort of action but unfortunately, very unfortunately, I do not know how this year’s vote will swing. It is important to protect what we can in case. I’d like to believe there is a lot more of that in different areas going on quietly to protect our country and alliances.
And he's doing it (traitor-ing) unimpeded. How is this possible? They have burnt the book of rules (aka the Constitution). And...? The President is trying to govern as though this wasn't happening.
I think he’s well aware of what’s happening. It’s not like he can just end this by flicking a switch. Notice how HCR does not pile blame for this on Biden. That’s because she knows fighting this is up to all of us.
I agree with you wholeheartedly on all points, and I've removed the ? from my remark to make it clearer. It takes enormous courage, a sharp mind and a steady hand to do what he's doing.
He can't help himself, and the press always laps it up, as you know, Michael.
How about a different course -- one which many schools among the world's democracies might join.
Wherever students are learning English, and are late teens, say, have them write essays, starting with introductions of themselves. Eventually the essays will go as batches to participating other schools. So the self-introductory essays aim for persons in a different culture, maybe a different native language.
But everybody has some common characteristics. All inhabit items of food-clothing-shelter, and all do so by differing styles. (Shelter may include interior design and exterior landscape, plus transportation choices.) Cite the styles first given by family and local community, then other styles as individuals evolve in personal tastes.
That's the story all participating will honor -- how we change in our culture. And how healthy democracies, healthy cultures allow that, prompt it.
Before any essays get sent abroad, students in home rooms read all each other's, then re-write to get good in quoting peers, directly and indirectly for similarities and piquant differences. When the different batches go abroad, same spirit of seeing and enjoying others prevails.
We rely too much, Michael, on national leaders, sensational press, and even worse social media platforms. Students, schools, could promote much better, truly personal literacy. Could cite not only each other, but also works from local and international culture.
Great idea, but as the Buddha said, “You think you have time.” We keep thinking that we have time. We don’t…. Our laws and traditions had better kick in quick.
It is a fact in 2024 that the greatest threat to our country’s democracy and constitutional laws lives within our borders. Republicans have long ago abandoned any pretext of living by the laws or within the governing institutions of the United States.
And please, don’t think these efforts are only targeting people of color. We will all and are all impacted by these egregiously promoted initiatives. Eventually, they will lead to the decline of our civilization as we now know it. Read Margaret Wheatley: Who Do We Choose to Be: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity - https://margaretwheatley.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/MW-WhoDoWeChooseToBe.pdf
July, I've been in a state of angst since 2016, briefly relieved by the election of Joe Biden. It descended again when McCarthy went down to MaL to kiss the ring, thus resurrecting you know who.
But as Republicans have played the long slow game, others must too, and healthy education is essential. Now and for the future. We need both the long perspective — good thoughtful creative education AND GOTV and countering false info now.
Oh! Diedra, you are right on point. I have been saying this for some years now. It is not an either/or proposition but rather our task in this time. Robert Hubbell and David Pepper commented in a recent Zoom conversation that we are confronted with a generational battle.
We hosted 12 foreign exchange students through AFS over the years our kids were in school. It was a great experience for our family and the students were young ambassadors for their countries and culture to the local high school. I still remember the wonderful Hungarian student who vigorously debated with his social studies class against the US invading Iraq. Unfortunately, underfunded schools are less likely to accept foreign students and the red tape to host has become more complex through the years. Such programs are an excellent way to promote international understanding.
If I remember rightly, Xi Jinping was once such a foreign student. Alas, it doesn't seem to have made much difference to him or his relationship with the US and the West in general.
Except that it's not the vast majority that elected that one. Twice he's lost what should have got rid of him - the popular vote - because of the Electoral College, plus skulduggery.
Gerrymander has a wonderful etymology. From the Online Etymology Dictionary:
"Gerrymander: 1812, "arrange political divisions in disregard of natural boundaries so as to give one party an advantage in elections," also from 1812 as a noun, American English, from name of Elbridge Gerry + (sala)mander. Gerry, governor of Massachusetts, was lampooned when his party redistricted the state in a blatant bid to preserve an Antifederalist majority. One sprawling Essex County district resembled a salamander, and a newspaper editor dubbed it the Gerrymander. "
So much skulduggery, there is nothing legal about what republicans with the rich help are doing. Sorry Elon, your blather about free speech is just another way of saying that money screams while poor slobs whisper, if they can make any sound at all...
Ain’t that the truth. We are ostriches at this point in time. Head in the sand, with our arses in the air as targets. My granddaughter won’t even have a conversation with me about politics. I get it, she lives, goes to school, works and socializes in a sea of red. She will not vote for chump (I feel sure), but she says they don’t talk about that stuff. A future with blinders on.
Make your conversation with her personal to her. “How would you feel if you could t choose where you go to school? How about if someone told you what jobs you could apply for? If you couldn’t get health care?”
I did that with my daughter yesterday. She's definitely not voting for trump and neither will her husband, but his extended family will again. I told her what Joy Reid said about project 2025 and how Republicans are planning to condemn single women and homosexuality. I told her I worry about her daughter, my granddaughter Ivy's future. That got her attention.
I talked with my DIL and daughter about the real possibility of prohibition of birth control. Also no one ever plans to get an abortion. I consider that just one action on a spectrum of reproductive health care, which means no immediate treatment for a miscarriage. Both have always been available to young women; they don’t know how relatively recent they are.
Oh, I have, She is a kind, sensitive 21-year-old to be proud of, but she looks like a deer in the headlights if the topic comes up. That's what repubs have given us. I'm old, she knows my history of what life was like for females back in the day.
Greg Abbott has people buffaloed in Texas. They color over purple as soon as it appears. Now they are planning to expand the state control over cities. Houston was practically blue, but the cretins can't have that. He has approval because he tries to kill immigrants by any means. Evangelicals love this...
This isn’t just truly SAD - but really frightening!!! Is this really why these early polling results are so close or have chump trump leading Biden in a number of areas - people not paying attention to the political and governmental processes that seem to dominate many of our concerns and daily lives, but for others, they seem or appear to be going about their business of day-to-day living paying NO attention to the potential of a drastic change in the American way of life, if somehow trump winds up as POTUS again?
Marcia (and Frank), it seems that the current state of polling, except the polls we conduct at the ballot box, makes it a nearly impossible task. There are simply too many media on which people communicate with different demographic segments of the population tending to use different platforms. Perhaps a poll via email, landlines, cell phones, snail mail, Messenger, YouTube, MSOutlook, Gmail, TikTok, X (formerly known as Twitter), etc with each medium weighted by the percentage of users likely in each of the demographics of the US population and then add in just who sponsored the poll. As above, I have seen nothing perhaps beyond the ballot box which remotely resembles with any scientific accuracy the preferences of the US population...and even our ballot boxes have biases built in by state and local governments and personnel, however, that seems not to matter once the ballot is cast.
Thanks, I’ve been aware of Mr. Rosenberg’s work for sometime. I realize that we’re a long way out from Labor Day, September and the final run up to the November election - but these polls and their results do tend to have a sway on the uninformed, general population, whether they are registered voters - or not. But again, thanks for pointing that out. [I’ve seen so little of Canada; it’s on my places to visit list.]
As long as nobody is bombing their abode, all is well. Business as usual. The looming catastrophe can be ignored if it's not pissing on you at the moment. But groceries are high. I enlightened by sister-in-law about why the poor get poorer and the rich get richer
While the polls are frightening, they haven’t been borne out in the ballot box. In a way, it’s better if they bring home how close this might be - we don’t have any margin for complacency.
I think your granddaughter has rhe right idea. In my household, voting was encouraged from my kid's earliest days when my wife and I would take them into the booth with us but, as they aged, the rule was that no one was ever to divulge how they voted.
Even mainstream centrist media like the NYT and WAPO aren't reporting these things nearly enough, let alone the Fox News et al.
In any case, there are about a solid 30% of Americans who support such goings on and evidently don't care about law-breaking. They would welcome an authoritarian regime, as long as it's led by their own side.
I have a love-hate relationship with the NYT. Some of its investigations are very good, and personally, I do appreciate being able to read conservative commenters without having to log onto a Trumpist website, but I'm discouraged by its glaring holes in coverage. WAPO I cancelled. Not worth it and Jeff Bezos is rich enough.
Well, that someone else is no secret. Rupert Murdoch was and still is the billionaire who has led the way for misinformation, disinformation and gaslighting. He ranks right at the top of my list of evil people followed by the likes of Trump, Leonard Leo, Mitch McConnell, Elon Musk, Rebecca & Robert Mercer, Clarence Thomas. This is just a short list. Actually I think Chief Justice Roberts belongs on that list since he may present a less out their personality he has been the author of Citizens United Court decisions.
'Trump-proofing weapons for Ukraine: Allies consider moving arms group into NATO
Officials are expected to discuss gradually moving the organization — called the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — into the alliance’s control.' (Politico)
By LARA SELIGMAN, STUART LAU and PAUL MCLEARY, Updated: 04/02/2024 02:55 PM EDT
'The U.S. and other Western countries are considering transferring to NATO a U.S.-led multinational group that coordinates the shipment of weapons to Ukraine, one of several new proposals that could help maintain the flow of arms to Kyiv under a second Donald Trump presidency.'
'During the NATO foreign ministerial meeting in Brussels Wednesday and Thursday, officials are expected to discuss a range of options, including gradually moving the organization — called the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — into the alliance’s control, according to three European officials and a U.S. official with knowledge of the internal deliberations. The goal would be to finalize the move at the NATO leaders’ summit in Washington in July, one of the officials said.'
'A second U.S. official said that another proposal would give NATO a more formalized seat at the table within the Ukraine group, as opposed to moving it under NATO control. The idea, from the U.S. side, would be to strengthen the ties between NATO and Ukraine for long-term support, the official said.'
'The Ukraine group was launched in the early weeks of the war by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and then-Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley to coordinate Western support for Kyiv’s defenses. It’s credited with speeding tens of billions of dollars in equipment, weapons and other aid to Ukraine that have been critical in staving off Russian forces.'
The discussions about NATO’s involvement with the group are happening “at very senior levels,” with the goal of formalizing European and alliance support for Kyiv, said the U.S. official, adding that one consideration heading into U.S. and European elections is to make the group “more enduring.”
'Defense Department spokesperson Maj. Charlie Dietz declined to confirm the discussions, saying DOD had' “no new announcements to make regarding the format or structure” 'of the group.'
“We are constantly discussing how we can ensure that our support for Ukraine is sustained and how we can organize the support in the best possible way,” 'Dietz said.'
'Transferring the group to NATO would be a significant move toward cementing Western support for Ukraine’s war for the foreseeable future, amid Europe’s fear of the return of Trump to the White House. In the near term, domestic politics in the U.S. and other countries is already threatening to cut off funding to send Kyiv additional weapons.'
'Formalizing the group within NATO would go a long way toward protecting support for Ukraine from changes in U.S. and Western governments, experts said — and particularly from Trump.'
“There’s a feeling among, not the whole group but a part of the NATO group, that thinks it is better to institutionalize the process just in case of a Trump re-election,” 'said Jim Townsend, a former Pentagon and NATO official.' “And that’s something that the U.S. is going to have to get used to hearing, because that is a fear, and a legitimate one.
“Pulling this under NATO kind of isolates it from a Trump presidency, or even from a U.S. that might get distracted by China and can’t keep it going or can’t get his own funding act together,” 'he added.'
'If successful, the move would be the latest among a series of actions taken to shore up institutions in anticipation of another Trump presidency. Late last year, lawmakers approved a law to require congressional approval if a future president tried to pull out of NATO, and are considering further protection measures.'
'Austin and Milley established the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the spring of 2022, weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine. The idea was to bring together defense chiefs from various Western countries to discuss what weapons and other military aid to send to Kyiv.'
'The monthly closed-door meeting, attended either virtually or in-person at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, has been a central force in equipping Ukraine with everything from modern battle tanks to F-16 fighter jets. Apart from NATO allies, the contact group also includes about 20 other like-minded countries from outside the Euro-Atlantic theater.'
'However, the group has run into obstacles in recent months as U.S. funding for Ukraine dried up. The Pentagon said in December it would not be able to send any additional weapons from its stockpiles until Congress appropriated additional funds for the war effort. The Senate passed a $95 billion supplemental package including additional aid for Ukraine, but the legislation has been stalled in the House for months.'
'The Pentagon cobbled together a new $300 million package of aid last month, including much-needed artillery and air defenses, by using cost savings from previous contracts. This allowed DOD to send additional weapons without harming U.S. military readiness.'
'The package will include a number of Army Tactical Missile Systems that can travel 100 miles and carry warheads containing cluster bomblets, POLITICO first reported. Ukraine has been asking for more of the missiles for months in order to attack targets deep inside Russian front lines.'
'But DOD officials now say they cannot send additional aid until Congress passes the supplemental.'
“As you’ve seen us continue to urge, the most important thing that we want to see Congress pass is the supplemental,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said on Monday. “Hopefully, when the House is back in session next week, they will bring it to the floor, and then we can continue getting out those [packages] regularly.”
'Julianne Smith, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, said the focus is on getting Ukraine additional ammunition and air defenses.'
“So that tends to be the focus of our discussions, both in the US-led UDCG and among allies here in NATO headquarters, the way in which that we can ensure that the Ukrainians continue to have the upper hand and see success on the battlefield is to keep that assistance flowing,” 'Smith said.' (Politico) Copied in full.
Why not just open a personal substack as an alternative to multi-page comments? I like writing comments too, but when they exceed a page in length, they take on a life of their own and the comment section becomes something other than a response to or reflection of the actual author's content.
Just Sayin', The article that I posted was listed in HCR's 'Notes:' and one she referred to at the end of today's Letter. If reading in-depth analysis and detailed reports don't appeal to you, just move on to something more to your taste and level of concentration.
I can cut and paste as well as the next bloke, but choose not to. Maybe just tighten it up and list your attestations at the bottom, like the inimitable HCR…
I have a very limited amount of time to read substacks. I prefer to look up Prof. Richardson's references myself, if it is is something I want to read. My taste and level of concentration may not be up to your standards, but they're mine.
I wondered why Fern would take the trouble to copy and post an article rather than just "linking" it. I really should ask her directly, but I've decided one such reason is maybe to circumvent a publication's paywall. I'm not sure if this is true, but it satisfied my curiosity enough to think she was providing a service for those who possibly cannot afford to pay for lots of subscriptions?
Lynell, there isn't a paywall for that article. I thought copying it in full provided immediate elaboration on ways around Trump. Clearly, and most importantly, is getting that supplemental funding for Ukraine passed.
Just Sayin', I for one do not object to what and how Fern shares material. I have the choice to either read it or not. Many times she bypasses a firewall (and many times when she posts a link to either a Times or Post piece but is out of gift "shares" I will share it from my own account when I have a gift left.) It is pertinent to share what the Professor uses for references, since some of us (raises hand) don't look at the references. I would much rather have that than the endless (it seems) self-promotion of one's personal page or blog.
Fern, thank you for once again providing your usual highly detailed reporting to us in this forum! As I read through your comment I was struck by how totally gratified any narcissist would be to know he had not only dominated political conversations and national news in the United States but to have further confirmation of how important he was that the entire international order was trying to make plans to deal with him, no matter how crazy or misinformed his ideas might be! ...an astonishing result for a character-disordered individual!
Fern, thank you very much for this text. It breaks my WWII-UN heart, but at least it may help some people understand “traitor,” which is what every member of Congress who voted against certifying the election is, and Grenell and his boss most certainly are. The sooner they lose power and Biden’s policies for Ukraine and for US are in place, the better.
When President Nixon impeded the peace efforts in 1968, possibly costing Senator Humphrey (the much better man) the presidency, President Johnson evidently knew about it and said, I believe, to Senator Dirksen that what President Nixon was doing was treason. This getting authoritarian ducks in a row by Trump is a whole lot worse. Craven quislings like bullies; maybe it works better for them than viagra. I still have faith that the great majority of Americans want our republic to continue and that Trump will lose.
He will always win the hearts and minds of bigots and fascists. But IMO, that's not enough.
As long as the Orange Clown is alive, he will be spewing his venomous lies. But karma is at work. His business empire is soon to be drained of cash and taken out of his control. He wont be able to sell enough bibles or golden sneakers to bail himself out. He will be revealed as the failure we always knew he is.
And then there is his self destructive inability to shut up. Judges will ultimately become angry enough to take action.
A con man can't hurt thousands of people, can't humiliate almost every person around him, can't betray his country for personal gain, can't stiff employees and contractors over and over again, can't call veterans losers - a con man can't do all that and worse - and not reap the poisoned crop he has sown. Karma always happens. It just takes too long.
Modern media, modern tech, modern life in general - all have trained us to demand immediate gratification. There was a time not too long ago, when we waited until we got home to get our "messages". There was a time when we would communicate with letters. We waited weeks or even months to get things done. I had an aunt who played chess by mail.
More and more MSM and SM "journalists" and talking heads are noticing Trump's erratic behavior. Word salad speeches with names of people confused. The truth is out there. Project 2025 and its fascist goals are being mentioned more often. Women are NOT going to accept restrictions on reproductive freedom.
Do you wonder why he is not trying to attract new voters to his clan? He only has about 30% of the voters. What does he know, what gives him the confidence to act like his winning the election is in the bag? What have they promised him?
Ned, it’s not unlike his first “victory”—he lost the popular vote by millions! It is frustrating to me that a handful of “swing” states can decide an election via the Electoral College system and by not very many total votes therein overall. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact gives some hope for the future, but not enough states have signed on yet & who knows if it might be challenged if eventually successful.
'Opinion: Trump’s anti-Ukraine view dates to the 1930s. America rejected it then. Will we now?' (WAPO, by Robert Kagan Editor at large)
'Many Americans seem shocked that Republicans would oppose helping Ukraine at this critical juncture in history. Don’t Republican members of Congress see the consequences of a Russian victory, for America’s European allies, for its Asian allies and ultimately for the United States itself? What happened to the party of Ronald Reagan? Clearly, people have not been taking Donald Trump’s resurrection of America First seriously. It’s time they did.'
'The original America First Committee was founded in September 1940. Consider the global circumstances at the time. Two years earlier, Hitler had annexed Austria and invaded and occupied Czechoslovakia. One year earlier, he had invaded and conquered Poland. In the first months of 1940, he invaded and occupied Norway, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. In early June 1940, British troops evacuated from Dunkirk, and France was overrun by the Nazi blitzkrieg. In September, the very month of the committee’s formation, German troops were in Paris and Edward R. Murrow was reporting from London under bombardment by the Luftwaffe. That was the moment the America First movement launched itself into the battle to block aid to Britain.'
'Cutting off Ukraine seems like small beer by comparison, but behind it lies the same' “America First” 'thinking. For Donald Trump and his followers, pulling the plug on Ukraine is part of a larger aim to end America’s broader commitment to European peace and security. America’s commitment to NATO, Trump believes, should be conditional, at best: Russia can do “whatever the hell they want” to allies who do not pay their fair share and meet certain defense-spending objectives.'
'Other Republicans don’t even mention conditions. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has called for the immediate reduction of U.S. force levels in Europe and the abrogation of America’s common-defense Article 5 commitments. He wants the United States to declare publicly that in the event of a' “direct conflict” between Russia and a NATO ally, America will “withhold forces.” 'The Europeans need to know they can no longer “count on us like they used to.” Elbridge Colby, a former Trump Pentagon official praised by Hawley, has written widely (and wrongly) that United States cannot defend both East Asia and Europe and that Europeans must fend for themselves because, as he put it in a recent social media post,' “Asia is more important than Europe.” He said, “If we have to leave Europe more exposed, so be it.”
'Can Republicans really be returning to a 1930s worldview in our 21st-century world? The answer is yes. Trump’s Republican Party wants to take the United States back to the triad of interwar conservatism: high tariffs, anti-immigrant xenophobia, isolationism. According to Russ Vought, who is often touted as Trump’s likely chief of staff in a second term, it is precisely this' “older definition of conservatism,” 'the conservatism of the interwar years, that they hope to impose on the nation when Trump regains power.'
'So it’s time to take a closer look at the 1930s conservative mentality and the America First movement it spawned.'
'Republican anti-interventionism of those interwar years' — “isolationism” 'as critics called it — was less a carefully considered strategic doctrine than an extension of their battles against domestic opponents. Yes, there were self-proclaimed' “realists” 'in the late 1930s assuring everyone that the United States was invulnerable and that events in Asia, where Japan was also on the rampage, and Europe need not endanger American security. Those' “realists” 'chided their fellow Americans for a' “giddy”' moralism and emotionalism in response to Nazi and Japanese aggression that prevented them from dealing “with the world as it is,” as historian Charles Beard put it. George F. Kennan, an anti-liberal conservative who served in the American Embassy in Prague, at the time applauded the Munich settlement and praised the Czechs for eschewing the' “romantic” 'course of resistance in favor of the' “humiliating but truly heroic one of realism.”
'This' “realism” 'meshed well with anti-interventionism. Americans had to respect' “the right of an able and virile nation [i.e. Nazi Germany] to expand,” 'aviator Charles Lindbergh argued. The leading Republican of his day, Ohio Sen. Robert Taft, ridiculed those who expressed fears of advancing fascism. The United States could not be ranging' “over the world like a knight errant,” 'protecting “democracy and ideals of good faith” 'and tilting,' “like Don Quixote, against the windmills of fascism.” 'The world was' “big enough to contain all kinds of different ways of life.” (WAPO) See gifted link below.
It's an extraordinary turnaround to find myself making common cause with a neoconservative historian like Robert Kagan.
In passing, Article 5, which Josh Hawley is trying to torpedo, has only been invoked once in the history of NATO - by the USA after the 9/11 attacks. NATO members responded and rallied round their beleaguered ally.
My reaction was very similar to yours, Sophie. While I did not agree with every point Kagan made, his Opinion was enlightening and well informed. It called out the right-wing and could get some who may consider voting for DJT, to think again.
'He writes a monthly column on world affairs for The Washington Post. During the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign, Kagan left the Republican Party due to the party's nomination of Donald Trump and endorsed the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, for president.[8]' (Wikipedia)
Appreciate every word you have shared on Heather's subtract. You are a great American!!!
I am so concerned at the blindness of the Republican Party and those men and women who have made money off of our strengths and opportunities....who are so willing to sell the soul of our nation! This is not a comment on our being always a good and kind people but we are a blessed nation in spite of ourselves. We have produced some great leaders and great citizens who have given themselves to work for peace and to "Build Back Better".
Putin is working through Trump and others to extend Russian territory to include the USA. What an accomplishment for him!!! Without a battle...maybe threats...maybe a few murders ...etc. He is using the mindless empty Donald Trump who dishonors the Christian faith....who "spits" on our Constitution.
I am just a very simple and plan American....of small significance, YET even I can see this!!! Why is he allowed to run for President? He is a lawless person. He has no respect for this country...only to use it and its legal system for his benefit....which Putin delights in.....and every Dictator .....
Emily, please don't underestimate yourself; your engagement, support for democracy, the truth and all advocates of equality, justice and liberty...these are vital to citizenship and getting the job done!
If only two more Republicans switch parties or resign, Hakeem Jeffries will be Speaker and Congress can finally get something done.
For years, I have been urging Susan Collins to switch parties. If she had we wouldn't have had the lying sexual predator Kavanaugh as Associate Justice.
I sent a similar email this morning requesting Don Bacon switch parties. He is in trouble in the polls living in a Biden district, and he's one of the few reasonably intelligent Republicans who isn't as cowardly as most of the other Republicans.
His silence, like that of my Rep, Dave Joyce, R-OH, makes him, and all the rest, complicit in the ongoing attempt at overthrowing the United States. Until they loudly, and PUBLICLY!!, denounce trump and the MAGAts, they are guilty of treason.
Trump is a regular citizen and has no authority or business given orders to congress. Members of the Republican congress should know about the Logan act law.
Who would enforce this law? Seems we have laws in place which trump and company get away with daily. No one holds them accountable. Every day I’m sickened by the way he manipulates our justice system. Judge’s make attempts to rein him in but a little fine here and there means nothing to him. He gets away with everything. And we are told daily they are working on their plans to put him in office even if he loses. He breaks the law and then it’s “ so what”!! He just keeps on keeping on. How will this movement be stopped?
Nixon did the same thing over the Vietnam War. He conveyed the message that South Vietnam’s forces should stand firm in the war, and he and Kissinger wound up prolonging the war by five years.
Nixon's presidential portrait should be drenched in blood. His quest for power had such a horrible cost, outweighed any sin that LBJ committed by following the "smartest men in the room."
Annabel, we also have a powerful private citizen who has undermined US foreign policy in Elon Musk. He shut down Starlink at a critical moment to thwart a Ukrainian attack on the Russian Black Sea fleet.
This does not veer toward the criminal and national security, it is treason and should be prosecuted as such; yes, another set of indictments for TFG NOW; not next year, not next month, NOW MERRICK GARLAND!
In the short run, U.S. voters can make phone calls to make sure that American does the right thing. Mark your calendar for a day next week and a day following week to call your Congressional representative.
Right now we can make donations that will help Ukrainians defend themselves, survive, and make sense their experience for the rest of us.
1. Safe Skies. This is passive drone-detection system that allows Ukrainians to detect drones and cruise missiles in time to shoot them down. President Zelens'kyi just posted some photos of that end of the operation. Thanks to thousands of people, including many of you here, I was able (with support from some great historian colleagues) to raise enough money to protect eight Ukrainian regions with five thousand sensors (map here). Ukraine needs 12,000 total sensors to protect the entire country, so 7,000 more. The technology is inexpensive and effective. I have seen it at work. It saves lives. This is a very direct way that you can help Ukrainians protect themselves. Just go to this page and hit the button "Protect Ukrainian Skies."
2. Razom for Ukraine. This is an American 501(c)3 that carries out important policy advocacy work in Washington DC and around the country. Aside from their terrific advocate team, they have a large group of volunteers who work tirelessly with Ukrainian NGOs to deliver aid and supplies to Ukraine. I have worked together with their great team on events for years and am always filled with admiration of their energy, efficacy, and devotion. A donation to them is a very safe bet. Please visit their page and donate.
3. Come Back Alive Foundation. More and more I hear from people who wish to help the Ukrainian army directly. A Ukrainian NGO that supplies soldiers on the front with what they need is Come Back Alive. They have been doing this job since the first Russian invasion and are very well reputed and highly reliable. You can see their fundraisers here.
4. 1 Team 1 Fight Foundation. This is a group with some very active European volunteers who have shown their mettle and devotion in getting supplies to the front in Ukraine. They are also an American 501(c)3. You can find their campaigns here.
5. Liberty Ukraine Foundation. Here we have a small group of (mostly) Texans who have done a great job in delivering humanitarian and military aid to Ukrainians. You can find their current projects here. They are a US 501(c)3.
6. Documenting Ukraine. As many of you will know, I helped establish this project to support Ukrainian scholars, journalists, writers, artists, photographers, librarians, archivists, and others who are documenting the war, each according to their own talents and following their own projects. We have given grants to 360 Ukrainians at this point, and are aiming for 500 by the end of the year. (One of those 360 was Mstyslav Chernov, the director of 20 Days in Mariupol, which just won an Oscar). I am proud of this effort to give Ukrainians a voice and to create a record of the war in real time and across multiple media. You can donate here. This is also a US 501(c)3.
Thank you so much, lin for this list of links! I am encouraged by knowing these groups exist and how they are helping. It goes some way to relieving the angst I feel daily over tffg’s endless traitorous, illegal acts.
I am wondering whether someone (ie the Justice Department) is taking action to arrest this agent of Treacherous-treasonous-traitorous-tantruming-Trump. I hope so. It is shocking how much treasonous behavior is being tolerated by Republicans.
I did not vote for a single person who engages in treasonous behavior, so I don't think so. I vote, I write and speak out against it, but I don't work in the justice department. However, your point is well taken. I am Portugal and mainly living in Germany. I vote through Democrats Abroad Germany, and try to recruit people. I am also alerting other Americans Abroad who feel like they got away and don't need to worry about it, that is matters. And, I am writing to my elected representatives when I can. This might be a case where I need to ask them what they are doing about it. I will start with President Biden.
Good point. Any attempt to have the rule-of-law regarding Trump et al is apt to serve as incentive/justification for violent rhetoric and/or action. We have to understand what is possible and be prepared.
I take issue with the phrase "an out-of-power ex-president," because the person in question clearly HAS power. It's a shadow government, un-elected, and it does its business in opposition to the clearly expressed wish of the populace, and its elected government.
And like so many on this forum said just the other day, trump's power is coming from all his enablers, primarily in congress, as well as the voter base. They had the power to stop him back in 2016 when they could have chosen not to represent the gop in that year's election. The DNC bumped Sanders for Hillary. They chose not to impeach him or have him tried for obvious crimes. The gop has passed on every opportunity to free themselves of the creep. Power must be an incredibly potent drug because just like an addict will sacrifice everything and everyone around them for a fix, these people are sacrificing our democracy for short-lived power hits. They may not be traitors in the legal sense, but their actions and inactions are traitorous just the same.
It doesn’t veer toward the criminal, it IS criminal. Trump violates the requirement to register as an agent of a foreign power with every breath he wheezes. Not to mention the Logan Act.
Why isn’t the Logan Act being enforced? Is this one of the guardrails that has been eclipsed? If so, when did that happen? And if it has not been challenged the way it is today, what is the backstory? I’m reminded of a Timothy Snyder admonition to not pre-obey fascist movements and also of the habitual timidity of those who should be enforcing our laws against an insurrectionist movement.
The more they pull their punches (the Senate in the two Trump impeachments, Merrick Garland on many occasions, the appeals court that reduced the size of Trump’s bond without explanation, SCROTUS’s unanimous decapitation of the 14th Amendment’s disqualifying of an oath breaking insurrectionist). The list could go on, but I’ll stop here. What’s the story with the Logan Act?
Just why is the US government tiptoeing around an ex-president who behaves like a traitor to the country?The son of a bitch should be in prison and yet he's out shooting his mouth off, undermining the current administration and doing it all with impunity?
That tear in the curtain began long before Trump. All those Reagan Republicans tend to forget his secret dealings with Iran to hold off releasing the American hostages until after the election against President Carter. And the tearing continues.
Yes, Rick! Where is the outrage??? Where are the march's, protests, letter campaigns against the House Repubs, and against TFG for showing Biden tied up! Why doesn't the Logan law prevail? Ugh!
I think we all want to know why this traitor isn’t in jail! Judge Merchan needs to revoke his bail & put him in jail. If his thugs try to riot, they will be dealt with!
Jerry, that’s my question as well….who, exactly, has standing to initiate such action and bring it to fruition? If it requires the House or Senate to act, good luck with that as they seem to be becalmed of any action at all these days.
Gary, I think that 45 overwhelmed the Judiciary Committee with his continuous disregard of laws and norms. I wrote over and over again to the head of the Judiciary Committee (Jerry Nadler) about the Emolument clause being ignored by 45, but just got the standard form letter.
Right now, it seems that there's a need to tread carefully until we can get the election settled on the side of democratic rule-of-law. We also need to be united, understanding that we have important differences that we can address and resolve once we secure our nation.
I’ve thought that might be a strategy to avoid a MAGA escalation beyond tfg. We would be in much better shape if we elect a solid Democratic trifecta that can pass new laws to protect democracy and our rights as citizens. This speculation is “beyond my pay grade.” But no matter what happens we have to dig in and overwhelmingly elect democrats.
I am worried about the weakening of the Democrats due to Republican measures designed to split the vote because of the extremely serious issues like Gaza & Israel atrocities. There is no prospect for justice or rule-of-law if Democrats don't prevail.
I once read a comment from a community organizer who said that the worst thing that organizers do is to exclude people who agree on 90% of the issue—example given was climate change activists who excluded anyone who wasn’t vegan.
I needed a reminder, emolument clause, "generally prohibits federal officeholders from receiving any gift, payment, or other thing of value from a foreign state or its rulers, officers, or representatives."
Sandra, that’s true. So, on day 1, he had foreign leaders staying at Trump Towers. Very soon after, he continued selling apartments to foreign leaders. In addition, he kept a lot of the gifts that, in prior administrations, would have been turned over.
Oh, but we do, as conservative (now former) Representative Ken Buch (R-CO) point out in defiance of the bully brigade on the House Judiciary Committee. This are really tense and, with the Trump peddling the meddling canard constantly, such an indictment with actions related to the campaign might cause open riots by the M.A.G.A.s.
While I do not see that occurring, if there is, say, a one in three or four chance of civil conflict occurring, Attorney General Garland my be exercising prudence in picking his battles and their timing.
Authority has looked the other way too often, or diverted its attention to less serious threats. Thereby, letting the worse offenders slip/slide into every crack.
Fear of conflict can bring on conflict, ask Chamberlain. As much as I agree with Churchill’s comment that to “jaw, jaw is better than to war, war,” there does come a time when the hostage takers/cult have to be confronted.
Ned, that’s why they should go after Grenell instead of 45–and then go after the next one he sends… It’s not right to not go after 45, but it would have the same effect.
A spineless but charismatic narcissist, propped up by very very very rich conservative people who want "their" country back, fed their fascism to adoring crowds and promised them that he was the only one who could bring them retribution. For what? For whatever unfairness or ills had ever befallen them. A powerful message, apparently.
The Logan Act should be put on our list of things to reform and update. “…..shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.” Lame.
They are probably not aware of it. We should send them today’s letter. For that matter, this needs to be addressed loudly across the nation. Grenell needs to be arrested with cameras rolling and full declaration of the Logan Act. The names of all the colluding Congressional participants named in all caps. (Autocorrect changed name to “Grendel.” Clever, eh?)
Trump meeting with Orbon has a similar flavor to it. This article seems to hint there is so much going on with Trump that now is not a good time to add another indictment. But that doesn't mean Grenell ought to be given a pass.
How can it possibly be legal for an ex president to work against our current president and weaken our status in the world? And why isn’t anything being done to make sure the majority of America know this is happening? Is anyone doing anything to stop this behavior?
I think it is getting attention but there is too much going on, not to mention all of the dis-information. Makes it hard for people to focus on this issue, perhaps any issue.
Agree, Ned, just like the whole Project 2025 plan (which at first I thought might be a spoof by the Onion!) there is so much, um, ketchup being thrown at the wall it’s hard to focus, or even see, the danger right in front of us. Just like the issue of climate change needing to be an integral part of news/information discussion, it’s the herd of elephants in the room that many ignore—tho to be fair, some ARE starting to stress the issue. Hopefully it will happen for political/national security issues as well.
One piece of good news. I have seen Miss Cassidy Hutchinson speaking out against a re-election of Trump. I hope she is not living in too much fear. Brave young lady standing up to Trump's rag-tag S.A.
Ned, I find it intriguing that the ones with the “balls” to stand up for truth and honesty & doing the right thing in regards to TFFG seem to mostly be young women. Boo-yah! You go girls! Being an oldster myself—rounding up on my 75th year (wtf????)—it is heartening to see. Now, personal peeve, I just want to see the ERA passed in my lifetime….fingers crossed, but won’t hold my breath. Still can’t comprehend the hang-up.
1st things 1st: as my home-town baseball announcer used to say, "You are seventy-five years young!
🥳
On the Equal Rights Amendment, copy that Ma'am. Had it been ratified, I think the Dobbes decision would have been harder for the Supreme Court to decide; women, at least by reading, would have been fully incorporated into the body politic. That is to say: the Court would strip a right from members of the same population that vests the power in the Court through the Constitution.
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The clip with Miss Hutchinson also had a young Assistant Press Secretary to Trump who spoke out and her interviewer, Jen Psaki, made that observation. The are those who have stood for truth. Senators Romney and Flake come to mind. Senator Flake was the first and others of like mind -- like Senators Lankford and Sasse -- let him twist in the wind. Senator Murkowski has broken with Trump as did Representatives Kinzinger and Cheney.
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Now other Trump veterans are speaking out (e.g., SecDef Esper). It sure looks like it took those two young ladies setting an example to light a fire under some of these older men.
Your question is the one I’ve been asking myself for years now. I’m getting old waiting for someone or some thing to do something about these lawless people; especially trump.
This seems to another thing sane, reasonable, prosocial people just wouldn't do. That DT is willing to do the unthinkable keeps catching the rest of us flatfooted. The only times I've seen him stop is when the law is enforced, as in when he paid the bond in the NY fraud case. Grenell should be told "don't come home, if you do, you will be arrested and prosecuted under the Logan Act".
BINGO! We are drowning in the corruption of our electoral politics. Perhaps it is time not to define corporations or institutions as persons under the Constitution.
Doesn’t this mean Trump’s envoy, directly, and Trump, indirectly, violated and are repeatedly violating the Logan Act with far-right foreign government, officer, etc.?
“The law reads: “Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”
Would the act of proposing US policy towards these nations should the ex-President regain office, and as we all know he does threaten them to do as he wishes now, in opposition to or with no regard for current US policy?
I can see it now; Garland appoints another special prosecutor (most likely a Republican, "out of an abundance of caution" to avoid any hint of bias, to bring charges against the former President (who is now running a "shadow government"with the help of the House speaker) under the Logan act. The Orange One's flock of cereal box attorneys submit pre-trial motions to dismiss and then appeal all the way to SCOTUS, who says Congress has to act before the Logan Act can be invoked by any plaintiff against the former president. Wash, rinse, repeat and so on it goes...
I agree with you. 🤝 I must also admit that, had the quoted passage been included in reading comprehension testing for the S.A.T.-Verbal, I would never have made it to college. 😉
More like the LSAT. To prosecute that lame provision in the law, as written, the government prosecutor would be burdened to prove at least eight legal & factual questions beyond a reasonable doubt. With a deep scrub, the requirements could probably double. That boiling cauldron of verbiage needs to be reduced by at least 2/3rds. And the penalties should be increased by a factor of, say, around eight.
“Just because a chicken has wings don’t mean it can fly.”
Nicely stated. Originalism, as far as my wretched little mind can go (at least in this virulent variant}, is an ideological cover story. 🤔 It makes the founding fathers static through this bogus jurisprudence by ouija board and through séances. 🙂 Seriously, originalism precludes the flexibility of the founding fathers thinking: 💡
> "What we really meant was . . . ." 💡💡
> "Well, under the circumstances . . . ."💡💡
But let a far greater mind than mine spell it out powerfully. ✌️Thank you, Justice Breyer. Thank you, Mr Isaacson, for asking challenging questions. 🤝
This is scary but who can suggest introducing Logan’s Law against Trump so that aid can get to Ukraine? If he is imprisoned for 3 years, he cannot legislate especially if he loses the election. Can’t this law be enacted right now?
Yeah, I hear it didn’t and doesn’t stop crime/mob bosses from dictating actions from the hoosegow….TFFG would be the same. Hmmm, at least he’d have companions there to sing the Anthem to him!!!
Gee whiz.. The Logan Act ... " shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both" So, who's going to arrest these guys and send them to prison? Did I miss something here. who has the authority to do that? Where are the grownups?
If you haven't watched "20 Days in Mariupol" yet, you should. If you want to see the actual horrors that Russia inflicted on a peaceful people, watch that film. Share it. Spread it. It is shocking. It is a big part of "why" the U.S. needs to free up assistance for Ukraine.
Yes I have been meaning to watch that, thanks for the reminder.
Also the 'Navalny' documentary from a couple years back is really good. Showing the horrors of Putin's regime on Russia itself and that Vlad is not going to let anyone even attempt to oust him from office in an election. Navalny tried his best to offer new leadership, very disheartened and sad about his murder. Really hope the Russian people will rise up and jettison Putin, but in the meantime the U.S. must offer more assistance and funding so Ukraine will be able to stop his invasion and remain free and independent.
My sleep was already disturbed by the images of starvation in Gaza and the targeting of the World Central Kitchen vehicle. Too much horror in the world.
It is time for us to take extraordinary measures to deal with a criminal rapist with an orange face, a bleached blonde bully that lies almost every time he speaks. The psychopath has taken his fascist approach to seduce the racist element in our country that reacted to two terms of a non-white he claimed was born in Africa. Our former president is simply a psychopath. 70 million races in this country have been seduced by his brand of fascism simply because he ridiculed Obama and objectifies anybody that isn’t white this man is a fascist, he is criminally insane, he’s engaged in dishonest, treasonous activities with the worlds, most dangerous government, and his every action may be described as criminally, insane, and aimed at the destruction of our democracy and our position in the world if this isn’t enough for us to take extraordinary measures, what is? he has destroyed our Supreme Court. He has managed to seduce the wicked elements in our Congress. He has teamed up with various domestic players who understand well how easy it is to trigger racism in the white trash of the United States. This was the case with fascist aviator Charles Lindberg And fascist Catholic priest, father of Detroit we’ve seen this movie before. It took Japan bombing Pearl Harbor for us to address Hitler and Mussolini in Europe. The Japanese saved America from its vicious fascist elements that were threatening the democracy in the 30s. What is going to save us now? How are we going to approach the psychopathic elements in our country? When face with an internal criminal in command of one of our two parties. When faced with a fascist dictator in the making, a pathological liar, making love to other pathological liars around the world, it is insufficient to play the game with Marcus of Queensbury rules. Extraordinary measures are needed. We have an internal Civil War. Abraham Lincoln‘s death left us with Johnson and the Ku Klux Klan. Today we have something worse. We have a bleach blonde Adolf Hitler in the making in common concert with a vicious chiller in Moscow, who thinks nothing of throwing people out windows And poisoning his enemies right left, and set when I say extraordinary measures, I mean it. Somebody with greater power than I must determine what needs to be done to end this threat to our democracy, to our nature and to our children President Biden has done a wonderful job. I wonder if he is capable of dealing with a psychopathic opponent cannot tell the truth and wishes to destroy our nation in Plainview. Clearly, he lacks the vocabulary to say what I am saying here. But it needs to be said and extraordinary actions needs to be taken. Now.
Though times are grim, I am confident that the American people are decent enough and believe in fair-play enough to shut down this noisy and noisome minority come November. Far fewer are the voters who will vote for Trump for policy reasons.
One last redoubt may be the top military officers who take an oath to the Constitution. Not all of them of course; an army uniforms hides many a coward and opportunist. But enough are around to belay orders that a re-elected President Trump might issue; heck, they might even court martial him.
There is an ongoing coup to completely upend the results of the election. A blue wave will not stop the GOP (Government of Putin). They are already “Starting the Steal.”
Your responses strike me as hysterical, rather symmetrical with remarks coming in from the extreme right. Are you getting a diversity of news views? Keep the faith in the face of intellectual intimidation. We are a republic and we want it and we shall keep it.
He also appears to be suffering from dementia. Every time I hear him, his cognitive abilities seem to have slipped a notch. He rambles on, dribbling non sequiturs in between the vicious jabs at all his (many) scapegoats.
I believe that Trump should officially be labeled a sociopath. He ‘learned’ to be a callous, self serving bully who totally lacks any kind of moral compass from a cruel, dominating father. As his niece Mary Trump points, out he wasn’t born this way.
Biden didn't earn the moniker 'Bulldog Joe' for nothing. Now, his team, and the rest of us, need to earn that moniker too. All DT and his minions are really doing is stiffening the resolve of the Left. The 'Pearl Harbor moment' is the destruction of Roe v Wade (the latest evidence being the recent state senate race in Alabama). This remains the chief driver of our response to DT's would-be tyranny. There is more, much more, involved in this response. Gloves off!
As usual, I'm struck how we direct anger and dismay in the wrong direction. We already understand Trump's intentions to establish a dictatorship in America. What we still DON'T understand is why our State and Justice Departments are complicit. Whey do they deliberately refuse to hold Trump accountable? Why don't they take forceful action when he conspires with foreign leaders? There is no ambiguity. Trump and the Republican Party are traitors. Where the hell are the CIA and FBI? Where the hell is Merrick Garland? Where is President Biden? Why isn't the Democratic Party openly charging the Republican Party as a fifth column—they certainly project that on to the Democrats. Why are our journalists complicit? Why won't mainstream media honestly make a case that Republicans now function as Russian agents? Why do they normalize all reporting with both-sides-ism? Our outrage is misdirected. We should be raging at our government for being too weak to protect our Constitution and protect our elections. We should be raging at news media for being too fearful to proclaim the truth. I mean seriously—how could any patriotic American rationalize letting a former President who plotted and executed an insurrection run for reelection instead of facing immediate prosecution? We're insane!
Trump’s actions are not only unacceptable, but should vault him into prison! He’s never going to acquiesce to our government agencies & will continue to be disruptive in foreign & domestic affairs. That is until he’s stopped in his tracks! He can’t be allowed to play by his rules anymore!
Since it's now clear that former presidents can now dictate congressional action or inaction, perhaps it follows that former presidents can also be impeached. On November 7, 2024, God willing, perhaps Congress can bring up articles of impeachment against TFG, assuming of course that he doesn't achieve the unthinkable and return to office.
Find the law he breaks that sticks! Obviously so much of how governments and presidents comported themselves was tradition, not law. As he repeatedly demonstrates.
If what is said in this letter is correct shouldn’t it follow that proceedings pursuant to the Logan Act would be taken against Grenell, and Trump, and maybe Speaker Johnson as well.
Are the foreign dictators, demagogues, and nationalists as organized as are U.S. billionaires?
Perhaps the fat orange guy's emissaries travel among the world's worst with constant wink, wink, nod, nod. But I wonder how much U.S. billionaires shovel out to cohere such unified threats to democracy.
Can Dems running for U.S. Senate and other vital offices this year name some names?
Can our best Dems cite some dollar amounts budgeted by Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation, the Claremont Institute, and other bastions of far-right skullduggery and dictator sucking-up?
Shouldn't defending our democracy and our ally democracies by a matter of public record, public urgency?
American billionaires threw a lot of money behind Liz Truss, the worst PM the UK ever knew (one in a series of disasters) - who turned out to be a short-lived but very expensive failure. No ROI on that investment that I can see, and since the markets tanked when she announced her libertarian budget, a loss all round, both for ordinary people and Liz Truss's American backers. Except those who shorted her, of course.
Trump has a remarkable iron grip on power. Any other citizen undermining U.S. Foreign Policy would be treated as, at best, someone who failed to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and at worst a spy. And why should he cease and desist?
Mike Flynn (pardoned by Trump and notably still collecting a full military pension in spite of his crimes) subverted the sanctions placed upon Russia by then President Obama prior to Trump's taking office. Trump did this before his Presidency, and he's orchestrating it after.
In terms of the Justice system -he's been indicted for 91 crimes the most visible being related to the violent insurrection of January 6, 2021. It has now been over three years since this crime against the United States resulted in the deaths of Capitol Police officers. Can anyone reading this imagine any other individual committing crimes leading to the deaths of police, enjoying their freedom, playing golf, attacking judges, DA's, their families, and continuing to act has a Foreign agent IN PLAIN VIEW? He doesn't have to proclaim innocence saying that as President and as former President -he can just do as he pleases with full immunity. Posting a bond -that's too much money, here's a few bucks -that should suffice.
Trump has laid bare for all of us to see that justice is not for Philando Castile, George Floyd, Amadou Diallo, Trayvon Martin, or Sandra Bland. Justice is for those who can afford to delay, attack others, and misdirect people away from a mountain of evidence toward anything. Don't like the AG? I'll file papers that someone once thought they saw her use Monsanto's Round Up on her lawn -therefore, she must be removed from the case.
While I mourn the so-called justice system in the United States, the consequences of Trump are more dire in Ukraine, where hard-fought defense of their country from the murderous madman Putin is at grave risk due to the criminal Trump, and religious zealot Mike Johnson.
While people are quick to suggest that Merrick Garland and the DOJ are doing "all they can" as long as Trump remains free to conduct a shadow State department, his co-conspirators and accessories after the fact remain active in Congress, and the ethically challenged members remain on the Supreme Court, it seems the DOJ is fine with the nearly complete subversion of our system provided it is not a direct and violent overthrow of the government. If it remains "behind the scenes" that is perfectly fine.
Well said, George! Brought to mind this oldie but goodie song by Buffalo Springfield: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp5JCrSXkJY. Maybe we need “1,000’s of people in the street” to wake us up (or maybe encourage folks to tear themselves away from their phone screens!).
Yes! -protest music that can transport us to a time when vital societal movements came together for civil rights, voting rights, peace, race and gender equality, and the environmental movement. (First listen, then act!)
This song has been referenced so many times in the past couple years. We need today's musicians to come up with some modern genre pieces to take us forward.
Ally, seems like the way folks listen to music has changed dramatically…used to be the radio AM/FM or records/tapes/CD’s….it used to be many folks would listen via the same venue and have a shared experience….now it seems more curated and individualized, thus folks seem not to venture far from their preferences & may not have “new or different” things presented to them….dunno…I’m old school I guess. So many folks sucked in by their smartphone screens, barely looking up and seeing what’s around them….sometimes I people watch in amazement at how “not here” they are in the moment! Sigh. Ha, sound like the old fart I am….
I had this conversation with a friend of mine some years ago about shared experiences watching various TV shows; no DVR/etc. so we all watched the same thing at the same time. Your assessment of music and how we consume it is chillingly accurate. As a confirmed Parrot Head since 1978, that was one artist who could reach a broad base of fans across generations. The experience I had when I found out Jimmy Buffett had died last year was astounding; multigenerational experience of one artist's music and sorrow that the "...music died."
This unofficial directive by Trump, the actions by Grenell are unacceptable.. Both he and Grenall should be arrested, taken into custody by the FBI and charged.. Trump must be told in no uncertain terms that there is only one President at a time..Dems in the house need to have a private back room “talk” with Johnson on the merits of a floor vote on the $60 million aid to Ukraine that should happen immediately..
Sometimes one is faced with an untenable situation that requires actions that are contrary to one’s way of doing things..In as much as I understand the spirit of your remarks, I believe what is required for specific individuals is they be made an offer they can’t refuse..There are a variety of ways to achieve this..I have faith in Leader Hakeem Jeffries to figure out just how and what to deploy..
Sam, my point is that when someone is thinking of changing their way of thinking (leaving MAGA) and is met with the same type of name calling and implications that death/mayhem is needed, they may well decide that the other side is just as bad. While it may feel good in the moment, it cheapens us and gives weight to the idea that both sides are just as bad.
"...we have an out-of-power ex-president who is in effect dictating American foreign policy on behalf of a foreign dictator or with the interests of a foreign dictator in mind.”
This goes beyond merely acting in bad faith and veers towards the criminal.
Every congressperson taking orders from an ex-"president" at the expense of their country is culpable.
In other words, the traitor Trump keeps traitor-ing.
TRUMP: “I think Snowden is a terrible threat, I think he’s a terrible traitor and you know what we used to do in the good old days when we were a strong country, you know what we used to do to traitors right?”
Careful what you wish for, Donny Boy.
Come on Rupert, tell the MAGAts, it’s gonna have to happen soon, if we are to survive.
TFFG is suing the co-founders of Truth Social, the two who proposed the idea to TFFG, claiming that they are entitled to NOTHING. TFFG will do the same to those who vote for him. But, those voters can't see it. It's the first fault in exercising critical thinking processes: confirmation bias. My hero is Melanie Trecek-King, a biology professor at a community college in Mass. She has a website for teaching critical thinking skills. One can start here: https://thinkingispower.com/foundations-in-critical-thinking/
Thank you for this link. At the age of 84, I realize I lack good critical thinking skills. I also believe it's never too late to learn. I never skip the comments section after reading Heather's letter because I learn so much from them too.
Diane, the learning process is a "constant state of becoming." I'm 83, almost 84, and I absolutely love what Melanie Trecek-King is doing. Her program needs to be adopted nation wide at all levels, from grade school to grad school. I am contacting the school boards here in Polk County, Florida, recommending that they begin implementing Melanie's program.
Me toooooo at 85!!!!
It is nice to see familiar names. I haven't seen one name in a while. I believed he gave up trying to spread discord with us. He believed that no children were kidnapped in Ukraine. I sent him articles and he tore apart everyone (without cause)
First rule, when you have been screwed, don't lay yourself wide open again. Second rule, when you see it happen to someone else, beware, and heed the lesson. Thank you
Jeri, it comes back to the critical thinking rule: those who do not learn from past experiences (i.e., major screw-ups, being conned, etc.) are doomed to repeat them. So, I wonder, is the definition of stupid the inability to think critically? I think that it is now obvious that we, as a nation of educators, have failed to teach critical thinking and how democracy works. The white Christian nationalists supporting Trump are mistaken if they think that TFFG will do anything at all for them. If elected, he'll simply be a dictator and dictators never help the masses, they exploit them.
As the saying "First they came for:.......
Thank you Richard, I am huge advocate of deductive reasoning my favorite Jury Instruction.
Related News development, TFFG & Trump Media & Technology (TMTG) Corp have counter-sued its Co-founders, WESLEY (Wes) MOSS & ANDREW (Andy) LITINSKY in Florida after the disclosure of TMTG's 21% loss in 2023 among an internal litigation explosion.
In the category of 'You Can't Make This Up', Andy Moss & Wes Litinsky are former 'Apprentice' contestants. I guess those two were never really "fired".
Per BUSINESS INSIDER today at 1:30 PM Eastern the Stock of the parent company is traded publicly now & listed as "DJT". DJT was trading DOWN another 6.76 % before the NASDAQ close this afternoon.
UPDATED after the 4:00 PM Close, DJTWW was down 10.06%
Footnote: One source says DAVID NUNES is the faux CEO of one of the corporate shells.
Memo to NASDAQ,: Delist DJTWW immediately. No after-hours trading no "dark pool" trading!
Loyalty, Gratitude. Fair. These are terms that are totally alien to the malignant narcissist. And yet, the evangelicals believe that the "evil one" is an instrument of God. G.W. Bush was right on 3-31-2001 when at the White House Correspondents' Dinner he said: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on."
Bryan: Just a clarification-first name is Devin, not David. I had to look it up-LOL!
Thanks. I saw a great bumper sticker yesterday: Demand Evidence, Critical Thinking
Thank you!
This looks very helpful, user-friendly and good for all ages. Thanks so much.
I dove into Thinking is Power at your recommendation, Richard. I have never been a scientist, and in fact all my education is in the creative arts - writing, dancing, theatrical design, painting, singing. However, as a writer I feel obligated to dig deep to find human universalities as opposed to personal whatevers. As such I decided a long time ago to distinguish between what I think, what I believe, and what I know. Turns out I know hardly anything, I believe a few things, and I think a lot about a lot. Trecek-King makes a similar distinction, so of course I love it! Confirmation bias AND consensus. Life is good. No, wait, life stinks, we still hafta get rid of the man who would be king, and I use the term "man" very loosely.
Lauren, you write: " No, wait, life stinks, we still hafta get rid of the man who would be king, and I use the term "man" very loosely."
What we know is this: that "man" is a real threat to our way of life. If he gets power, he'll destroy government and turn it into a weapon to enrich himself (as with Putin) and kill off his political enemies. We've got a problem.
Thank you, Richard. I will check her out. I need some help in that department myself!
Sandra, I need help in the critical thinking department ALL of the time. It is a constant process of re-examination. I wish that it weren't so.
Thank you, Richard! I've learned some of these skills, but I've never seen them all in one place before. I'm going to work my way through!
Wow, I just started at the six most misunderstood words in science! This is excellent knowledge and could end a lot of screaming and offensive arguing! Thank you!!
Something starting with "Critical" seems to be a red flag for the repubs. I just skimmed a few pages, but will certainly read the entire lesson! BTW Richard, I am also up there in age :-)
Great resource, thank you for the link.
Unbelievably, Sean Hannity is probably one American who could actually turn the ship in the channel and get it heading back to democracy. If he wanted to.
There are more than a few, if they were not the most odious of cowards
He lacks proper propulsion and is flagged in a foreign country.
Or maybe Biden should make April Trans Recognition Month. That auta insure a 2nd term — NOT.
First of all, April 1st is Trans Gender Visibility Day while Easter is a transient holiday which is the celebration of Jesus rising from the dead. Really? There are Greek, Roman and Norse mythology stories more believable than this.
Everyday, the administration puts out a list of holidays that various groups celebrate. And Republicans apparently want all LGBTQ people to be invisible.
This morning a talking head on MSNBC called this an "unforced error." So what? This is a "tan suit" moment not a BFD.
Meanwhile Trump tweets his vile BS on Truth Social 77 times and not a peep from most of the MSM. It's totally normal to tweet hate and fear on the two most important Christian holidays but put out a boiler plate memo celebrating a holiday and it's a major faux pas.
Republicans lie that Biden made Sunday a transgender holiday. In fact, on Friday Pres. Biden affirmed the equal rights of some of our most vulnerable neighbors. This is another good reason to vote for Biden.
On Friday, Pres. Biden released a proclamation to “honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect union — where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives.”
There are many reasons to vote for Joe Biden. Including his defense of the constitutional
foundations of our nation. Affirming and defending the equal rights of trans persons is another way Joe Biden defends our democracy.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/01/us/politics/transgender-easter-biden-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.hk0.ZcMV.I925QmA1-T2D&smid=url-share
He's too busy getting married, again.
OMG. Hopefully he's been fixed so they don't propagate.
His betrothed is in her 60s so that isn't an issue. He's fine enough damage with his now adult children.
But,Snowden was not a traitor but a hero who told the American public that we were being illegally spied on by our own government. Where the hell do we turn the corner from immaturity and self-centeredness to adult hood and self educated by actually reading facts. My my oh my I am scared.
We can only hope.
But, but … the optics. Donnie would cast himself as “Nevalny,” when we KNOW he is Putin.
Let’s do it!! Do you want a blindfold donny?
100%
I would buy a ticket to watch that!
https://fedsoc.org/commentary/fedsoc-blog/the-logan-act-an-introduction
Quite fascinating and hopeful article by the Federalist Society. It seems to say that the Secretary of State and not the DOJ brings the case. “My envoy” seems like enough to take action against tffg and Grenell. 🙏🏼. This is NOT political. It’s obviously illegal and shocking even for this madman.
Professor Heather describes the history of the Logan Act. It clearly makes international meddling against internal disputes a crime. This is treason, and agent orange does not care that he is a traitor against the United States.
Sander, the Gang of Six doesn’t believe Trump can be treasonous And there you have it, screwed by Leonard Leo
Actually, not treason, a term that gets tossed around a lot.
How is it not treason? Please give your definition of treason.
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 807; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(2)(J), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148.)
Richard Grennell should be arrested and indicted.
Not just Grennell. Trump, too. The Logan Act says “directly or indirectly.”
I admit I am not certain of this, but I don’t think anyone has ever been prosecuted under the logan act.
I don’t know, either, but I’m almost as certain that Trump won’t be prosecuted under the Logan Act as I am that won’t win the lottery.
I agree GiGi. I also think at this point we take NATO out of the US. I don’t know all the pros and cons of that sort of action but unfortunately, very unfortunately, I do not know how this year’s vote will swing. It is important to protect what we can in case. I’d like to believe there is a lot more of that in different areas going on quietly to protect our country and alliances.
I agree about protecting everything we can from the crazies. NATO’s headquarters are in Brussels. Are you thinking about the UN? It’s a good thought to set up some safe alternate place. Don the con certainly embarrassed us there when he was president.
I’m sorry GGi. I was referring to the Ukrainian part. Didn’t complete that.
“moving the Ukraine Defense Contact Group from U.S. to NATO control.”
Yes, embarrassing is one small trait of the narcissist. He is quite a danger to us, and the US, the World.
DJT and his envoy should be arrested. Especially if he is publicly saying that this is what he is doing. This is treason. Just because the 9 are bought, the public should be aware it is going on and it is against the law. This law and his actions are pretty simple so the public could understand and some would be upset. Sure the Dept of Justice has a lot going, and tffg says he’s being persecuted, but those aren’t reasons to allow treason.
Regarding the Logan Act. The enforcement is generally handled by the State Department.
"Enforcement: While the Logan Act has rarely been enforced, there have been instances where the State Department used it to impose passport suspensions and travel restrictions. Additionally, a U.S. serviceman faced a court martial for conduct barred by the statute.
Prosecutions: Surprisingly, only two people have ever been indicted under the Logan Act—one in 1802 and the other in 1852. Neither of them was convicted.
In summary, the Logan Act remains an intriguing piece of legislation, even though its enforcement has been infrequent over the years."
Don't hold your breath.
The public should be crazy, bat-s**t upset.The public should stop going about their daily lives, feeling they are too busy or "what's the point", and do whatever they can to support the preservation of their rights and freedoms. VOTE BLUE!
I agree GiGi. I also think at this point we take NATO out of the US. I don’t know all the pros and cons of that sort of action but unfortunately, very unfortunately, I do not know how this year’s vote will swing. It is important to protect what we can in case. I’d like to believe there is a lot more of that in different areas going on quietly to protect our country and alliances.
I certainly hope you are right!
And he's doing it (traitor-ing) unimpeded. How is this possible? They have burnt the book of rules (aka the Constitution). And...? The President is trying to govern as though this wasn't happening.
"The rules" have relied on the honor system, and we have no honor here.
Used to be a virtue, now considered a weakness. But even the Mob has its honor code. Find it, and attack.
I think he’s well aware of what’s happening. It’s not like he can just end this by flicking a switch. Notice how HCR does not pile blame for this on Biden. That’s because she knows fighting this is up to all of us.
I agree with you wholeheartedly on all points, and I've removed the ? from my remark to make it clearer. It takes enormous courage, a sharp mind and a steady hand to do what he's doing.
He can't help himself, and the press always laps it up, as you know, Michael.
How about a different course -- one which many schools among the world's democracies might join.
Wherever students are learning English, and are late teens, say, have them write essays, starting with introductions of themselves. Eventually the essays will go as batches to participating other schools. So the self-introductory essays aim for persons in a different culture, maybe a different native language.
But everybody has some common characteristics. All inhabit items of food-clothing-shelter, and all do so by differing styles. (Shelter may include interior design and exterior landscape, plus transportation choices.) Cite the styles first given by family and local community, then other styles as individuals evolve in personal tastes.
That's the story all participating will honor -- how we change in our culture. And how healthy democracies, healthy cultures allow that, prompt it.
Before any essays get sent abroad, students in home rooms read all each other's, then re-write to get good in quoting peers, directly and indirectly for similarities and piquant differences. When the different batches go abroad, same spirit of seeing and enjoying others prevails.
We rely too much, Michael, on national leaders, sensational press, and even worse social media platforms. Students, schools, could promote much better, truly personal literacy. Could cite not only each other, but also works from local and international culture.
Great idea, but as the Buddha said, “You think you have time.” We keep thinking that we have time. We don’t…. Our laws and traditions had better kick in quick.
I am truly frightened
With good reason. The cretins keep plowing through our laws and traditions and with zip respect and so much contempt, which is contagious.
It is a fact in 2024 that the greatest threat to our country’s democracy and constitutional laws lives within our borders. Republicans have long ago abandoned any pretext of living by the laws or within the governing institutions of the United States.
Whether it is tearing down civil rights protections, protecting the environment, providing universal health care, providing for low and middle income people, etc, etc, etc The Republican Party is racing toward an unbending embrace of power and deregulation to keep money in the hands of the top tier wealthy American and perpetuating a caste society. See Isabel Wilkerson’s “Caste.” https://www.isabelwilkerson.com/ or Nikole Hannah-Jones’ “Whitewash” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/13/magazine/civil-rights-affirmative-action-colorblind.html?unlocked_article_code=1.gk0.PKS6.nVeNfig9WmLx&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&ugrp=u&sgrp=c-cb
And please, don’t think these efforts are only targeting people of color. We will all and are all impacted by these egregiously promoted initiatives. Eventually, they will lead to the decline of our civilization as we now know it. Read Margaret Wheatley: Who Do We Choose to Be: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity - https://margaretwheatley.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/MW-WhoDoWeChooseToBe.pdf
How do you hold the liars' feet to the fire when they've burned the truth and turned the good into evil? Fear won't do it. Reject the trash.
Get the truth told, the truth "the heart already knows," and keep on repeating it without fear. And VOTE as if your life depended on it.
I am too, Judy. I am too.
July, I've been in a state of angst since 2016, briefly relieved by the election of Joe Biden. It descended again when McCarthy went down to MaL to kiss the ring, thus resurrecting you know who.
But as Republicans have played the long slow game, others must too, and healthy education is essential. Now and for the future. We need both the long perspective — good thoughtful creative education AND GOTV and countering false info now.
Oh! Diedra, you are right on point. I have been saying this for some years now. It is not an either/or proposition but rather our task in this time. Robert Hubbell and David Pepper commented in a recent Zoom conversation that we are confronted with a generational battle.
All hands on deck
We hosted 12 foreign exchange students through AFS over the years our kids were in school. It was a great experience for our family and the students were young ambassadors for their countries and culture to the local high school. I still remember the wonderful Hungarian student who vigorously debated with his social studies class against the US invading Iraq. Unfortunately, underfunded schools are less likely to accept foreign students and the red tape to host has become more complex through the years. Such programs are an excellent way to promote international understanding.
If I remember rightly, Xi Jinping was once such a foreign student. Alas, it doesn't seem to have made much difference to him or his relationship with the US and the West in general.
Interesting. Too bad, but still worth trying.
. . . and no one dies anything about it!😡
So does the Logan act not apply to Grinell, to Trump, to any of his “lèche bottes”?
Your problem is that the vast majority of Americans have no idea this is going on.
And the vast majority can elect a President.
The vast majority get doctored information. Someone else is manipulating their reality.
Except that it's not the vast majority that elected that one. Twice he's lost what should have got rid of him - the popular vote - because of the Electoral College, plus skulduggery.
Great word "skulduggery".
Isn't the English language wondeful! words like
"filibuster" and "gerrymandering"
And yet we have simple monosyllabic anglo saxon words like "cheat" that encompass all of them. 🙂
Gerrymander has a wonderful etymology. From the Online Etymology Dictionary:
"Gerrymander: 1812, "arrange political divisions in disregard of natural boundaries so as to give one party an advantage in elections," also from 1812 as a noun, American English, from name of Elbridge Gerry + (sala)mander. Gerry, governor of Massachusetts, was lampooned when his party redistricted the state in a blatant bid to preserve an Antifederalist majority. One sprawling Essex County district resembled a salamander, and a newspaper editor dubbed it the Gerrymander. "
So that's it! I never tried a dictionary.
The Online Etymology Dictionary is one of my geeky pleasures.
Don't forget boycott! That word has a great history too.
Good one. And filibuster comes from freebooter - a pirate!
How it works in Texas politics
Brilliant Christopher
So much skulduggery, there is nothing legal about what republicans with the rich help are doing. Sorry Elon, your blather about free speech is just another way of saying that money screams while poor slobs whisper, if they can make any sound at all...
Indeed. Speech is very expensive in our Second Gilded Age.
What happened to the "free" part
It got hit by inflation.
Ain’t that the truth. We are ostriches at this point in time. Head in the sand, with our arses in the air as targets. My granddaughter won’t even have a conversation with me about politics. I get it, she lives, goes to school, works and socializes in a sea of red. She will not vote for chump (I feel sure), but she says they don’t talk about that stuff. A future with blinders on.
Make your conversation with her personal to her. “How would you feel if you could t choose where you go to school? How about if someone told you what jobs you could apply for? If you couldn’t get health care?”
I did that with my daughter yesterday. She's definitely not voting for trump and neither will her husband, but his extended family will again. I told her what Joy Reid said about project 2025 and how Republicans are planning to condemn single women and homosexuality. I told her I worry about her daughter, my granddaughter Ivy's future. That got her attention.
That should get all our attention. It's not a drill.
I talked with my DIL and daughter about the real possibility of prohibition of birth control. Also no one ever plans to get an abortion. I consider that just one action on a spectrum of reproductive health care, which means no immediate treatment for a miscarriage. Both have always been available to young women; they don’t know how relatively recent they are.
Oh, I have, She is a kind, sensitive 21-year-old to be proud of, but she looks like a deer in the headlights if the topic comes up. That's what repubs have given us. I'm old, she knows my history of what life was like for females back in the day.
For some, it takes a wake-up call to be drawn into politics and opposition action. Remember the movie To Have and Have Not?
A wake up call is sorely needed in Texas
That drives me insane. Nobody wants to talk about it as if it will disappear if we don't.
Greg Abbott has people buffaloed in Texas. They color over purple as soon as it appears. Now they are planning to expand the state control over cities. Houston was practically blue, but the cretins can't have that. He has approval because he tries to kill immigrants by any means. Evangelicals love this...
This isn’t just truly SAD - but really frightening!!! Is this really why these early polling results are so close or have chump trump leading Biden in a number of areas - people not paying attention to the political and governmental processes that seem to dominate many of our concerns and daily lives, but for others, they seem or appear to be going about their business of day-to-day living paying NO attention to the potential of a drastic change in the American way of life, if somehow trump winds up as POTUS again?
POLLS. If you do not know how the question in the poll was asked;. .......and you do not know who is paying for that poll.; it is not worth reading .
Marcia (and Frank), it seems that the current state of polling, except the polls we conduct at the ballot box, makes it a nearly impossible task. There are simply too many media on which people communicate with different demographic segments of the population tending to use different platforms. Perhaps a poll via email, landlines, cell phones, snail mail, Messenger, YouTube, MSOutlook, Gmail, TikTok, X (formerly known as Twitter), etc with each medium weighted by the percentage of users likely in each of the demographics of the US population and then add in just who sponsored the poll. As above, I have seen nothing perhaps beyond the ballot box which remotely resembles with any scientific accuracy the preferences of the US population...and even our ballot boxes have biases built in by state and local governments and personnel, however, that seems not to matter once the ballot is cast.
You might google Simon Rosenberg to get a more detailed looked at polling trends. The trend is looking better for Dems and Biden than the "other side"
Thanks, I’ve been aware of Mr. Rosenberg’s work for sometime. I realize that we’re a long way out from Labor Day, September and the final run up to the November election - but these polls and their results do tend to have a sway on the uninformed, general population, whether they are registered voters - or not. But again, thanks for pointing that out. [I’ve seen so little of Canada; it’s on my places to visit list.]
As long as nobody is bombing their abode, all is well. Business as usual. The looming catastrophe can be ignored if it's not pissing on you at the moment. But groceries are high. I enlightened by sister-in-law about why the poor get poorer and the rich get richer
I try to explain this to whomever will listen. Sometimes on dead ears.
While the polls are frightening, they haven’t been borne out in the ballot box. In a way, it’s better if they bring home how close this might be - we don’t have any margin for complacency.
Do you not recall how ridiculously wrong the polls were in 2020?
I think your granddaughter has rhe right idea. In my household, voting was encouraged from my kid's earliest days when my wife and I would take them into the booth with us but, as they aged, the rule was that no one was ever to divulge how they voted.
Good point but she won’t even talk to me. She is talking to somebody. And in red Texas, that can be problematic. We have a good relationship, but …
Don't let Trump or Biden ruin that relationship.
I most assuredly won't. Chump has ruined enough, more than any losses in my long life
My spouse and I do not discuss politics. He spent 35 years drinking the Kool-Aid of a large corporation.
I am reading these days savy women won't date Republican men.
I subtly ask about the significant others that are on the periphery
Even mainstream centrist media like the NYT and WAPO aren't reporting these things nearly enough, let alone the Fox News et al.
In any case, there are about a solid 30% of Americans who support such goings on and evidently don't care about law-breaking. They would welcome an authoritarian regime, as long as it's led by their own side.
"as long as" is the operative phrase....
Which is why I cancelled my subscription to both!
I have a love-hate relationship with the NYT. Some of its investigations are very good, and personally, I do appreciate being able to read conservative commenters without having to log onto a Trumpist website, but I'm discouraged by its glaring holes in coverage. WAPO I cancelled. Not worth it and Jeff Bezos is rich enough.
Well, that someone else is no secret. Rupert Murdoch was and still is the billionaire who has led the way for misinformation, disinformation and gaslighting. He ranks right at the top of my list of evil people followed by the likes of Trump, Leonard Leo, Mitch McConnell, Elon Musk, Rebecca & Robert Mercer, Clarence Thomas. This is just a short list. Actually I think Chief Justice Roberts belongs on that list since he may present a less out their personality he has been the author of Citizens United Court decisions.
Yes. Bots are everywhere online.
Even here on Substack.
'Trump-proofing weapons for Ukraine: Allies consider moving arms group into NATO
Officials are expected to discuss gradually moving the organization — called the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — into the alliance’s control.' (Politico)
By LARA SELIGMAN, STUART LAU and PAUL MCLEARY, Updated: 04/02/2024 02:55 PM EDT
'The U.S. and other Western countries are considering transferring to NATO a U.S.-led multinational group that coordinates the shipment of weapons to Ukraine, one of several new proposals that could help maintain the flow of arms to Kyiv under a second Donald Trump presidency.'
'During the NATO foreign ministerial meeting in Brussels Wednesday and Thursday, officials are expected to discuss a range of options, including gradually moving the organization — called the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — into the alliance’s control, according to three European officials and a U.S. official with knowledge of the internal deliberations. The goal would be to finalize the move at the NATO leaders’ summit in Washington in July, one of the officials said.'
'A second U.S. official said that another proposal would give NATO a more formalized seat at the table within the Ukraine group, as opposed to moving it under NATO control. The idea, from the U.S. side, would be to strengthen the ties between NATO and Ukraine for long-term support, the official said.'
'The Ukraine group was launched in the early weeks of the war by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and then-Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. Mark Milley to coordinate Western support for Kyiv’s defenses. It’s credited with speeding tens of billions of dollars in equipment, weapons and other aid to Ukraine that have been critical in staving off Russian forces.'
The discussions about NATO’s involvement with the group are happening “at very senior levels,” with the goal of formalizing European and alliance support for Kyiv, said the U.S. official, adding that one consideration heading into U.S. and European elections is to make the group “more enduring.”
'Defense Department spokesperson Maj. Charlie Dietz declined to confirm the discussions, saying DOD had' “no new announcements to make regarding the format or structure” 'of the group.'
“We are constantly discussing how we can ensure that our support for Ukraine is sustained and how we can organize the support in the best possible way,” 'Dietz said.'
'Transferring the group to NATO would be a significant move toward cementing Western support for Ukraine’s war for the foreseeable future, amid Europe’s fear of the return of Trump to the White House. In the near term, domestic politics in the U.S. and other countries is already threatening to cut off funding to send Kyiv additional weapons.'
'Formalizing the group within NATO would go a long way toward protecting support for Ukraine from changes in U.S. and Western governments, experts said — and particularly from Trump.'
“There’s a feeling among, not the whole group but a part of the NATO group, that thinks it is better to institutionalize the process just in case of a Trump re-election,” 'said Jim Townsend, a former Pentagon and NATO official.' “And that’s something that the U.S. is going to have to get used to hearing, because that is a fear, and a legitimate one.
“Pulling this under NATO kind of isolates it from a Trump presidency, or even from a U.S. that might get distracted by China and can’t keep it going or can’t get his own funding act together,” 'he added.'
'If successful, the move would be the latest among a series of actions taken to shore up institutions in anticipation of another Trump presidency. Late last year, lawmakers approved a law to require congressional approval if a future president tried to pull out of NATO, and are considering further protection measures.'
'Austin and Milley established the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the spring of 2022, weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine. The idea was to bring together defense chiefs from various Western countries to discuss what weapons and other military aid to send to Kyiv.'
'The monthly closed-door meeting, attended either virtually or in-person at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, has been a central force in equipping Ukraine with everything from modern battle tanks to F-16 fighter jets. Apart from NATO allies, the contact group also includes about 20 other like-minded countries from outside the Euro-Atlantic theater.'
'However, the group has run into obstacles in recent months as U.S. funding for Ukraine dried up. The Pentagon said in December it would not be able to send any additional weapons from its stockpiles until Congress appropriated additional funds for the war effort. The Senate passed a $95 billion supplemental package including additional aid for Ukraine, but the legislation has been stalled in the House for months.'
'The Pentagon cobbled together a new $300 million package of aid last month, including much-needed artillery and air defenses, by using cost savings from previous contracts. This allowed DOD to send additional weapons without harming U.S. military readiness.'
'The package will include a number of Army Tactical Missile Systems that can travel 100 miles and carry warheads containing cluster bomblets, POLITICO first reported. Ukraine has been asking for more of the missiles for months in order to attack targets deep inside Russian front lines.'
'But DOD officials now say they cannot send additional aid until Congress passes the supplemental.'
“As you’ve seen us continue to urge, the most important thing that we want to see Congress pass is the supplemental,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said on Monday. “Hopefully, when the House is back in session next week, they will bring it to the floor, and then we can continue getting out those [packages] regularly.”
'Julianne Smith, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, said the focus is on getting Ukraine additional ammunition and air defenses.'
“So that tends to be the focus of our discussions, both in the US-led UDCG and among allies here in NATO headquarters, the way in which that we can ensure that the Ukrainians continue to have the upper hand and see success on the battlefield is to keep that assistance flowing,” 'Smith said.' (Politico) Copied in full.
Why not just open a personal substack as an alternative to multi-page comments? I like writing comments too, but when they exceed a page in length, they take on a life of their own and the comment section becomes something other than a response to or reflection of the actual author's content.
Just Sayin', The article that I posted was listed in HCR's 'Notes:' and one she referred to at the end of today's Letter. If reading in-depth analysis and detailed reports don't appeal to you, just move on to something more to your taste and level of concentration.
Thank You for this article, Fern.
MaryPat, I was hoping to see you on Sunday. Hello!!! Now -- it is a brighter Wednesday.
Right back at you, Fern!
I would like to add a link to Applebaum's article on 2/29/24 in the Atlantic:
'The former president isn’t in office—but is still dictating U.S. policy.'
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/02/one-global-issue-trump-cares-about/677592/
I can cut and paste as well as the next bloke, but choose not to. Maybe just tighten it up and list your attestations at the bottom, like the inimitable HCR…
Fern, I appreciate your efforts, but why not just post Prof. Richardson's link & suggest that everyone read it?
Six of one, half dozen of the other, but many subscribers have read it posted in full, so maybe it is the better way!
I have a very limited amount of time to read substacks. I prefer to look up Prof. Richardson's references myself, if it is is something I want to read. My taste and level of concentration may not be up to your standards, but they're mine.
"Level of concentration", a bit judgmental?
Unlike two instructions from the self-appointed style editor.
Rude.
I don't understand your reply. I hope it's not my low level of concentration. :-)
I wondered why Fern would take the trouble to copy and post an article rather than just "linking" it. I really should ask her directly, but I've decided one such reason is maybe to circumvent a publication's paywall. I'm not sure if this is true, but it satisfied my curiosity enough to think she was providing a service for those who possibly cannot afford to pay for lots of subscriptions?
Lynell, there isn't a paywall for that article. I thought copying it in full provided immediate elaboration on ways around Trump. Clearly, and most importantly, is getting that supplemental funding for Ukraine passed.
Thank you, Fern, for all you do.
Right back at you, Lynell. Thank you.
Just Sayin', I for one do not object to what and how Fern shares material. I have the choice to either read it or not. Many times she bypasses a firewall (and many times when she posts a link to either a Times or Post piece but is out of gift "shares" I will share it from my own account when I have a gift left.) It is pertinent to share what the Professor uses for references, since some of us (raises hand) don't look at the references. I would much rather have that than the endless (it seems) self-promotion of one's personal page or blog.
The tuba player that I know sounds as good as my nephew, and that is major!
Why isn’t the Logan Act being enforced? Seems there are clear violations.
Thank you Fern!!Thank you for the information!!👍
Fern, thank you for once again providing your usual highly detailed reporting to us in this forum! As I read through your comment I was struck by how totally gratified any narcissist would be to know he had not only dominated political conversations and national news in the United States but to have further confirmation of how important he was that the entire international order was trying to make plans to deal with him, no matter how crazy or misinformed his ideas might be! ...an astonishing result for a character-disordered individual!
Thank you!
Fern, thank you very much for this text. It breaks my WWII-UN heart, but at least it may help some people understand “traitor,” which is what every member of Congress who voted against certifying the election is, and Grenell and his boss most certainly are. The sooner they lose power and Biden’s policies for Ukraine and for US are in place, the better.
Thank you for posting this Fern. I probably would not have read it otherwise.
Likewise, Jeanne.
Thank you, Jeanne. I hoped that it would be more easily read if copied in full.
Fern, what do you think of the news of Czechoslovakia working up a munitions deal for Ukraine? How's that coming along?
When President Nixon impeded the peace efforts in 1968, possibly costing Senator Humphrey (the much better man) the presidency, President Johnson evidently knew about it and said, I believe, to Senator Dirksen that what President Nixon was doing was treason. This getting authoritarian ducks in a row by Trump is a whole lot worse. Craven quislings like bullies; maybe it works better for them than viagra. I still have faith that the great majority of Americans want our republic to continue and that Trump will lose.
The trouble is, even if he loses he might win.
He lost before, and yet his arse is still busy throwing a monkey wrench into all our lives.
Yes, Jeri and I am so sick of it.
He will always win the hearts and minds of bigots and fascists. But IMO, that's not enough.
As long as the Orange Clown is alive, he will be spewing his venomous lies. But karma is at work. His business empire is soon to be drained of cash and taken out of his control. He wont be able to sell enough bibles or golden sneakers to bail himself out. He will be revealed as the failure we always knew he is.
And then there is his self destructive inability to shut up. Judges will ultimately become angry enough to take action.
A con man can't hurt thousands of people, can't humiliate almost every person around him, can't betray his country for personal gain, can't stiff employees and contractors over and over again, can't call veterans losers - a con man can't do all that and worse - and not reap the poisoned crop he has sown. Karma always happens. It just takes too long.
Modern media, modern tech, modern life in general - all have trained us to demand immediate gratification. There was a time not too long ago, when we waited until we got home to get our "messages". There was a time when we would communicate with letters. We waited weeks or even months to get things done. I had an aunt who played chess by mail.
More and more MSM and SM "journalists" and talking heads are noticing Trump's erratic behavior. Word salad speeches with names of people confused. The truth is out there. Project 2025 and its fascist goals are being mentioned more often. Women are NOT going to accept restrictions on reproductive freedom.
It is all coming to a head like a national zit.
Do you wonder why he is not trying to attract new voters to his clan? He only has about 30% of the voters. What does he know, what gives him the confidence to act like his winning the election is in the bag? What have they promised him?
I don't think he's much of a strategist at all.
Exactly.
How would Trump win if he loses? Do you mean financially?
Like in 2020, he rules because repubs have signed on to treason.
Ned, it’s not unlike his first “victory”—he lost the popular vote by millions! It is frustrating to me that a handful of “swing” states can decide an election via the Electoral College system and by not very many total votes therein overall. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact gives some hope for the future, but not enough states have signed on yet & who knows if it might be challenged if eventually successful.
Ned, he wins as long as we and MSM are talking about him instead of more useful news.
Great point. Gee, what is wrong with this picture (of Dorian Gray)????
We are in the embryonic stage of World War III.
We talk about Trump.
Women's and, possibly quite soon, others' rights are under attack by a corrupted Supreme Court operating without formal ethics and accountability.
We talk about Trump
The country is insolvent.
We talk about Trump.
President Biden is doing a fine job of restoring some of the battered guardrails of republican governance.
We talk about Hunter.
There is a crisis, not of migrants, but of fentanyl at the border.
We talk about Trump.
The world may be asphyxiating itself and President Biden is trying to avert that sad eventuality.
We talk about Trump AND Hunter.
Gun violence and threats of violence are spiralling out of control.
We talk about Trump.
President Biden restores N.A.T.O. seeks to lead the defense of democracies.
We talk about Hunter.
Half the world is going hungry or facing possible hunger in the near future.
We talk about Trump.
Young teens are diminished by, and exploited on, the social media.
We talk about Trump.
American electoral politics is drowning in moneyed corruption.
We talk about Trump.
China threatens the Philippines and North Korea threatens Japan.
We talk about Trump.
President Biden has done a great job getting the economy back on its feet.
We talk about Hunter.
Ned, Very well-articulated!
He can lose the popular vote but win the election.
I mean literally - by denying the legitimate election results and installing himself in the Oval Office by whatever means necessary.
Will not happen. The Army would step in and arrest him.
Talia, he has truly redefined "A Loser"!
'Opinion: Trump’s anti-Ukraine view dates to the 1930s. America rejected it then. Will we now?' (WAPO, by Robert Kagan Editor at large)
'Many Americans seem shocked that Republicans would oppose helping Ukraine at this critical juncture in history. Don’t Republican members of Congress see the consequences of a Russian victory, for America’s European allies, for its Asian allies and ultimately for the United States itself? What happened to the party of Ronald Reagan? Clearly, people have not been taking Donald Trump’s resurrection of America First seriously. It’s time they did.'
'The original America First Committee was founded in September 1940. Consider the global circumstances at the time. Two years earlier, Hitler had annexed Austria and invaded and occupied Czechoslovakia. One year earlier, he had invaded and conquered Poland. In the first months of 1940, he invaded and occupied Norway, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands. In early June 1940, British troops evacuated from Dunkirk, and France was overrun by the Nazi blitzkrieg. In September, the very month of the committee’s formation, German troops were in Paris and Edward R. Murrow was reporting from London under bombardment by the Luftwaffe. That was the moment the America First movement launched itself into the battle to block aid to Britain.'
'Cutting off Ukraine seems like small beer by comparison, but behind it lies the same' “America First” 'thinking. For Donald Trump and his followers, pulling the plug on Ukraine is part of a larger aim to end America’s broader commitment to European peace and security. America’s commitment to NATO, Trump believes, should be conditional, at best: Russia can do “whatever the hell they want” to allies who do not pay their fair share and meet certain defense-spending objectives.'
'Other Republicans don’t even mention conditions. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has called for the immediate reduction of U.S. force levels in Europe and the abrogation of America’s common-defense Article 5 commitments. He wants the United States to declare publicly that in the event of a' “direct conflict” between Russia and a NATO ally, America will “withhold forces.” 'The Europeans need to know they can no longer “count on us like they used to.” Elbridge Colby, a former Trump Pentagon official praised by Hawley, has written widely (and wrongly) that United States cannot defend both East Asia and Europe and that Europeans must fend for themselves because, as he put it in a recent social media post,' “Asia is more important than Europe.” He said, “If we have to leave Europe more exposed, so be it.”
'Can Republicans really be returning to a 1930s worldview in our 21st-century world? The answer is yes. Trump’s Republican Party wants to take the United States back to the triad of interwar conservatism: high tariffs, anti-immigrant xenophobia, isolationism. According to Russ Vought, who is often touted as Trump’s likely chief of staff in a second term, it is precisely this' “older definition of conservatism,” 'the conservatism of the interwar years, that they hope to impose on the nation when Trump regains power.'
'So it’s time to take a closer look at the 1930s conservative mentality and the America First movement it spawned.'
'Republican anti-interventionism of those interwar years' — “isolationism” 'as critics called it — was less a carefully considered strategic doctrine than an extension of their battles against domestic opponents. Yes, there were self-proclaimed' “realists” 'in the late 1930s assuring everyone that the United States was invulnerable and that events in Asia, where Japan was also on the rampage, and Europe need not endanger American security. Those' “realists” 'chided their fellow Americans for a' “giddy”' moralism and emotionalism in response to Nazi and Japanese aggression that prevented them from dealing “with the world as it is,” as historian Charles Beard put it. George F. Kennan, an anti-liberal conservative who served in the American Embassy in Prague, at the time applauded the Munich settlement and praised the Czechs for eschewing the' “romantic” 'course of resistance in favor of the' “humiliating but truly heroic one of realism.”
'This' “realism” 'meshed well with anti-interventionism. Americans had to respect' “the right of an able and virile nation [i.e. Nazi Germany] to expand,” 'aviator Charles Lindbergh argued. The leading Republican of his day, Ohio Sen. Robert Taft, ridiculed those who expressed fears of advancing fascism. The United States could not be ranging' “over the world like a knight errant,” 'protecting “democracy and ideals of good faith” 'and tilting,' “like Don Quixote, against the windmills of fascism.” 'The world was' “big enough to contain all kinds of different ways of life.” (WAPO) See gifted link below.
https://wapo.st/4aFjphE
It's an extraordinary turnaround to find myself making common cause with a neoconservative historian like Robert Kagan.
In passing, Article 5, which Josh Hawley is trying to torpedo, has only been invoked once in the history of NATO - by the USA after the 9/11 attacks. NATO members responded and rallied round their beleaguered ally.
My reaction was very similar to yours, Sophie. While I did not agree with every point Kagan made, his Opinion was enlightening and well informed. It called out the right-wing and could get some who may consider voting for DJT, to think again.
'He writes a monthly column on world affairs for The Washington Post. During the 2016 U.S. presidential election campaign, Kagan left the Republican Party due to the party's nomination of Donald Trump and endorsed the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, for president.[8]' (Wikipedia)
Fern McBride,
Appreciate every word you have shared on Heather's subtract. You are a great American!!!
I am so concerned at the blindness of the Republican Party and those men and women who have made money off of our strengths and opportunities....who are so willing to sell the soul of our nation! This is not a comment on our being always a good and kind people but we are a blessed nation in spite of ourselves. We have produced some great leaders and great citizens who have given themselves to work for peace and to "Build Back Better".
Putin is working through Trump and others to extend Russian territory to include the USA. What an accomplishment for him!!! Without a battle...maybe threats...maybe a few murders ...etc. He is using the mindless empty Donald Trump who dishonors the Christian faith....who "spits" on our Constitution.
I am just a very simple and plan American....of small significance, YET even I can see this!!! Why is he allowed to run for President? He is a lawless person. He has no respect for this country...only to use it and its legal system for his benefit....which Putin delights in.....and every Dictator .....
Emily, please don't underestimate yourself; your engagement, support for democracy, the truth and all advocates of equality, justice and liberty...these are vital to citizenship and getting the job done!
If only two more Republicans switch parties or resign, Hakeem Jeffries will be Speaker and Congress can finally get something done.
For years, I have been urging Susan Collins to switch parties. If she had we wouldn't have had the lying sexual predator Kavanaugh as Associate Justice.
I sent a similar email this morning requesting Don Bacon switch parties. He is in trouble in the polls living in a Biden district, and he's one of the few reasonably intelligent Republicans who isn't as cowardly as most of the other Republicans.
His silence, like that of my Rep, Dave Joyce, R-OH, makes him, and all the rest, complicit in the ongoing attempt at overthrowing the United States. Until they loudly, and PUBLICLY!!, denounce trump and the MAGAts, they are guilty of treason.
I don't disagree, but it doesn't hurt to remind them of that.
Joyce gets an email from me almost daily.
All this is very interesting, since isn't a strong military a prime Republican long term policy stance.
Trump is a regular citizen and has no authority or business given orders to congress. Members of the Republican congress should know about the Logan act law.
Who would enforce this law? Seems we have laws in place which trump and company get away with daily. No one holds them accountable. Every day I’m sickened by the way he manipulates our justice system. Judge’s make attempts to rein him in but a little fine here and there means nothing to him. He gets away with everything. And we are told daily they are working on their plans to put him in office even if he loses. He breaks the law and then it’s “ so what”!! He just keeps on keeping on. How will this movement be stopped?
They know, they don’t care.
Nixon did the same thing over the Vietnam War. He conveyed the message that South Vietnam’s forces should stand firm in the war, and he and Kissinger wound up prolonging the war by five years.
Nixon's presidential portrait should be drenched in blood. His quest for power had such a horrible cost, outweighed any sin that LBJ committed by following the "smartest men in the room."
...it goes beyond the criminal to being treasonous!
Annabel, we also have a powerful private citizen who has undermined US foreign policy in Elon Musk. He shut down Starlink at a critical moment to thwart a Ukrainian attack on the Russian Black Sea fleet.
Traitorous, call it what it is, MSM.
This does not veer toward the criminal and national security, it is treason and should be prosecuted as such; yes, another set of indictments for TFG NOW; not next year, not next month, NOW MERRICK GARLAND!
How we can help Ukraine
From Timothy Snyder
https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/the-challenge-of-6?r=dvsxz&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
In the short run, U.S. voters can make phone calls to make sure that American does the right thing. Mark your calendar for a day next week and a day following week to call your Congressional representative.
Right now we can make donations that will help Ukrainians defend themselves, survive, and make sense their experience for the rest of us.
1. Safe Skies. This is passive drone-detection system that allows Ukrainians to detect drones and cruise missiles in time to shoot them down. President Zelens'kyi just posted some photos of that end of the operation. Thanks to thousands of people, including many of you here, I was able (with support from some great historian colleagues) to raise enough money to protect eight Ukrainian regions with five thousand sensors (map here). Ukraine needs 12,000 total sensors to protect the entire country, so 7,000 more. The technology is inexpensive and effective. I have seen it at work. It saves lives. This is a very direct way that you can help Ukrainians protect themselves. Just go to this page and hit the button "Protect Ukrainian Skies."
Donate to Safe Skies
https://u24.gov.ua/safeskies?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
2. Razom for Ukraine. This is an American 501(c)3 that carries out important policy advocacy work in Washington DC and around the country. Aside from their terrific advocate team, they have a large group of volunteers who work tirelessly with Ukrainian NGOs to deliver aid and supplies to Ukraine. I have worked together with their great team on events for years and am always filled with admiration of their energy, efficacy, and devotion. A donation to them is a very safe bet. Please visit their page and donate.
Donate to Razom
https://www.razomforukraine.org/
3. Come Back Alive Foundation. More and more I hear from people who wish to help the Ukrainian army directly. A Ukrainian NGO that supplies soldiers on the front with what they need is Come Back Alive. They have been doing this job since the first Russian invasion and are very well reputed and highly reliable. You can see their fundraisers here.
Donate to Come Back Alive
https://savelife.in.ua/en/about-foundation-en/
4. 1 Team 1 Fight Foundation. This is a group with some very active European volunteers who have shown their mettle and devotion in getting supplies to the front in Ukraine. They are also an American 501(c)3. You can find their campaigns here.
Donate to 1 Team 1 Fight
https://linktr.ee/1t1f
5. Liberty Ukraine Foundation. Here we have a small group of (mostly) Texans who have done a great job in delivering humanitarian and military aid to Ukrainians. You can find their current projects here. They are a US 501(c)3.
Donate to Liberty Ukraine
https://www.libertyukraine.org/
6. Documenting Ukraine. As many of you will know, I helped establish this project to support Ukrainian scholars, journalists, writers, artists, photographers, librarians, archivists, and others who are documenting the war, each according to their own talents and following their own projects. We have given grants to 360 Ukrainians at this point, and are aiming for 500 by the end of the year. (One of those 360 was Mstyslav Chernov, the director of 20 Days in Mariupol, which just won an Oscar). I am proud of this effort to give Ukrainians a voice and to create a record of the war in real time and across multiple media. You can donate here. This is also a US 501(c)3.
Donate to Documenting Ukraine
https://www.iwm.at/documenting-ukraine/donors
Thank you so much, lin for this list of links! I am encouraged by knowing these groups exist and how they are helping. It goes some way to relieving the angst I feel daily over tffg’s endless traitorous, illegal acts.
I am wondering whether someone (ie the Justice Department) is taking action to arrest this agent of Treacherous-treasonous-traitorous-tantruming-Trump. I hope so. It is shocking how much treasonous behavior is being tolerated by Republicans.
We all must be supporting treasonous behavior. Wouldn't it stop otherwise!
I did not vote for a single person who engages in treasonous behavior, so I don't think so. I vote, I write and speak out against it, but I don't work in the justice department. However, your point is well taken. I am Portugal and mainly living in Germany. I vote through Democrats Abroad Germany, and try to recruit people. I am also alerting other Americans Abroad who feel like they got away and don't need to worry about it, that is matters. And, I am writing to my elected representatives when I can. This might be a case where I need to ask them what they are doing about it. I will start with President Biden.
The Logan Act yes
Of course they’ll scream bloody Moses
The force needs help concentrating attacks where the operatives working against it are exposed more publicly.
Good point. Any attempt to have the rule-of-law regarding Trump et al is apt to serve as incentive/justification for violent rhetoric and/or action. We have to understand what is possible and be prepared.
I take issue with the phrase "an out-of-power ex-president," because the person in question clearly HAS power. It's a shadow government, un-elected, and it does its business in opposition to the clearly expressed wish of the populace, and its elected government.
And like so many on this forum said just the other day, trump's power is coming from all his enablers, primarily in congress, as well as the voter base. They had the power to stop him back in 2016 when they could have chosen not to represent the gop in that year's election. The DNC bumped Sanders for Hillary. They chose not to impeach him or have him tried for obvious crimes. The gop has passed on every opportunity to free themselves of the creep. Power must be an incredibly potent drug because just like an addict will sacrifice everything and everyone around them for a fix, these people are sacrificing our democracy for short-lived power hits. They may not be traitors in the legal sense, but their actions and inactions are traitorous just the same.
It doesn’t veer toward the criminal, it IS criminal. Trump violates the requirement to register as an agent of a foreign power with every breath he wheezes. Not to mention the Logan Act.
I’d love to see Grenell charged with the Logan Act—it just at might dissuade the Victor Orban group of Congress Critters from contacting him further.
Why isn’t the Logan Act being enforced? Is this one of the guardrails that has been eclipsed? If so, when did that happen? And if it has not been challenged the way it is today, what is the backstory? I’m reminded of a Timothy Snyder admonition to not pre-obey fascist movements and also of the habitual timidity of those who should be enforcing our laws against an insurrectionist movement.
The more they pull their punches (the Senate in the two Trump impeachments, Merrick Garland on many occasions, the appeals court that reduced the size of Trump’s bond without explanation, SCROTUS’s unanimous decapitation of the 14th Amendment’s disqualifying of an oath breaking insurrectionist). The list could go on, but I’ll stop here. What’s the story with the Logan Act?
Just why is the US government tiptoeing around an ex-president who behaves like a traitor to the country?The son of a bitch should be in prison and yet he's out shooting his mouth off, undermining the current administration and doing it all with impunity?
That tear in the curtain began long before Trump. All those Reagan Republicans tend to forget his secret dealings with Iran to hold off releasing the American hostages until after the election against President Carter. And the tearing continues.
Yes, Rick! Where is the outrage??? Where are the march's, protests, letter campaigns against the House Repubs, and against TFG for showing Biden tied up! Why doesn't the Logan law prevail? Ugh!
I think we all want to know why this traitor isn’t in jail! Judge Merchan needs to revoke his bail & put him in jail. If his thugs try to riot, they will be dealt with!
The question is possibly who has standing to bring a prosecution. Probably the attorney general, and I imagine they are discussing it.
If Attorney General Garland has the authority to enforce the Logan Act, he should act on this immediately.
..... he should act on this immediately. if not sooner.
Immediately, Patricia!
Jerry, that’s my question as well….who, exactly, has standing to initiate such action and bring it to fruition? If it requires the House or Senate to act, good luck with that as they seem to be becalmed of any action at all these days.
Sounds like a discussion for a Tuesday afternoon HCR live session.
the way things are 'working out'....I don't think so.
The Republicans’ loyalty is to Trump, not to the constitution they took an oath to uphold.
Outrageous!!
Gary, I think that 45 overwhelmed the Judiciary Committee with his continuous disregard of laws and norms. I wrote over and over again to the head of the Judiciary Committee (Jerry Nadler) about the Emolument clause being ignored by 45, but just got the standard form letter.
Right now, it seems that there's a need to tread carefully until we can get the election settled on the side of democratic rule-of-law. We also need to be united, understanding that we have important differences that we can address and resolve once we secure our nation.
I’ve thought that might be a strategy to avoid a MAGA escalation beyond tfg. We would be in much better shape if we elect a solid Democratic trifecta that can pass new laws to protect democracy and our rights as citizens. This speculation is “beyond my pay grade.” But no matter what happens we have to dig in and overwhelmingly elect democrats.
I am worried about the weakening of the Democrats due to Republican measures designed to split the vote because of the extremely serious issues like Gaza & Israel atrocities. There is no prospect for justice or rule-of-law if Democrats don't prevail.
I once read a comment from a community organizer who said that the worst thing that organizers do is to exclude people who agree on 90% of the issue—example given was climate change activists who excluded anyone who wasn’t vegan.
Definitely overwhelmed the judiciary, the DOJ, and everything else.
I needed a reminder, emolument clause, "generally prohibits federal officeholders from receiving any gift, payment, or other thing of value from a foreign state or its rulers, officers, or representatives."
Sandra, that’s true. So, on day 1, he had foreign leaders staying at Trump Towers. Very soon after, he continued selling apartments to foreign leaders. In addition, he kept a lot of the gifts that, in prior administrations, would have been turned over.
The list could go on…and on….and on
Wonderful response. Thank you
Why hasn't he been charged? I'd never heard of the Logan Act until just now, but it seems like the perfect moment to invoke it.
It might help to continue mentioning it. The more we get used to treachery the more it grows.
Treachery? More like treason.
My guess would be that the Department of Justice wants to avoid inflaming the situation.
Too bad we don't have an Attorney General who isn't Casper Milquitoast.
Oh, but we do, as conservative (now former) Representative Ken Buch (R-CO) point out in defiance of the bully brigade on the House Judiciary Committee. This are really tense and, with the Trump peddling the meddling canard constantly, such an indictment with actions related to the campaign might cause open riots by the M.A.G.A.s.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5089395/user-clip-representative-ken-buck-decorum
3½min.vid.
While I do not see that occurring, if there is, say, a one in three or four chance of civil conflict occurring, Attorney General Garland my be exercising prudence in picking his battles and their timing.
Open riots by MAGAts should be met with with what they should have gotten on January 6. "For the encouragement of the rest."
Authority has looked the other way too often, or diverted its attention to less serious threats. Thereby, letting the worse offenders slip/slide into every crack.
Fear of conflict can bring on conflict, ask Chamberlain. As much as I agree with Churchill’s comment that to “jaw, jaw is better than to war, war,” there does come a time when the hostage takers/cult have to be confronted.
Ned, that’s why they should go after Grenell instead of 45–and then go after the next one he sends… It’s not right to not go after 45, but it would have the same effect.
Too late. It's inflamed.
Inflaming? We used to be a country of laws, what happened?
A spineless but charismatic narcissist, propped up by very very very rich conservative people who want "their" country back, fed their fascism to adoring crowds and promised them that he was the only one who could bring them retribution. For what? For whatever unfairness or ills had ever befallen them. A powerful message, apparently.
I don't know if you deliberately used 'Grendel' instead of 'Grennel', but in any case, it's an inspired typo.
Sophie—good catch! I wish that I’d been that knowingly inspired, but no, it was either my subconscious talking or a typo.
Subconscious talking to your fingers, most likely. That's a brain switch, not a muscle switch.
Your subconscious rocks!
Love it!
The Logan Act should be put on our list of things to reform and update. “…..shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.” Lame.
William, good idea to update the Logan Act!
But that would take milquetoast Merrick taking some clear, strong action …
Joe, I agree. I think that Merrick would have been a good centrist Supreme Court judge, but he’s been a disappointment as an Attorney General.
I would to.
They are probably not aware of it. We should send them today’s letter. For that matter, this needs to be addressed loudly across the nation. Grenell needs to be arrested with cameras rolling and full declaration of the Logan Act. The names of all the colluding Congressional participants named in all caps. (Autocorrect changed name to “Grendel.” Clever, eh?)
Sue, autocorrect may explain how I had it in my original post (although it didn’t interfere when I went back to correct it).
Trump meeting with Orbon has a similar flavor to it. This article seems to hint there is so much going on with Trump that now is not a good time to add another indictment. But that doesn't mean Grenell ought to be given a pass.
https://www.ft.com/content/c8772ca9-072d-4e18-9277-d8fdc8ef7b9c
There’s a paywall, so couldn’t read it. Here’s one from PBS: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/show/why-trumps-meeting-hungarys-orban-is-a-bit-controversial
Trump 4 years ago stating his interpretation of the Logan act. So he does know about it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coxqUrZDtzc
How can it possibly be legal for an ex president to work against our current president and weaken our status in the world? And why isn’t anything being done to make sure the majority of America know this is happening? Is anyone doing anything to stop this behavior?
And why isn’t this getting major attention?
I think it is getting attention but there is too much going on, not to mention all of the dis-information. Makes it hard for people to focus on this issue, perhaps any issue.
Agree, Ned, just like the whole Project 2025 plan (which at first I thought might be a spoof by the Onion!) there is so much, um, ketchup being thrown at the wall it’s hard to focus, or even see, the danger right in front of us. Just like the issue of climate change needing to be an integral part of news/information discussion, it’s the herd of elephants in the room that many ignore—tho to be fair, some ARE starting to stress the issue. Hopefully it will happen for political/national security issues as well.
One piece of good news. I have seen Miss Cassidy Hutchinson speaking out against a re-election of Trump. I hope she is not living in too much fear. Brave young lady standing up to Trump's rag-tag S.A.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ydNUvaona8
Ned, I find it intriguing that the ones with the “balls” to stand up for truth and honesty & doing the right thing in regards to TFFG seem to mostly be young women. Boo-yah! You go girls! Being an oldster myself—rounding up on my 75th year (wtf????)—it is heartening to see. Now, personal peeve, I just want to see the ERA passed in my lifetime….fingers crossed, but won’t hold my breath. Still can’t comprehend the hang-up.
1st things 1st: as my home-town baseball announcer used to say, "You are seventy-five years young!
🥳
On the Equal Rights Amendment, copy that Ma'am. Had it been ratified, I think the Dobbes decision would have been harder for the Supreme Court to decide; women, at least by reading, would have been fully incorporated into the body politic. That is to say: the Court would strip a right from members of the same population that vests the power in the Court through the Constitution.
✌️
The clip with Miss Hutchinson also had a young Assistant Press Secretary to Trump who spoke out and her interviewer, Jen Psaki, made that observation. The are those who have stood for truth. Senators Romney and Flake come to mind. Senator Flake was the first and others of like mind -- like Senators Lankford and Sasse -- let him twist in the wind. Senator Murkowski has broken with Trump as did Representatives Kinzinger and Cheney.
⚖️
Now other Trump veterans are speaking out (e.g., SecDef Esper). It sure looks like it took those two young ladies setting an example to light a fire under some of these older men.
Your question is the one I’ve been asking myself for years now. I’m getting old waiting for someone or some thing to do something about these lawless people; especially trump.
Every day I wake up hoping that Trump has been "dealt with," either by the "fatal hamberder," or - otherwise.
TCinLA,
The horror of Trump holding a Bible and receiving cheers and adulation from the "blind" is so disturbing to me.
It should be!
Hope is a tease
This seems to another thing sane, reasonable, prosocial people just wouldn't do. That DT is willing to do the unthinkable keeps catching the rest of us flatfooted. The only times I've seen him stop is when the law is enforced, as in when he paid the bond in the NY fraud case. Grenell should be told "don't come home, if you do, you will be arrested and prosecuted under the Logan Act".
Why isn’t anyone mentioning Citizens United effect of allowing all this foreign money to support Trump?
BINGO! We are drowning in the corruption of our electoral politics. Perhaps it is time not to define corporations or institutions as persons under the Constitution.
Like AIPAC? Seriously, you want to believe Citizens United corrupts only ONE party?
I did not say that. I was referring to trump being offered more than $500 million to cover his bond(per Seth A.)
It’s in the pile somewhere
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a certain document that forbids "adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort"?
I think this is one of the documents that come bundled with the Trump Bible. Too bad he hasn't read either one.
Which church is it where Lee Greenwood is included in the official hymnal?
Valid point!
Doesn’t this mean Trump’s envoy, directly, and Trump, indirectly, violated and are repeatedly violating the Logan Act with far-right foreign government, officer, etc.?
“The law reads: “Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”
Would the act of proposing US policy towards these nations should the ex-President regain office, and as we all know he does threaten them to do as he wishes now, in opposition to or with no regard for current US policy?
I can see it now; Garland appoints another special prosecutor (most likely a Republican, "out of an abundance of caution" to avoid any hint of bias, to bring charges against the former President (who is now running a "shadow government"with the help of the House speaker) under the Logan act. The Orange One's flock of cereal box attorneys submit pre-trial motions to dismiss and then appeal all the way to SCOTUS, who says Congress has to act before the Logan Act can be invoked by any plaintiff against the former president. Wash, rinse, repeat and so on it goes...
Not if he's fined (a hefty fine) instead of imprisoned. Money seems to be his weak point.
Wash, rinse, and repeat indeed. That has been Garland's MO.
Just Sayin’: your clairvoyance could be monetized. But as long as you’re willing to give it away for free, count me in. 😉👍✌️🙋♂️
I agree with you. 🤝 I must also admit that, had the quoted passage been included in reading comprehension testing for the S.A.T.-Verbal, I would never have made it to college. 😉
More like the LSAT. To prosecute that lame provision in the law, as written, the government prosecutor would be burdened to prove at least eight legal & factual questions beyond a reasonable doubt. With a deep scrub, the requirements could probably double. That boiling cauldron of verbiage needs to be reduced by at least 2/3rds. And the penalties should be increased by a factor of, say, around eight.
“Just because a chicken has wings don’t mean it can fly.”
And then the Originalists interpret it using their supposed insights into what the authors REALLY meant. <sarcasm>
Nicely stated. Originalism, as far as my wretched little mind can go (at least in this virulent variant}, is an ideological cover story. 🤔 It makes the founding fathers static through this bogus jurisprudence by ouija board and through séances. 🙂 Seriously, originalism precludes the flexibility of the founding fathers thinking: 💡
> "What we really meant was . . . ." 💡💡
> "Well, under the circumstances . . . ."💡💡
But let a far greater mind than mine spell it out powerfully. ✌️Thank you, Justice Breyer. Thank you, Mr Isaacson, for asking challenging questions. 🤝
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/amanpour-and-company/video/justice-breyer-says-scotus-risks-creating-a-constitution-that-no-one-wants-oaswvm/
Ned, what an impressive interview! I’d missed it. Thank you so much for the link.
You are welcome, Mary. The interview was on last night and I caught quite by luck. 🙂
This is scary but who can suggest introducing Logan’s Law against Trump so that aid can get to Ukraine? If he is imprisoned for 3 years, he cannot legislate especially if he loses the election. Can’t this law be enacted right now?
Whatever powers the 2020 election loser has over Congress now is unlikely to be contained by the mere institution of imprisonment.
Yeah, I hear it didn’t and doesn’t stop crime/mob bosses from dictating actions from the hoosegow….TFFG would be the same. Hmmm, at least he’d have companions there to sing the Anthem to him!!!
Sadly, that is true, after all, he has money, or backers with money
Gee whiz.. The Logan Act ... " shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both" So, who's going to arrest these guys and send them to prison? Did I miss something here. who has the authority to do that? Where are the grownups?
Don't imprison them. Fine them. Bigly.
Or imprison Grenell and fine Trump!
If you haven't watched "20 Days in Mariupol" yet, you should. If you want to see the actual horrors that Russia inflicted on a peaceful people, watch that film. Share it. Spread it. It is shocking. It is a big part of "why" the U.S. needs to free up assistance for Ukraine.
Yes I have been meaning to watch that, thanks for the reminder.
Also the 'Navalny' documentary from a couple years back is really good. Showing the horrors of Putin's regime on Russia itself and that Vlad is not going to let anyone even attempt to oust him from office in an election. Navalny tried his best to offer new leadership, very disheartened and sad about his murder. Really hope the Russian people will rise up and jettison Putin, but in the meantime the U.S. must offer more assistance and funding so Ukraine will be able to stop his invasion and remain free and independent.
I watched the documentary and also agree.
My sleep was already disturbed by the images of starvation in Gaza and the targeting of the World Central Kitchen vehicle. Too much horror in the world.
It is time for us to take extraordinary measures to deal with a criminal rapist with an orange face, a bleached blonde bully that lies almost every time he speaks. The psychopath has taken his fascist approach to seduce the racist element in our country that reacted to two terms of a non-white he claimed was born in Africa. Our former president is simply a psychopath. 70 million races in this country have been seduced by his brand of fascism simply because he ridiculed Obama and objectifies anybody that isn’t white this man is a fascist, he is criminally insane, he’s engaged in dishonest, treasonous activities with the worlds, most dangerous government, and his every action may be described as criminally, insane, and aimed at the destruction of our democracy and our position in the world if this isn’t enough for us to take extraordinary measures, what is? he has destroyed our Supreme Court. He has managed to seduce the wicked elements in our Congress. He has teamed up with various domestic players who understand well how easy it is to trigger racism in the white trash of the United States. This was the case with fascist aviator Charles Lindberg And fascist Catholic priest, father of Detroit we’ve seen this movie before. It took Japan bombing Pearl Harbor for us to address Hitler and Mussolini in Europe. The Japanese saved America from its vicious fascist elements that were threatening the democracy in the 30s. What is going to save us now? How are we going to approach the psychopathic elements in our country? When face with an internal criminal in command of one of our two parties. When faced with a fascist dictator in the making, a pathological liar, making love to other pathological liars around the world, it is insufficient to play the game with Marcus of Queensbury rules. Extraordinary measures are needed. We have an internal Civil War. Abraham Lincoln‘s death left us with Johnson and the Ku Klux Klan. Today we have something worse. We have a bleach blonde Adolf Hitler in the making in common concert with a vicious chiller in Moscow, who thinks nothing of throwing people out windows And poisoning his enemies right left, and set when I say extraordinary measures, I mean it. Somebody with greater power than I must determine what needs to be done to end this threat to our democracy, to our nature and to our children President Biden has done a wonderful job. I wonder if he is capable of dealing with a psychopathic opponent cannot tell the truth and wishes to destroy our nation in Plainview. Clearly, he lacks the vocabulary to say what I am saying here. But it needs to be said and extraordinary actions needs to be taken. Now.
Though times are grim, I am confident that the American people are decent enough and believe in fair-play enough to shut down this noisy and noisome minority come November. Far fewer are the voters who will vote for Trump for policy reasons.
One last redoubt may be the top military officers who take an oath to the Constitution. Not all of them of course; an army uniforms hides many a coward and opportunist. But enough are around to belay orders that a re-elected President Trump might issue; heck, they might even court martial him.
November? What makes you think there will be a November election?
Judith, what makes you think that we will not be able to vote in November? I will be working the polling center closest to my home as usual.
Good for you, Karen. I should follow your lead. I salute the courage of your quiet patriotism.
There is an ongoing coup to completely upend the results of the election. A blue wave will not stop the GOP (Government of Putin). They are already “Starting the Steal.”
Judith and Dana,
Your responses strike me as hysterical, rather symmetrical with remarks coming in from the extreme right. Are you getting a diversity of news views? Keep the faith in the face of intellectual intimidation. We are a republic and we want it and we shall keep it.
Ned.
Ned, I see far too many people who are all in with fpotus. They want, with all their stony hearts, what he is proposing.
So true, you sound like me, broken record that nobody listens to.
He also appears to be suffering from dementia. Every time I hear him, his cognitive abilities seem to have slipped a notch. He rambles on, dribbling non sequiturs in between the vicious jabs at all his (many) scapegoats.
I believe that Trump should officially be labeled a sociopath. He ‘learned’ to be a callous, self serving bully who totally lacks any kind of moral compass from a cruel, dominating father. As his niece Mary Trump points, out he wasn’t born this way.
Excellent!
Biden didn't earn the moniker 'Bulldog Joe' for nothing. Now, his team, and the rest of us, need to earn that moniker too. All DT and his minions are really doing is stiffening the resolve of the Left. The 'Pearl Harbor moment' is the destruction of Roe v Wade (the latest evidence being the recent state senate race in Alabama). This remains the chief driver of our response to DT's would-be tyranny. There is more, much more, involved in this response. Gloves off!
As usual, I'm struck how we direct anger and dismay in the wrong direction. We already understand Trump's intentions to establish a dictatorship in America. What we still DON'T understand is why our State and Justice Departments are complicit. Whey do they deliberately refuse to hold Trump accountable? Why don't they take forceful action when he conspires with foreign leaders? There is no ambiguity. Trump and the Republican Party are traitors. Where the hell are the CIA and FBI? Where the hell is Merrick Garland? Where is President Biden? Why isn't the Democratic Party openly charging the Republican Party as a fifth column—they certainly project that on to the Democrats. Why are our journalists complicit? Why won't mainstream media honestly make a case that Republicans now function as Russian agents? Why do they normalize all reporting with both-sides-ism? Our outrage is misdirected. We should be raging at our government for being too weak to protect our Constitution and protect our elections. We should be raging at news media for being too fearful to proclaim the truth. I mean seriously—how could any patriotic American rationalize letting a former President who plotted and executed an insurrection run for reelection instead of facing immediate prosecution? We're insane!
Trump’s actions are not only unacceptable, but should vault him into prison! He’s never going to acquiesce to our government agencies & will continue to be disruptive in foreign & domestic affairs. That is until he’s stopped in his tracks! He can’t be allowed to play by his rules anymore!
And regardless of this election, he must never be allowed back into power, whatever it takes to stop him and the traitors that surround him.
Exactly! I definitely agree.
Since it's now clear that former presidents can now dictate congressional action or inaction, perhaps it follows that former presidents can also be impeached. On November 7, 2024, God willing, perhaps Congress can bring up articles of impeachment against TFG, assuming of course that he doesn't achieve the unthinkable and return to office.
Find the law he breaks that sticks! Obviously so much of how governments and presidents comported themselves was tradition, not law. As he repeatedly demonstrates.
There's a law of physics that would "stick."
Good one! LOL!
Well said, Sir.
If what is said in this letter is correct shouldn’t it follow that proceedings pursuant to the Logan Act would be taken against Grenell, and Trump, and maybe Speaker Johnson as well.
My question precisely!
Are the foreign dictators, demagogues, and nationalists as organized as are U.S. billionaires?
Perhaps the fat orange guy's emissaries travel among the world's worst with constant wink, wink, nod, nod. But I wonder how much U.S. billionaires shovel out to cohere such unified threats to democracy.
Can Dems running for U.S. Senate and other vital offices this year name some names?
Can our best Dems cite some dollar amounts budgeted by Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation, the Claremont Institute, and other bastions of far-right skullduggery and dictator sucking-up?
Shouldn't defending our democracy and our ally democracies by a matter of public record, public urgency?
American billionaires threw a lot of money behind Liz Truss, the worst PM the UK ever knew (one in a series of disasters) - who turned out to be a short-lived but very expensive failure. No ROI on that investment that I can see, and since the markets tanked when she announced her libertarian budget, a loss all round, both for ordinary people and Liz Truss's American backers. Except those who shorted her, of course.
Trump has a remarkable iron grip on power. Any other citizen undermining U.S. Foreign Policy would be treated as, at best, someone who failed to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and at worst a spy. And why should he cease and desist?
Mike Flynn (pardoned by Trump and notably still collecting a full military pension in spite of his crimes) subverted the sanctions placed upon Russia by then President Obama prior to Trump's taking office. Trump did this before his Presidency, and he's orchestrating it after.
In terms of the Justice system -he's been indicted for 91 crimes the most visible being related to the violent insurrection of January 6, 2021. It has now been over three years since this crime against the United States resulted in the deaths of Capitol Police officers. Can anyone reading this imagine any other individual committing crimes leading to the deaths of police, enjoying their freedom, playing golf, attacking judges, DA's, their families, and continuing to act has a Foreign agent IN PLAIN VIEW? He doesn't have to proclaim innocence saying that as President and as former President -he can just do as he pleases with full immunity. Posting a bond -that's too much money, here's a few bucks -that should suffice.
Trump has laid bare for all of us to see that justice is not for Philando Castile, George Floyd, Amadou Diallo, Trayvon Martin, or Sandra Bland. Justice is for those who can afford to delay, attack others, and misdirect people away from a mountain of evidence toward anything. Don't like the AG? I'll file papers that someone once thought they saw her use Monsanto's Round Up on her lawn -therefore, she must be removed from the case.
While I mourn the so-called justice system in the United States, the consequences of Trump are more dire in Ukraine, where hard-fought defense of their country from the murderous madman Putin is at grave risk due to the criminal Trump, and religious zealot Mike Johnson.
While people are quick to suggest that Merrick Garland and the DOJ are doing "all they can" as long as Trump remains free to conduct a shadow State department, his co-conspirators and accessories after the fact remain active in Congress, and the ethically challenged members remain on the Supreme Court, it seems the DOJ is fine with the nearly complete subversion of our system provided it is not a direct and violent overthrow of the government. If it remains "behind the scenes" that is perfectly fine.
Well said, George! Brought to mind this oldie but goodie song by Buffalo Springfield: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp5JCrSXkJY. Maybe we need “1,000’s of people in the street” to wake us up (or maybe encourage folks to tear themselves away from their phone screens!).
Yes! -protest music that can transport us to a time when vital societal movements came together for civil rights, voting rights, peace, race and gender equality, and the environmental movement. (First listen, then act!)
This song has been referenced so many times in the past couple years. We need today's musicians to come up with some modern genre pieces to take us forward.
This one is, however, timeless in its message.
Ally, seems like the way folks listen to music has changed dramatically…used to be the radio AM/FM or records/tapes/CD’s….it used to be many folks would listen via the same venue and have a shared experience….now it seems more curated and individualized, thus folks seem not to venture far from their preferences & may not have “new or different” things presented to them….dunno…I’m old school I guess. So many folks sucked in by their smartphone screens, barely looking up and seeing what’s around them….sometimes I people watch in amazement at how “not here” they are in the moment! Sigh. Ha, sound like the old fart I am….
I had this conversation with a friend of mine some years ago about shared experiences watching various TV shows; no DVR/etc. so we all watched the same thing at the same time. Your assessment of music and how we consume it is chillingly accurate. As a confirmed Parrot Head since 1978, that was one artist who could reach a broad base of fans across generations. The experience I had when I found out Jimmy Buffett had died last year was astounding; multigenerational experience of one artist's music and sorrow that the "...music died."
I agree with you George!!Well said-Trump is a traitor!!!👍
This unofficial directive by Trump, the actions by Grenell are unacceptable.. Both he and Grenall should be arrested, taken into custody by the FBI and charged.. Trump must be told in no uncertain terms that there is only one President at a time..Dems in the house need to have a private back room “talk” with Johnson on the merits of a floor vote on the $60 million aid to Ukraine that should happen immediately..
12 traitor members of the Fweedumb Kawkuss need to go "missing."
TC, enough with the Trump-like “nicknames” and the statements implying physical silencing. If we become what we detest, what have we won?
Sometimes one is faced with an untenable situation that requires actions that are contrary to one’s way of doing things..In as much as I understand the spirit of your remarks, I believe what is required for specific individuals is they be made an offer they can’t refuse..There are a variety of ways to achieve this..I have faith in Leader Hakeem Jeffries to figure out just how and what to deploy..
Sam, my point is that when someone is thinking of changing their way of thinking (leaving MAGA) and is met with the same type of name calling and implications that death/mayhem is needed, they may well decide that the other side is just as bad. While it may feel good in the moment, it cheapens us and gives weight to the idea that both sides are just as bad.
I get it Mary, we are all exhausted and frustrated at all of this..I see a lot of venting in the comments..
Sam, he also vents like this in his Substack articles. It’s unnecessary—like 45.
that's billion, with a capital B...