Heather, are there any historical precedents for a president or cabinet member removing sanctions from a country that is actively assisting an enemy in targeting our soldiers and installations? It seems crazy that, instead of adding additional sanctions to Russia because of their aiding Iran, we’ve lifted sanctions that were working to bankrupt their war effort against Ukraine.
Something that caught my attention; when Donald was asked about Putin helping Iran he said something to the effect of " yeah, they probably are and they think we are helping Ukraine". I'm paraphrasing but it is those little short lines he blurts out that are the tell. He really is that transactional without a hint of irony. But I digress. Constantly trying to figure out this man is a fools errand. Leave that to the physiologists. There is only one thing that matters: Donald Trump is the enemy of the people.
There is a shifting here, where once the US considered Ukraine – and by extension, the EU - our ally and Russia the aggressor. Current US policy, as voiced by the President, is on a trajectory to sideline both Ukraine and the EU in favor of a détente with Russia, more specifically between Trump and Putin, who is playing Trump like a fiddle. Is this further evidence of an agreement to partition the world into three spheres of influence, or a move motivated by Trump’s full-blown avarice – or both?
Harvey, I’ll raise you. one re poker ♣️ that putting’s got to the unredated E files plus more ie golden shower. Our dire larder’s now his joker asset, or How to Make a Narcissist Quiver By putting as his memoir….
Your'e right Susan. Color her a human being. Where the conversation goes from there, the sky is the limit. However, one light always flickers when that name appears: click-bait. And, we usually bight but, not always.
This is a cluster-fuck. Everything and everyone in the White House is dirty and traitor disgusting. I knew this mess was in store when this drag queen orange-painted faced fat asshole (sorry I don’t mean to shame the obese among us but an exception is necessary) won election and I called for the once good generals to suspend the constitution to prevent him from official misrule. I understood it was a no-win proposal but it is what it is; no win. I would have taken my chances with the good generals. If anyone disagrees with me just wait until a nuclear bomb is dropped.
That’s next.
Rally March 28. This is the only thing we can do at this point. They have stolen everything once good in this nation.
Oh, the huge rally numbers will probably be answered with Trump destroying more of the White House as he did the last time the rallies were so large.
My sign for the rally: Donald Trump: The First Pedophile President.
Bill, we can see the horror, but the fact that there is a solid 32% of voters who support this. Being in touch with reality how could anyone with a conscience still support this mad man?
Harvey, it is the 33% of the population that still believes in the Lost Cause; it is augmented by the KirkChristains and the oligarchs, but that 1/3 has been constant over time. Witness the "America First" movement going into WWII. They have always been here.
A cowed, confused, selfish and timid population.....brain washed to accept racism, misogyny, intolerance, and false promises of happiness and whatever..... I don't know.
32% of Republican voters. It's important to make that distinction (imo) because the rest of the world will think 32% of the U.S. population is supporting Trump.
Harvey, how could anyone with a brain, let alone a conscience, EVER have supported this moronic, barely-human creature? We've been hearing about his abuses and incompetence for years before he ever entered the political arena.
You guys know, "He" is not a mad man to them. Given the convincing nature of what the "32%" are feeding on, they wonder how "the democrat" is able to flush the toilet. To "them" common sense would not have resulted in lead-pipes in Michigan or dumping sewage into the Potomac but the democrat chose to spend the money on protecting the horned owl. They've yet to even see one. Yup..., 'the Democrat'.
I will add that phrase to my next posters. For those of us of a certain age this era is appalling, a tragedy of immense dimensions. I was musing with my husband this morning, if there is absolutely no return to democracy etc., will the next generations simply be accustomed to a new US with a diminution in constitutional rights, intolerance, an attenuated educational system, an elite-led economy, a media morally and intellectually useless or extinct, led by hypermasculinity, with the collaboration of a timid, cowed and confused population????
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼EXACTLY! I keep telling my adult kids that this is NOT NORMAL, but for those up to say, mid-30s, they've had the heavy thumb of Trump weighing down politics since they have been of voting age.
We all better speculate on the use of nuclear weapons - to ignore the fact that an insane person has the codes is what everyone should know and fret about and have trump immediately removed from office due to mental instability.
It’s my opinion. I’m not making anything worse than it already is. You forget twt the first time around, the military made sure the nuclear codes were protected.
Face it. Trump said it himself; nothing will stop him except his own mind…and we can all clearly see how that is functioning these days! Will someone in his band of criminals stop him from dropping a nuclear bomb? Remains to be seen. Personally, I wouldn’t count on it. Sorry if you find that reality upsetting. It IS upsetting!
Yo.. Bill! Ya got something to back that up? Will it hold up in court? Just the facts Mam..., just the facts. I mean.., c'mon.., we've guards at the prison who appear to have been bought-off. We've got FBI (Acosta) who appears to have made poor decisions. We have an Attorney General who might just have been an attractive blonde on a sunny day. We have a youngster with parents who were presented a financial consideration they apparently chose to accept? No? Whatdya got?
On social media Trump openly declared his goal is to shift the world order giving him control of the western hemisphere. Trump may be a sadistic and psychotic moron, but Putin isn't, and Trump will do whatever Putin tells him because The Trump-Russia-Epstein Espionage Ring will bring everyone down.
The Supreme Court ruled a POTUS cannot be prosecuted for acts taken while in office and the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Geneva Convention are shredded the next day. Mike Johnson shuts down Congress.
THEN: (Not necessarily in the right order, and certainly not a complete list)...
Trump puts only Barbies and Kens in his cabinet
Puts Bimbo Bondi at the head of the DOJ
GI Joe runs the military
He and Musk gut world and U.S. federal government programs
Passes a budget depriving millions of Americans of healthcare and food
Replaces top military with sycophants
Threatens Canada, Greenland, Cuba, Colombia
Implements illegal tariffs on every country
Illegally starts shooting boats out of the Caribbean
Opens Alligator Alcatraz which went well - sort of
Builds or buys "detention centers" a.k.a. concentration camps
Puts ICE in our streets
ICE arrests and detains American citizens and legal immigrants
ICE starts killing Americans on the street
Takes over Venezuela - sort of (his military test flex)
Demands the SAVE act be passed, disenfranchising women
Invades Iran
Lifts Russian sanctions enabling it to continue pummeling Ukraine
Collapses Cuba's power grid by blocking their access to oil
Openly states he's about to take Cuba
That all took planning, power and backing.
It looks like stupidity, but it's not; he's moving fast things and breaking things; it's shock and awe. Trump was only supposed to be a dictator "Only on day one" and the world laughed. The world played to his ego, giving him crowns and loaning out Nobel Peace Prizes.
When you put all Trump's bizarre, chaotic, senseless, illogical and murderous aggression together, combine it with illegal and unconstitutional acts and war crimes, in the context of changing the world order, it all makes perfect sense.
What doesn't make sense is why people are shocked when he does what he tells us he's going to do.
Who do we have to thank for this potential total collapse of Democracy? (I would argue it's already lost, but....)
*** MILLER! *** The orange Toad doesn’t have the intelligence to have plotted all he has done. Toad is a tightly controlled puppet with Miller pulling the strings. Kinda like Rasputin and the last Russian czar. In my humble opinion, of course.
He's evil, but I don't think he's actually intelligent enough to think beyond his own hatred for everyone not white male. He certainly plays his part though.
Over and over again - ad nauseum, I have stated a fact to always keep in top of mind: Our 'problems' are not _ rump, it's in fact the "coalition" that's pulling all the strings. Why is it that many of 'we' don't get that ? _rump is only the tool, the 'face forward' in these travesties.
Why try to figure him out? Don't we already know everything we need to know? What we can't figure out is what trick will he pull in the next nano-second. If he gets bored with taking over Cuba, what/who will get his attention?
Already in 2008, Steve Bannon met with Alexander Dugin, Putin's palace ideologue.
Bannon, the tech billionaires (and Vance, whose career as venture capitalist and politician is funded by neofascist Peter Thiel), and the GOP's Christian nationalists (the Heritage Foundation etc.) actively AGREE IDEOLOGICALLY with Putin.
THAT is the real problem here.
These are the people who (together with Hungary's neofascist regime) have been meeting and thinking about how to end US democracy and install fascism instead... because they WANT fascism.
When will the American people finally wake up... ?
A fool's errand, indeed. Transactionalism and sociopathy often go hand-in-hand, don't they? Aided and abetted by the fear of what opposing that might mean for the individuals who actually see through the shallow idiocy (guessing about 95% of those inside his tent.) An administration based on "here are my principles. If you don't like them...well, I have others" but without the trademark Groucho mustache, self-effacing charm, rapier wit. And yes, all without a hint of irony.
But it isn't working out the way they "planned"...
But he does have goals. He wants to 1) become as rich as Putin was in 2022, 2) be able to murder anyone with impunity, 3) Use the office of President to threaten other countries unless they pay his bribes, 4) retribution to anyone who ever dared to say or do anything he perceives was against him, 5) build monuments to himself and renaming everything he can to Trump.
None of Trumps goals have anything to do with improving our education system, providing teachers with continued training along with assistant teachers to aid and support students who need extra help they cannot receive at home.
There are also students who need special assistance for many reasons that are out of the students control.
If we want a great country, we cannot blame parents or even the children/youth. Turning away from the struggles and difficulties will not make a better nation.
Education, care and concern for these future children and youth will build a stronger foundation for their success and for the future success of our country.
In observing these facts, teachers, their respect, care, continued training and encouragement and excellent pay for the important work they do everyday MUST BE PROVIDED!
We need to insure, our seniors are not left without respectful care that requires special training, hard physical work, providing dignity that is often sacrificed due to lose of strength.....a proper diet....etc. Families should be involved as much as possible. Love is not a soft work....Love takes time, sacrifice, patience...compassion , not judgement.
Something I remember as a youth was visiting the hospital or elderly "home" and spending time with the patients, singing songs that they could sing with us or being an audience as the residents performed for us.
Sorry this is so long, I just want to remove myself, my mind and spirit from our current President and think of ways to love and serve our fellow men and women and children who need encouragement and recognition....as well as to encourage my own family and to encourage and give thanks to friends worldwide who dare to trust us at all!!! Our focus should be on those close to us as well as those who work hard as our fellow citizens. We need one another....to appreciate one another for making this country as great as it is. To keep it great, we must not hide from the difficult places but do our best to help and improve and to give thanks to those who "put their shoulder to the grindstone" everyday.
Agreed, ICTT. I am not a student of organized crime, but I read a lot, and as a result, am more familiar with Cosa Nostra than Bratva. To the consternation of others, I have admired the strict moral code of Cosa Nostra. Indeed, their core businesses are illegal and immoral, but organizational code of ethics is about as pure as it gets. Loyalty works both vertically and horizontally, and is mutual. Breaking the code is met with punishment. There is an established hierarchy, but every loyal member of the organization is protected. Perhaps, this moral code comes indirectly from the influence of the Roman Catholic Church.
By contrast, I have not found such a strict moral code in Bratva, the Russian criminal organization that taught Donald. Bratva doesn't maintain a strict hierarchy either. It's pretty-much "every man for himself" plus whatever accomplices he can recruit for a particular operation. Loyalty exists among the operators until it doesn't. All of that pretty well describes Donald, does it not?
Distinctions between Cosa Nostra and whatever code of conduct leads to so many sudden, unexplained, tragic 'defenestration' accidents in Russia are well noted, thanks.
Trump inhabits a reality entirely his own. He is, by any observable measure, completely untethered from the world the rest of us live in. He loves you, then despises you — often within the same news cycle — and sees absolutely no contradiction in either. The lack of self awareness is stunning.
Oh no, he is only aware of himself. He only becomes aware of others if, or when "they" interfere with him. Too bad the 'Ship of State' does not have a doctor. A ships doctor may remove a deranged Captain from duty. Dereliction of Duty, along with the other crimes he has committed should be enough for even the MAGA (maggots) to impeach or otherwise remove him from office. Epstein Files? Too many maggots of both parities “named” fear being exposed? Lower courts are working. The high court is failing! We the People must not fail. Be there 3/28!
His displays of infantile behavior - tantrums delivered in all caps - is either a serious regression in his mental abilities or the continued display of the most incompetent and divisive leader in modern history - at war with the state he leads and with the allies we have always supported. I guess he believes that his political fortunes are best served by confrontation and rancor. He uses any issue or crisis to pick fights and increase our social cleavage. It's appalling - a national leader who fails to lead.....!!!
Stephanie, I think it's important to remember that Donald was born with a learning disability that was never addressed by his family; it was papered over with thousand-dollar bills. Having a learning disability doesn't mean a person can't appear to function as normal, especially when he's elevated by millions of dollars. It does, however make him vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation.
Donald's celebrity and vanity have brought him to the attention of many adversaries, both foreign and domestic, who identified him as the perfect distraction who could be used to advance their agendas.
Donald is a monkey on a leash with cymbals tied to his arms, dancing and clanging for peanuts. The crowd around him is entertained and throws peanuts while the handlers at the other end of the leash work their mischief in the shadows. If Donald doesn't get a peanut when he demands one, he throws feces at the crowd and they are shocked that he would do such a thing after they gave him peanuts.
This is the funniest, cleverist post to date. And does he even know he's being used and manipulated, while he continues to think he's a "stable genius!"
He's about a stable genius as the fictional(?) tyrannical but incompetent Captain Queeg in "The Cain Mutiny."
A WWII Destroyer crewman told me what he said was the real basis for the “Cain Mutiny.” According to him, the ship was not saved, but Boatswain’s Mate First Class John Ray Schultz, was at least able to enable saving more of the lives of the destroyer “Hull’s” crew than the other two destroyers lost in Typhoon Cobra (a.k.a. Halsey's Typhoon).
He had, despite the captain’s order not to, ordered the crew to put on their life jackets, which he had equipped with whistles and lights, so they could be heard and spotted even in the dark when the Captain’s incompetent seamanship resulted in the expected capsizing and sinking.
The guy that told me the story was especially passionate about what that meant from his serving on destroyers where you had to go on deck to get from the forward compartments to the rear compartments. His ship had lost sailors washed overboard trying to make that trip in less challenging seas than the Hull was lost in, and still had crew members make their way aft as they tried to find and rescue the ones washed overboard.
If the congress and courts don't stop him, it seems we need a few more like Ray Schultz to at least limit the damage from our current leader’s tyrannical egregious incompetence and mistakes.
Stephanie, every day I think about how he sounds like the immature middle schoolers who walk by our house. Just name calling, insults, attempts to blackmail, corruption, bragging, etc. It is appalling indeed.
What's to figure out? The dumbest fifth grader in class is pulling all of the levers. But if the teacher who like Congress isn't doing anything about it why blame the stupid kid?
First of all, it's very clear what he means: the US withdrew most of its support to Ukraine, leaving only some of it in place. In Trump's mind, that would give Putin reason to be angry at the US, so... he now has the right to help Iran in a similar way. That's how mafia bosses think about "justice". So nothing new here, and VERY easy to figure out.
Secondly, a much more important question is: what is the GOP doing to this country and the world? Because without GOP, Trump wouldn't even have any IDEA of what to do next.
As long as you let yourself be distracted by Trump and don't see the real enemy of US democracy, your resistance won't be effective, I'm afraid.
I’m not proud of my Party (Dems) for their past behavior BUT, they are certainly better than what is currently in power. I would hope Dems have LEARNED something from all this chaos and are changing our ways quickly. This is a time for great courage to effect REAL CHANGE and Dems must be at the forefront. I pray they will succeed.
Didn't we say they must've learned their lesson after hrc lost? And yet Genocide Joe supported naziyahoo's Genocide and FAILED to prosecute TheracistrapistRUMP for January 6th!
I know keeping up with what he says is a daily (useless) puzzle ‘feat du jour’, his lack of knowledge compiles the degree of difficulty w/ whims and revenge …clearly indicate fixations of delusion…the bully syndrome in full display.
Our MSN is bought and paid for. And now the billionaire Ellis is closing the illegal purchase of the rest of our media (CNN included!). Where are the protests against these outrageous monopolies?!
When he was moaning about the lack of a positive response from allies to his pathetic cri de coeur about the Strait of Hormuz, he said 'we helped with Ukraine, and now they won't help with Iran' making an absurd equivalence between the two situations. He's even threatened NATO saying bad things lie ahead for them for not doing his will.
He also repeated the false and debunked accusation that Biden had provided Ukraine with 350bn in grants and now he was making sure that they or the EU was paying for the aid they received from the US. In fact, Trump has suspended aid to Ukraine three times since he returned to office.
He's always been biased against Ukraine, refusing their help with interceptor drones which Zelenskyy is now pitching directly to other NATO members and to the Gulf states who are in dire need of such a solution. Trump has also repeatedly indicated that he wants Russia to be re-admitted to the G7.
Any grade school kid would have figured Trump out in an instant and rendered him invisible. He is now saying everything out loud and why not? He gets away with it now doesn’t he?
"If Trump were purposefully doing Russia's bidding, it's hard to see what he'd be doing differently." - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse(D-R.I.), March 5, 2026
Quote from a 48-minute speech unraveling the mountain of circumstantial evidence connecting Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, Putin and Russia.
Senator White house's statement is worth focusing on. Trump dismantling of alternative energy subsidies and projects is a disservice to the American people. Is trump crazy or a tool of Putin ? No plans to defend the Straits of H ormuz! This man may be far more dangerous than be think. This story about the mind sweepers, the story aboutt the people at the State Department in charge of energy. Is this administration that incompetent or something much worse. Will we have an election in Nocember?!?
We are a far, far better nation than our faux, deluded, hate-filled president and his cultist fans portray to America and the world. In our own best interests and the interests of a freer world, we've spent 80+ years promoting a "Melting Pot" vision of equal governance across the globe. Democratic governance based on the simple concept that its key role is supporting the well-being of all citizens, not just the wealthy, white connected citizens. Our mission in the months and years ahead is to restore this visionary gift to America and the world. The worldwide conservative Right, scoffs at these ideals. They admire the fascist Ideal that "Might makes Right", aka "realpolitik". Our ongoing battle is to rekindle our vision among the vast majority of Americans that a free and equal America is the real America. We are not a country of hate. We not a police state protecting the corruption of the powerful. Embrace this battle with pride. Relish it. We've been fighting it for 250 years. We'll keep fighting it. We'll win again.
Reading Heather's letter this morning leaves me with the same tired conclusion: we’re led by people who treat disaster like a marketing stunt. The routine is almost laughable in how predictable it’s become—wreck the system, push out the competent, ignore the details, then act shocked when oil prices jump, supply chains falter, allies waver, and the rest of us get stuck with the tab. This isn’t strength; it’s like setting your own kitchen ablaze and then striking a heroic pose with a garden hose.
What makes it worse is that the chaos never stays in one lane. The same mentality that blunders through international crises also turns inward and starts looking for scapegoats, enemies, and procedural traps for ordinary voters. We are asked to believe that democracy is being saved by making it harder to participate in democracy. That is a con so lazy it barely deserves the name. It is like smashing the town well and calling it water security.
From my point of view, the real scandal is not just incompetence. It is the fusion of incompetence with manipulation. Failure is not corrected; it is repackaged. Damage is not repaired; it is narrated. Public fear becomes a stage prop, public frustration becomes campaign fuel, and public suffering becomes just one more expendable line item in the production budget of authoritarian theater.
Bryan, I hope, I hope, I hope for large numbers........BUT
Friends who attended the last time who I hoped to attend again all seem to have other commitments, like family parties. This makes me incredibly disappointed, but it is what it is.
I posted a few days ago about what the Patriots sacrificed in the Revolutionary War, and what the GIs did in WW2. Now, it seems like so many I know are either oversaturated and have given up, or they just don't grasp what is going on.
Miselle, those of us in INDIVISIBLE have been engaging with young students and other folks letting them know about the NO KINGS event. Many of whom I encountered, were very excited to participate. It will be a blowout! The last time our area had a NO KINGS march had easily over 7000 people.
Miselle, I am going to do my level best to be at a No Kings demonstration. I will be 3 weeks and 3 days out from my knee replacement, and scheduled to go see the play "Come From Away" at the Shakespearean Festival that afternoon. If I have to I'll hire an Uber to get me to one (not sure I'll be off pain meds by then).
Ally! I did not know you had surgery! I missed that somehow. I admit, I sometimes have to take breaks from the comment section as, well...I take breaks.
Hope you're off the pain meds and onto a full recovery soon!
Thanks! 2 weeks ago today; I am down to pain meds 3-4 times in a 24 hour period. My PT is pleased with my recovery process, and I'm down to single crutch (vs walker/both crutches inside; still 2 crutches outside. I cannot drive until next week. Playing my tuba a couple times a day; not back into playing shape yet, but I'm planning to go to rehearsal tomorrow night just to listen.
Good you have your music to occupy you. I've always found that distractions help me manage pain better. I generally send one of my favorite books to people I know are going to be laid up, or if they aren't readers, I'll send a comedy DVD.
The reason "It seems crazy that, instead of adding additional sanctions to Russia ... we’ve lifted sanctions" is because Trump is crazy. We need a "Recall" mechanism in our Constitution so We the People can remove a future Trump. Actually IMO we need to repeal the single Executive and Elector system and replace that with seven Executives elected by We the Citizens of the United States in a Federal Election. George Washington had only four Executive Departments. Today we have 15 and to keep all our eggs in one basket (in Trump's case that is one basket case) it would mean we have learned nothing after two terms of a pathological lying malignant narcissist with severe antisocial personality disorder and being in cognitive decline felon in the White House. We must unite to not only win elections but also to Amend our Constitution to defend our Democracy. I discuss all this in my Memorandum to We the People. Please read and share it. There are downloads including posters which could be used at the No Kings march. UnitedWeAmend.org
Altering our electoral process to produce a potential oligarchy instead of a potential monarchy? I’m trying to wrap my head around that, and failing.
If the American voter can be seduced into electing one pathological, lying, malignant narcissist, he or she can also be seduced into electing seven of them. The cure lies not in enlarging and complicating the government but rather in educating the people for a democratic republic.
We cannot compare the nation of 1790, thirteen little agrarian states huddled along the Atlantic coast with the vastly larger, far more diverse, far more technologically advanced, and far more interconnected with the world outside nation of 2026. This is no longer Jefferson’s collection of yeoman farmers secure on their land.
And BTW, we already have two ‘recall’ mechanisms; the Electoral College (if it worked as it was originally intended) and impeachment. The reason they haven’t worked to remove Trump is not a factor of a Constitutional lack, but the lack of a willingness on the part of the Republican Party to use those recall mechanisms as they were intended.
I have blocked a person who has repeatedly attacked my thesis in my Memorandum. It is not because I do not wish a discussion about the facts and my resolve therein to defend our Democracy, but because it is clear he has not first even read my Memorandum. I do not have time to respond to someone who argues we are no longer a bunch or farmers as in Jefferson's times. He claims to be a former teacher of history yet he fails to grasp the farmers he mentions were also the Minutemen. He fails to grasp the words that Jefferson wrote about, the "Truths we hold to be self evident...", are simply a description of the actions of those Minutemen. He fails to grasp that those "Truths" are timeless. He fails to understand James Madison was exceptionally bright and knew the Constitution he wrote was not perfect and would need to be amended from time-to-time to keep up with the growth of the country. He somehow is arguing that all we need is "education." No, we need a government of laws. That is why Madison wrote a detailed Constitution and not simply a lesson plan. Besides, what good is a lesson about voting when the Nazis have made voting impossible for certain groups? Moreover, the Department of Education is being burned to the ground. It will be replaced with millions of vouchers to private corporate schools teaching Jesus wrote the Declaration of Independence. He argues we are fair more complex and somehow attempts to reason that means we should not diversify the Executive branch. He is saying it is best to keep all your eggs in one basket and thus not secure our 15 Executive Departments by diversifying the oversight of them among seven Executives elected by We the Citizens of the United States. He either failed to read, or grasp, my Memorandum makes clear that any money provided by Congress to any of the Seven Offices would require the signing of all seven Executives who control a diversified portion of the 15 Departments. Thus the Commander in Chief must find common ground with the Executive overseeing our National Parks, etc. I also made clear that there will be no Dark Money, No Corporate personhood and no employing persons to help the rich express their opinions about anything in elections, State and Federal. They can publish their opinion but must say who they are. Our only hope is to Amend with strong medicine to restore our wounded Democracy. Yet even then, as Benjamin Franklin warned, "It is a Republic if you can keep it." And as the abolitionist Wendell Phillips, warned us "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
It is, but who’re you gonna call? Republicans are fine with it. Or at least fine enough not to risk angering him.
Remember during this year’s congressional elections: Republicans enabled this. All of this. As I’ve been telling my congresspeople—if you don’t want to do the job, fine. We will elect someone who does.
We bombed Iran. Iran basically closed the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices spiked. So we lifted sanctions on Russia — remember those guys, the country supplying Iran with drones and intelligence to kill the Americans now fighting that war.
Read that again.
Zelensky said it plainly:Russia takes energy revenue, converts it to weapons, and those weapons get used against you.
This is the logic of a man who hands his enemy a loaded gun and insists he didn’t provide the bullets.
The USA is funding, in a closed loop, the coalition killing our own people. And calling it market stabilization.
Treason has a very, very specific definition of giving "aid and comfort to the enemy". The US Code definition of "enemy" in all of its descriptions implies "at war" in all of the examples given.
The common usage definition fits, but prosecution under criminal code must revert back to the definition as used in the statute/section.
Especially since US economic sanctions have been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of deaths in the countries on which they have been imposed.
Trump obsesses about the Nobel Peace Prize but in his second term he has already bombed nine countries even before the Iran war started and when coupled with his suspension of US aid to needy countries he's already killed more people than Cecil B. DeMille.
Yes, it is CLEAR now that Trump is in bed with Putin! Why else would he LIFT sanctions on them? THEIR oil flowing into the marketplace again will NOT lower OUR gas prices. America does not buy Russian oil among other things.
Finally, aiding a country actively working to help our enemy in a war is certainly a crime. WHY is NO ONE with power holding Trump accountable? We should just arrest him and turn him over to The Hague to be prosecuted for his many war crimes!
Neither Heather nor any of us knows why criminal Donald cowers before Putin.
One thing we all know, however, is that for some reason transactional Donald must let fellow autocrat Putin provide Iran with intelligence and technology to kill U.S. service personnel.
All the autocrats and most of the billionaires and corporations have one key thing here – lack of character. As Adam Smith yesterday was talking about with Lawrence O’Donnell.
Smith, a state of Washington Dem in the U.S. House of Representatives, joined in wondering how it is that Donald just never sees consequences – from Putin, most billionaires, and corporations. He doesn’t plan for contingencies. He never shows any regret for anybody’s loss of life when his own service members have paid that price.
Donald cares only about one thing: that he always be on center stage. That the show be always about him. If this or that show doesn’t keep him in the limelight, he’ll start a new show – new diversion from the Epstein files.
Now he’s buried in an imbroglio of his own idiocy in the Middle East. Rest assured – Congressman Smith is correct – Donald doesn’t care about whatever consequences are yet coming from this newest insanity. He’ll be after newer insanity soon. New damages. Like the 168 Iranian schoolgirls he killed. The 13 U.S. service members who died for his vanity.
How does any human being become so immune to the hurt of others? Let’s change the Q just a little. What do our schools do more? Center history, humanities, and essay writing to see people as individuals in their contexts? Or package the depersonalized abstractions and dehumanized rationalities for our humanly empty billionaires, corporations, and authoritarians?
This war is about distraction from the Epstein files. There is no endgame to the war because that would let the focus return to what is in the files. Thousands of innocent civilians and now American members of the military will be killed or maimed due to the attempts of Trump and the entire Epstein class to avoid being brought to justice.
Our former NATO allies realize this. They are choosing not to be complicit in the scam. But they need to take further actions against Russia to mitigate Trump's gift to Putin of billions for his war effort in Ukraine by reducing the oil sanctions. They are the ones who will have to pay the bill for the added damage to Ukraine that will have to be rebuilt for their protection from Russian aggression.
Heather's letter makes it clear that there were lots of preparations for the war with Iran. It's just that there were preparations to make sure that the US military would suffer more severe losses because we had lost key capabilities like the mine sweepers. This looks like a concerted effort to weaken the American military by drawing down stocks of critical weapons and taxing equipment.
The story of how our "most advanced" aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is falling apart because of delayed maintenance is unbelievable. Toilets that don't work, and fires in the laundry, causing 600 sailors to sleep on the floor because of damage to quarters by the fire, are the result of pushing the carrier's deployment to a year, twice the normal 6-month duty cycle. This will result in an extended time berthed for repairs while the carrier is unavailable for duty. This is just one example of a seemingly small decision with far-reaching consequences for American readiness.
Each of Trump's 2.0 regime decisions has resulted in the destruction of America's hard and soft power in the world or created polarization and dissent at home. My spidey sense says that this constellation of debacles is too fast, too much, and too deliberate to be due to sheer stupidity, incompetence, or even madness. The mechanisms for oversight have been dismantled. All of the people with expertise have been fired.
The ship of state is being scuttled before our eyes.
Asserting "this is all about Epstein" sounds appealing, doesn't it? Unfortunately for us, that's probably not the case. That a media spotlight which can't seem to focus on more than one or two things at once has moved temporarily isn't proof of cause-and-effect though. It's more like a side benefit. It provides noise and distraction to help conceal huge, major re-alignments of the chessboard they seek. It might even turn out to be useful for them if we continue to assert this as though it were fact
War against Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, Greenland, whatever, is actually a pillar of this regime, long time in coming. It accurately reflects an idiot's view of history where the insatiable, childish ego of an extremely dumb man matches his aspirations to return us to the glories of the McKinley Administration, a mythical pre-World War I place where beggar-thy-neighbor tariffs, rule by brute force, and robber-baron economics at home (including the destruction of the public regulatory apparatus for the benefit of private interests). They seek a world where Social Darwinism of the 1800s displaces liberalism at home, and blood-and-soil jingoism and militarism displace the entire post-1945 international global order abroad. So there is most certainly an endgame for them.
But they're also incompetent. It isn't working out the way they "planned." As we keep finding out, there never was any planning because they never contemplated it wouldn't work. And their coalition is cracking. Ships are beginning to desert the Sinking Rat. They're not getting what they want. Of course they aren't, because the whole thing is a Rube Goldberg contraption held together with lies and scotch tape, destined for collapse.
While nobody can say with clarity or wisdom what will happen next, signs of unraveling and desperation clearly abound. It is important to acknowledge the opportunities that provides us, rather than simply asserting that everything has already been pre-determined. That's simply not the case.
I will add my praise to ICTT’s analysis, there does indeed seem to be at least 2 things going on at once - diversion from the Epstein files to protect #47 from indictment, but more importantly a concerted effort to change the world order to “Spheres of Influence”, displacing democracy with rule by the wealthy elite. In the meanwhile, economies around the world are approaching collapse because of the loss of energy supplies (that China is now best to avert because of their forward thinking into renewable energy sources). My thoughts now are yes, it’s important for justice and the rule of law to continue to dig in and get to the bottom of the whole Epstein scandal, it’s also critical to stop the madness towards governance by authoritarianism.
People whose analysis I respect, like yours and Heather’s, keep saying trump’s unraveling, there are cracks, people are deserting, trump’s decompensating, etc. I’m not disputing it; I’m just struggling to believe this. Trump always escapes consequences of his actions. Last admin, I regularly thought ‘oh, this is it; this is the end of him.’ And it never was. And people elected him AGAIN.
Your important questions say much more about Trump's many accomplices and enablers than it does about him, to say nothing of the fools who keep refusing to admit they voted for a carnival-barking criminal and complete phony. Piles of dissertations will be written in the future about both these phenomena, which baffle me no end.
Teflon Don. And I find it hard to believe that he actually got elected. the media spent more time finding the "reasons" he got so many votes rather than the ways he got them, like muskrat and his hackers, the bomb threats being called in on the democratic strong holds.
Totally agree with you. All the actions point to re-aligning to "spheres of influence". The global oligarchs are united in their efforts. And, Russia must be ecstatic about its nearly complete destruction of America. Xi can also stand by and smile.
Kegseth hasn’t been concentrating on the things that matter, like maintaining our ships. He’s too busy enforcing racist directives from Trump and vetting officers for their personal loyalty to Trump over the Constitution. He also has killed a number of fishermen and now he and Trump are attacking Iran without consent from Congress or the UN. Even worse, Trump and Kegseth have no strategy or planning, and now they want to prosecute reporters for telling the truth, which the First Amendment permits them to do.
Kegseth is doing what he knows how to do - TV-style propaganda presentation. He thinks make-up and slicked-back hair make him good-looking. They don't.
I have seen more unflattering photos of Kegsbreath since his banishment of the photographers from the press pool than I ever did before. In either the real or the Urban dictionaries, I recommend that when the word "prick" as slang is defined, that one of those photos appear as a demonstration.
It is not only the lack of maintenance of our ships, it is within every area in which he lacks knowledge of the great value of educated and trained care and concern for our physical infrastructure and also those living creatures within our parks, our rivers, lakes, lands that have been set aside as well as the land and water itself used everyday.
Kathy, we have a President who only cares for how much treasure and power he can acquire for himself and for his family. The world is for himself only and he gets to set his priorities excluding the needs of the citizenry, current as well as future.
Trump is very much like a little child who is put alone in a room of toys and all he is inclined to do is to break them or throw them against a wall.
Georgia - 2.0 indeed! I was about to write it is what autocrats do … but they don’t - they get rid of anyone considered an enemy of their ideals and actions but keep those who provide key infrastructure that is needed. This is a whole new ball game - wage war abroad, wage a form of war on allies, wage war against your own people and institutions- protect your nation’s adversary, control wealthy potential adversaries by supporting schemes of blackmail -including the young Russian women Putin provided. I am thinking it is more basic than totalitarianism or the act of an autocrat but rather at its base, the art of the deal of a psychotic megalomaniac, less a political issue for MAGA and more a psychotic issue that finds support in a greed infested political system that thought they could use him as a tool and lost control. All roads lead to Moscow.
It certainly seems that Putin is the puppetmaster here, although he screwed up badly with the war on Ukraine. I think that was because his generals didn’t tell him the truth about the Ukrainian resistance in the early days of the war. I am amazed at the number of them that died falling off balconies and from car bombs and crashes. It looks like Putin is more ruthless in his retribution tour than Trump is, at least so far.
I think there are a lot of people in Trump’s inner circle who keep whispering in his ear, encouraging pro-Russian actions. Witkoff and Kushner and the Orban worshippers in particular. I am sure there is likely a circle around Hegseth, too. “We have to look tough and send our best carrier there immediately.” “But it is due for maintenance and retrofit” “The crew can tough it out. We need to project strength.” and suddenly Trump OKs the order to reposition the carrier and the crew is going on a 12 month tour as opposed to the usual 6 month one, and the toilets are clogging up, the and laundry goes up in smoke, and the weapons are depleted on board, and the sailors have no beds.
Trump can be swayed by a tweet he sees on X. Putin just needs to plant the talking points and see to it that Russian hackers amplify it on social media. Putin doesn’t even need to send subliminal messages through DJ Trump’s playlist. He can also just tell Dmitriev to call Witkoff.
Georgia, I think you are giving them too much credit. Was the military purposely degraded? No. It’s being run by a drunken an entertainment broadcaster who has no abilities at managing a military. When Trump was first elected, almost every appointment went to individuals who had no ability to fulfill their responsibilities.
So I have good news and bad news. Which first? The good news is that it will never get this bad again. The bad news is that it’s going to get worst. That doesn’t sound right. But I think you get the message.
Georgia, this story of USS Gerald R. Ford includes all the earmarks of advice from McKinsey & Company, the global consulting firm. I'm wondering if the U.S. Navy is or was one of their clients.
A good friend of mine was an engineer for a regional power utility. Prior to hiring McKinsey, the utility maintained an extensive inventory of replacement components for their power generating stations, including a fan blade over 50 feet in diameter that was made in Denmark and took months for delivery. The utility also followed a schedule by which they would shut down one generator per year to do routine maintenance.
McKinsey came in and advised the utility's management that they could save money by adopting a "run-to-fail" approach. This meant not stocking replacement components until they are needed and running the generators until one broke down and actually needed repair. As one might expect, these breakdowns always occurred during peak demand periods when electricity customers most needed power. The utility has since abandoned McKinsey's advice which cost them a fortune and brought darkness to their customers.
But McKinsey carries on, giving bad advice and making piles of money.
Sometimes I just love what you can find in 2 minutes from Perplexity AI pro. Your instincts were spot on!
Yes. Public contracting records and reporting show that the U.S. Navy has awarded consulting contracts to McKinsey & Company.highergov+2
Evidence of Navy–McKinsey contracts
In April 2019, Naval Sea Systems Command awarded McKinsey an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00024‑19‑D‑2416) for “System Level Cost Analysis with Total Ownership Cost Modeling,” a consulting support requirement.https://www.highergov.com/idv/N0002419D2416/
So, not only has the Navy had contracts with McKinsey in the past, but McKinsey has been one of several recurring consulting providers across Navy and broader DoD programs.
And don’t forget the US oil execs trump brought to maralago who he promised big profits in exchange for $1B of campaign contributions. They are making lots of money off the high price of oil right now. The military industrial complex is also running laps to the bank while we burn billions of taxpayer money daily lobbying high cost missiles at iran. All his buddies are winning 🥇.
Good memory on the oil execs! The AI and crypto and prediction market bros just bumped them off my radar.
You brought back to my mind another interesting energy connection though. Gentry Beach, Don Jr.’s college buddy, is doing a deal with Novatek, a Russian LNG company for a joint venture in Alaska. The baby daddy of Putin’s grandchild is involved with Novatek,
You can’t make this stuff up—the corruption is so blatant.
They don’t even try to hide it😳. “ the Biden crime family “ Hahahahaha. Trump is correct that he is way better at crime and corruption than his predecessor….
Phil, he truly has a mental disorder that does not allow him to feel the emotion of empathy, malignant narcissism. Whether it be nature or nurture, I.e. caused by some sort of brain disorder or by some error in how he was brought up, no one is clear on this pathologically, but people with this disorder are incapable of feeling empathy for others. And that is a very dangerous disease for a President to have. He can only think about himself.
I am an internal medicine physician. In a book of essays from mental health professionals about the pathology of Donald Trump, prompted by the medical "duty to warn", the best phrase I encountered was "other blaming." Donald Trump is absolutely intolerant of even a hint of criticism. He considers himself a perfect individual. This is why he said doesn't need to pray, because he has nothing to be sorry for. Therefore, in response to any form of challenge or criticism, he will never admit fault. Never. Incapable. That is why his responses to questions from journalists are a mixture of bragging, deflection, denial, pivoting, attacks, name-calling, diversion, endless repetition of unquestionably false claims and grievances, and so forth. Since he considers himself a perfect human being, he feels no limitation on his actions, which are all perfect. That is why he can say that he might continue to bomb Kharg Island "just for fun." For him, a whim is a perfect reason for epic violence and destruction. "Other blaming" really encapsulates him. I am doing everything i can to make sure our democracy is protected and we have a change in national leadership in November and in 2028. I encourage everyone to do the same.
Recent incidents have left me, a retired mental health counselor, also considering the ASPD diagnosis. In my experience, not all persons with ASPD are intent on harming others; rather, the fundamental problem is boredom. They seek stimuli, anything exciting, and that's how they get themselves in trouble. This seems to be unfolding IRL with Trump. He clearly gets bored very easily and, unfortunately, has the resources and minions at his disposal to create excitement. And everyone else pays the price.
When you say, "to create excitement," I think of the dehumanized social media billionaires whose realms constitute nothing more than their algorithms'' cheap sensationalism.
In the small town where I was a contract deputy (Ally of Mayberry) we had a young man elected to the City Council who was energetic, had a lot of ideas, and really ruffled the feathers of everyone, from the Mayor (probably the least ruffled), the rest of the Council, city management, and a good third of the voters. Since Council meetings were on my cohort's nights off (I worked days, he worked nights with Wednesday being the only day that we both worked) I went to about a half dozen meetings since things got a bit heated from time to time.
There was one member of city government who was convinced that this fellow was APD. As a cop, I was very familiar with that population, and was intrigued by the theory of how many successful politicians and businessmen seem to have a "bent" in that direction. I do not put ffpotus in that category; I see far more of the negative components to that disorder in him.
Yes, J L, and that is exactly what he will be most famous for: being the perfect example of malignant narcissism. That should be the only contribution to society he should be known for, that we understand this type of pathology so well, that we will never again even consider giving someone like him any power to wield at all. Yes, his example of psychopathology should not only be in our psychology books, but also be included in our history books when illuminating what unnecessary havoc and destruction he caused during his so-called leadership. Forthwith, his name will be synonymous with Warning-Danger!!! We must ensure by amendments and laws that this can never happen again.
JL, I would suggest that Donald is a walking textbook of ALL the psychological and personality disorders, starting with learning disability, exacerbated by ASPD, malignant narcissism, etc., etc., and ending with Alzheimer's. Every component of his mentality is broken.
Bandy X Lee MD had several well known experts such as the late Robert Lifton PhD and Judith Herman PhD and John Gsrtner PhD. Along with others . Her story is telling. She was dropped by the APA and lost her position at Yale. David Cay Johnston has said it best a four generation white collar crime family. He has known and written about this for decades. If you go to the late Wayne Barrett’s writings on his temperament and his connections to crimes and overt racism in his family’s housing developments it is all spelled out.
The use of his position as a tool well documented and it continued in the entertainment industry with Mark Burnett. Folks were sold an au currant celeb image. The label really doesn’t matter any more and his ongoing aging presents other cognitive issues. JD Vance and his coterie of trad / conservative Roman Catholics are even more discerning because of the involvement of Peter Theil and others. Like the late pope the current pope is compromised but at least speaks out. This started after Vatican II and especially after the death John Paul 1. Because John Paul II was steeped in anti communism and traumatized . He had lost all his family members in WWII and then was always in a political struggle (Poland’s history and during after WWII is so complex and devastating events happened ) he did not have the wherefullall to comprehend the complexity of the non communist world. The late pope Benedict also of that time and traumatized by again by WWII. He had a relative taken for the pre Holocaust Holocaust of the disabled and other groups.
Some very untoward things happened financially and the openness was closed. I don’t have a good grasp just know some of it the malfeasance and power plays at certain levels going on still. Compassion and loving kindness a core issue for the essence of most spiritualities . Karen Armstrong and Matthew Fox have written extensively on different religions. Richard Rohr and Marabi Star as well. Anne Lamont and the Buddhist folks like Pema Chodran and Susan Salzburg or Joanne Halifax. Many others and also those who are agnostic or atheistic . There are good kind caring people in every group. We just have been scattered and are still being scattered to the winds by many things and also the powers that be. At times I throw up my hands. But there are options and ways to counter act and counter attack. Art is still powerful and history and if nothing else because of Dr Richardson abd all the historians , all the philosophers and the thinkers and some artists in everyday life there is the ongoing possibility of both knowledge gathering abd with overall change. I get ornery at times so I am sorry if I ever offended anyone. I try to walk steps of good every day. Some days are easier than others.
“Like the late pope the current pope is compromised but at least speaks out.” I don’t get this comment. How is Pope Leo “compromised’? He’s finally, finally taking strong positions and actions.
He is speaking up and out but not or not able to do anything else at this point. It looks good because so many people do not know the history of Roman Catholicism and in particular the Vatican. For instance the Jesuits were suppressed by the Vatican at least once and possibly more. A person can go under edict as my great uncle did while he was studying Louvain for his PhD and went to hear a oh my a modernist speak! He had to write an essay and apologize to get back into the good graces of his seminary superiors. He also was for a time not given an assignment . In the states there was always political issues between the German and Irish bishops. Things got more confusing more immigrant groups came to the states. It took a long time to change the Irish/ German bishopric power structure . It was everywhere from the the schools and colleges to dioceses. There would ba French heritage bishop now and then like Amedaus Rappe in Ohio.
One besides being usually an order surpressed or going under edict one Coukd be called to an account and investigated. This has a long, deep and literally torturous history labeled the Spanish Inquisition though not all just in Spain like Miquel Cervantes romance novel Don Quitoxe . It takes place in a Vatican or diocesan prison. There were inquests in South America, Mexico, Manila in the Philippines, and Goa , India. You may recall Galileo was kept under house arrest. In modern times writers like Telliard de Chardin were investigated. The issue was approved publication of works. Some folks just had a non Catholic non approved publication print their works. The church was very powerful. Later in about ten to fifteen years ago the Catholic nun group LCWR was quietly investigated for several years. This came out relatively unscathed. Nuns and their orders abd other clergy and or lay groups always needed to get approval. Many were the proverbial thorn in the side of the papacy for their social justice and sandals on the ground work for those in need. The Beguines,now Doctor of the Church Hildegarde of Bigin were under edict or suppressed or excommunicated for a time or with the Beguines almost squashed out of memory as with the Celtic two sided monasteries one with a male Abbot and one with a female Abbess. Both endowed with equal power except for ordination. Though it has been known during WWII a perhaps ordination in time of great need and there is a history in the very early church of female Draco s and perhaps priests. St Thelca is one Saint. John Dominic Crossan of the old Jesus Seminar had on the cover of his book on St Paul a picture of a cave in Turkey with both Paul and Thelca holding hands raised in blessing with Thelca’s image very damaged possibly more on purpose than not.
The pope Coukd surprises, indict, investigate or excommunicate. I am not sure what being called a heretic would do or mean. Many of the canonical saints for times were at odds or in direct defiance of the Vatican or done Vatican policies. Dogma plays a role here as well. Another universe. Some very good and committed priests have chosen to be laized. And those just members in the Body of Christ and Roman Catholic Church not sure what other actions. Liberation Theology caused problems. But also in WWII in Germany many Na is were also Roman Catholic . I think the story of Maximillian Kolbe is one important story as is The White Rose Society. Many lost their lives and many stayed silent and kept their lives going. Though some were involved with the Nuremberg Trisls. The Men of Sosndu is a good book to read. Pope Leo does have some options. I hope he can discern what to do besides speaking out. Its rosy survey in a way abd dicey. I wish him grace.
As I said elsewhere, it seems that the ugly part of organized religion is narcissistic and political. The whole notion of heresy just reeks of hubris as I see it, as did the evil acts of the 9/11 attackers. It is racism, it is misogyny, it is castes, and all of that is political supremacist violence, the opposite of the humbleness that wisdom and compassion demand. I have had a lifelong interest in religion yet embrace the scientific method to explain our physical circumstances. I don't believe in "Creation" nor in a devil. I was influenced by the thinking of Telliard de Chardin in my teens and consider Galileo a more seminal figure than I think most appreciate. He laid critical groundwork for Newton and Einstein. I value ego and also see it as problematic and potentially dangerous. When ego is all that is left, it can become evil, and that is the tyrannosaur in the room that hides in the plainest sight.
I think that religion, or sincere self exploration, asks some questions the scientific method can greatly inform but not fully answer, about our sentient, sensorial experience of experience, and of human values, and think that the road to exploration of that is by open conversation with one's self and with others.
The playful friendship between Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama spoke volumes to narcissistic, exclusionary sectarianism. Much that claims to be religion is no more than an especially narcissistic power politics, while it seems to me that actual religion, and for that matter any just civilization, asks us to transcend. MAGA "Christianity" is the Orwellian antipode of the themes of what Jesus is said to have taught, bit so too has been the versions of the church that spurred conquest, genocide, slavery, and tortures. We are obliged to pretend they are all the same thing, when they are so nakedly not. I wish more who prize kindness would just say so. Jesus was kind but not passive. Of course, that is what got him killed, as was the case for Gandhi, MLK , arguably Lincoln, as well as the political pressure from China to erase the Dalai Lama. Solidarity in and of itself is the nemesis of tyranny, and Tyrants and tyrant wannabees know it.
Yes. St Francis met with a Sultan. And other spirituallies are really open to friendship and dialogue with other groups and people. God did not create if there is a creator but if there was/ is one they certainly did not create a one size fits all creation. Diversity is inherent and never should be feared just enjoyed
Diversity makes for expanded scope and resilience, and that's why you don't have kids with a sibling. That keeps life interesting, and it does take work, luck and finesse to manage and avoid the inevitable behaviors that are hurtful and destructive.
Yes, but don’t leave out the cognitive decline that allows the worst of his tendencies to show their ugly faces. A younger trump was still despicable, but able to mask his worst with a weak but slightly functional pre-frontal cortex. That governor is gone now and we have the unhinged president blurting the insane out loud!!
Age can intensify the best and the worst in people. Self-awareness and generosity can increase. Likewise, vain entitlement entitlement are absurd self-centeredness.
Yes but age Doesn’t equal cognitive decline. Many 80 yo folks are sharp and more circumspect than when younger. Cognitive decline is early/ soft language for dementia.
And a brilliant move apparently Elon Musk is offering to pay for all transportation to get any voters from either party or any party To acquire their voter ID.
Netanyahu had this planned months ago. Joe Kent knows this. And as for the NATO "allies", NATO is a defense organisation, and Trump is the aggressor. Moreover, as BBC Radio News remarked this morning, Trump seems to have forgotten how the whole of NATO rushed in with help after 9/11.
I am a bit skeptical of Kent because he wrongly claimed Israel caused Syria’s war. Syria was fighting a civil war which ultimately ousted Bashar Al Assad. Kent’s first wife Shannon was a cryptographer killed by ISIS. Netanyahu’s involvement in our stupid Iran war is quite another thing. As long as Netanyahu can keep Israel on a war footing, he can remain in power, and many Israelis want him out.
It’s obvious to me that is what he is doing, I don’t think he deliberately let the attacks occur in Southern Israel, as I think he would not deliberately do anything to harm Israel’s citizens. I think that like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, Netanyahu simply was not paying attention, and got caught by surprise. Two intelligence officers found Hamas’s plans and forwarded them up the chain of command, and they were an accurate blueprint of how Hamas executed the attack. One of the generals in Netanyahu’s war cabinet took the fall for the failure to prevent the attacks and resigned.
And as long as trump can remain president, with a very compliant majority, he can remain out of prison. That’s why he ran for reelection. Being the president is boring. Having the privileges of the presidency is cool.
MLM: Plus, he had Project 25 and its creators ready to take over. All he had to do was make a fool of himself, even shoot someone in 5th avenue.... nothing would happen to him.
Tulsi Gabbard's head will be on the chopping block after she testifies before Congress tomorrow. What Trump said yesterday makes that clear. He said that no one told him the Iranians might strike back against other Gulf States and American assets there.
This is another one of those lies meant to convey a threat rather than to be believed. And the person this threat is aimed at is Tulsi Gabbard. For you can be sure that she will be asked if this is true. And Trump has just assured that she will be adjudged at fault regardless of how she answers.
Yes, Joe Kent admitted that trump invaded Iran by being pressured by Netanyahu. Why would any nation want to reward this with their help? It's mortifying....
I could SCREAM every time I hear him bash NATO and lying about all our former allies coming to our aid. Unfortunately, the bad behavior of the bully has come back to haunt him. RIGHTLY SO!
Empathy is most definitely considered weakness by all of maga. Many of their leaders have already said this out loud. Sméagol ( the despicable Steven miller) for one example.
And a brilliant move apparently Elon Musk is offering to pay for all transportation to get any voters from either party or any party To acquire their voter ID.
Decimated Kharg Island, he says. But not the oil infrastructure, "out of decency", he says. But he might hit it again, for fun, he says. I wonder if the 8000 inhabitants plus oil workers are enjoying it? I guess that doesn't matter, since the island has been decimated. Or has it? He's got a growing list of words he thinks mean "destroyed".
He loves to see people die as well. How many military personnel have already died for this pointless war? How many people will starve around the world because he wants to be king of the world. He certainly doesn't want to rule Cuba to make life better for the Cubans. And he's allowing Putin to pass along information to Iran that could possibly hurt or kill our troops. He's a traitor and needs to be impeached along with his entire cabinet and JD.
Absolutely. And it's in the Epstein files. Of course, the cowering cowardly Republicans don't want to do anything about anyone in the Epstein files, especially Trump and Musk.
On 3/5/26 Sheldon Whitehouse, who Heather has interviewed several times, read this address on the US Senate floor that runs the tape on the story of Trump, Epstein and Russia coterie/cabal. It explains a lot and is the beginning of understanding the enormity of the international criminal sistema.
“Sen. Whitehouse to uncover connections between Trump, Russia, and Epstein. - YouTube”
They always speak to an empty chamber. That's nothing new -- been the case for decades. We aren't in 1776 where delegates are huddled in a single room, hashing out ideas and clashing with one another any more. I'm sure that's not a great thing, but that is the reality.
Why they need a completely new strategy!!! They used to have flash mobs of song. Why not in the Rotunda or in the empty chambers. You know when I saw my first Shakespeare play my mother sat me down and said I would experience lewd humor and that was for the standing poor folk in front of the stage at the Globe Theater. She said they brought rotten food and scraps and ready to throw on stage at the actors if they were not entertained. She had a point
. Do what you need to do along and inside the framework of everything else.
I saw As You Like It and bawdy though Comedy of Errors more so. I also was lucky enough to see Tom Hanks on stage before he was a star!
I'm trying even to recollect when last the Senate was a "debating chamber." It's a sign of the complexity -- also the degradation -- of our politics. Yes, a row of lowlifes armed with cabbages might help!
I am always stunned when I see the empty chambers on C-Span. How disheartening for anyone who works at their job. There are few in Congress who even care about doing their job. I wonder why they get a paycheck and benefits for doing NOTHING. Yet we have citizens who work two, sometimes three, jobs to make ends meet. There is something very wrong with this picture./
They don't even write their own legislation anymore. It's done by lawyers and aides. I used to be a Congressional intern for one of the very who DID write his own consumer protection legislation. He was also one of the only Constitutional scholars in the House, and co-wrote a 'handbook' on impeachment just before proceedings against Richard Nixon began. Those days are long gone now.
Georgia! Senator Whitehouse has been speaking over hundreds of times on this and other important topics. At this point I think he needs sound and music and film clips to get his points across. Also many times the chamber is empty. He needs to get the media newsboys . Anything at this point.
By the time he got to school it was way too late. He was born a cruel bully and his father encouraged his psychopathy.
Smith is one of my state’s reps and a brilliant leader. Our entire Congressional delegation is top notch: Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell, Rick Larson, Pramila Jayapal. We need to get rid of Baumgartner and Newhouse this time around. Strong Dems are running against them.
And a brilliant move apparently Elon Musk is offering to pay for all transportation to get any voters from either party or any party To acquire their voter ID.
You poor guy last time words that you’re in your bed is epstein epstein epstein epstein as you pass away and nothing will have changed from today till then. Nice life you lead.
I cannot believe that you, Mr. Balla, dare to cast public education “our schools”, as you call them, as the origin of fault for the depravity of character that is Trump and other megalomaniacs like him.
What is wrong with you?
What an insult to the integrity of this community. And that such a source of blame according to you be echoed over and over by you in this Letters From An American community.
Please. Do not insult me. Your blame is always put on what you perceive as the lack of humanities in the curricula of public schools. And that the lack has been supplanted by standardized testing. And that this lack is at the core of the personality disorder noted.
So do not wiggle around asking me about the “testers”.
I am very much in favor of any testing that drives instruction in any teacher’s classroom.
Where you profess that the lack of humanities in our schools is a culprit does not ring true.
Because it is not. Humanities is at the core of why we even have the system of public education available to all children.
For the truest account, Christine, see Diane Ravitch's "The Language Police."
Please stop forwarding the bromide that "Humanities is at the core of why we even have the system of public education available to all children." The humanities, to which you appeal, got systematically killed in our schools ever since the Powell memo of 1971. You really do not know this history?
The Diane Ravitch book will give you the key facts and historical narrative (plus hundreds of appendices). Wendell Berry, Kurt Andersen, Sheldon Whitehouse -- many fine authorities (by their own erudition and humane experience) have spoken to these facts. If you don't know them, won't look into them, even having been alerted to them, then I don't insult you. You insult yourself.
Of course I know Diane’s book. And, no thank you on your take on the humanities. It’s not ever been banished in any classroom I have been privileged to supervise. The combined element of an excellent teacher and diverse students working together as a community negates your opinion of what’s missing from the curricula in public schools.
Quit blaming schools and standardized testing. You are obsessed on a wrong path. Perhaps Donald Trump played in the wrong sandbox. I assure you it is not the norm.
The Language Police is a most wonderful book. It has lists of rules for textbooks that can make you laugh out loud. Don't show Asian students being docile in school. Don't show Asian students aggressively raising their hands in school.
After a while the game is to imagine "Ethnic Slurs" that are debatable. For example THE FIGHTING IRISH. What about Welshing on a bet? And then look those up . . .
It seems that tyrants are the only people Trump might actually admire, and Russia has, by his kid's own admission, supported his financial interests bigly over a number of years.
Trump is still trying to get love and acceptance from his father, through Putin. Those denied acceptance and love, become deeply debauched. And something strange maybe despite love? Why Chopra, who teaches truth, and the heads of all the major tech companies, have thrown aside all deeper values for money, and knowingly participate in the violation of young people, bodily, or emotionally/psychologically via tech. Related: Too many rats in a cage start killing each other, now watched and betted on by prey outside the cage. Sorry, very ugly, but the question is why? What was the book? Lord of the Flies? Deprived of healthy connection, depravity: the falsities of life take over.
Break out of the spell and find interaction with family, neighbors, and open fields or land portions again, and your personal, inner human. Search for: The Robot Who Wanted to Be Human, by Charles Eisenstein.
Yes, Peggy: "find interaction with family, neighbors, and . . ..'
Funny, you know. Our schools could do this, but by testing, corporate textbook packaging, and the mandates of "higher" ed's depersonalized silo specializations, we've marched instead to a much deadlier drummer.
<How does any human being become so immune to the hurt of others?>
Donald Trump is a malignant narcissist (antisocial behavior, paranoid, sadism, lacks empathy, grandiose thinking). He may also fit the definition of dark tetrad (sadism, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy).
Surely his abusive father and distant mother did not help his development, but he was born this way.
What if he knows exactly what he’s doing and he’s executing every possible Putin plan to assist in creating the new world order including helping BRICS members corner the market on energy and minerals while simultaneously destroying NATO and the United States and leaving Europe open to takeover by Russia. All the while making insane money for himself and his family… and escaping any consequences for Epstein and all of the crimes and atrocities he and his cronies have committed all over the world— destroying American credibility and proving he can be even crazier and more ruthless than any other strongman.
I think Putin "knows exactly what he's doing," not Donald. That criminal, rapist, pedophile in the White House knows only enough "bing-bing-boing-bong" to keep himself center stage in our era of cowardly corporate media and schools taken over by the billionaire predators of testing.
I am guessing that Putin being the heart throb to Trump as Trump is similarly to the the effusively fizzing over Lindsey G., that Donnie’s love interest, that sneaky old KBG-er, Vlodya, has his very own без изъятий copy of Файлы Эпштейна….
-
Spoiler Alert: That 1st word in Cyrillic above (без изъятий) means ‘unredacted’-so, knowing that-I’m guessing you know what ‘Файлы Эпштейна’ means….
Someone posted this insight not too long ago. “Look what I did, daddy! I destroyed the world! Nobody ever did this before, I am the best, I am unique! Do you love me now?” This encapsulates the sickness of DJT.
And POTUS took history in high school about 65 years ago, before the history was attempted to be written with more truth... he grew up on white cowboy westerns and likely consumed those more than he ever did any real history. Those were his formative history and he wants to take us back to those "good ole days." Embarrassingly untethered from reality.
It would be interesting for HRC to look at the back story of how Reagan created the Iran of today. He committed treason when he secretly set up a deal with Khomeini in 1980 NOT to release the hostages until after the election. At the time Reagan was a private citizen, Carter, the president, set up a deal with Banisadr—elected to be president of Iran by 76% of the voters in Iran’s first election. In return, Reagan, once elected, supplied the Taliban with weapons. The hostages were released the hostages about the same time that Reagan took his oath of office and he took credit for it. Sabotaging a sitting president and making a separate deal is an act of treason. I could have some details and spellings wrong. Would like to see what Heather would write on this.
The Taliban didn't exist yet when Reagan was president. The Reagan administration did assist the mujahideen and Pashtuns that were fighting against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan later in his term. Charlie Wilson's War was a book and film that detailed the funding and weapons that as a Congressman, Wilson, used his position on the Appropriations Committee to massively increase funding for Afghan rebels.
As for the backchannel meetings between Reagan's campaign advisors and strategists, it was extremely unethical if not outright illegal and deplorable. When Jimmy Carter had lost the election, in his final months as president, he worked relentlessly to get the hostages released up until the day of Reagan's inauguration. The Reagan campaign feared a late-October release of the hostages (an "October surprise") would give President Carter a last-minute boost in the polls. Reagan's team promised future arms deals to the Iranian regime in exchange for holding the 52 American hostages until just after Reagan's 1981 inauguration. Later in the Reagan presidency, the Iran-Contra affair was uncovered. It involved strange transactions of weapons that were sold to Iran, supporting the Contras in Nicaragua with weapons and even funding it with illicit activities like shipments of cocaine loaded onto the empty planes flying back that suddenly flooded the streets of Compton, Oakland and inner cities with crack.
My understanding is that it was actually bushie 1 who did the dirty deed with Iran. ronnie was dumb as a box of rocks: I don’t think he could put 2 and 2 together and get 4 without help, let alone come up with the Iran-contra idea. But he could read a B movie script, which is all bushie 1 hired him for anyway.
Somebody who remembers, thank you. The machinations of Nixon in 1968 and Reagan in 1980 are the things that should have been headlined and never forgotten. Democratic candidates never had that power focus to the exclusion of any morality
We are a far, far better nation than our faux, deluded, hate-filled president and his cultist fans portray to America and the world. In our own best interests and the interests of a freer world, we've spent 80+ years promoting a "Melting Pot" vision of equal governance across the globe. Democratic governance based on the simple concept that its key role is supporting the well-being of all citizens, not just the wealthy, white connected citizens. Our mission in the months and years ahead is to restore this visionary gift to America and the world. The worldwide conservative Right, scoffs at these ideals. They admire the fascist Ideal that "Might makes Right", aka "realpolitik". Our ongoing battle is to rekindle our vision among the vast majority of Americans that a free and equal America is the real America. We are not a country of hate. We not a police state protecting the corruption of the powerful. Embrace this battle with pride. Relish it. We've been fighting it for 250 years. We'll keep fighting it. We'll win again.
All this was inevitable the day a majority of US voters who participated in the 2024 election decided to return Trump to the Presidency. People keep using the wrong lens to view Trump. The correct lens is to see him as a terrified and stupid animal, trapped, fighting for its life and willing to do anything to escape. And the only escape he sees is to seize absolute power. If we don't recognize the nature of the problem, we will keep believing there is some line he will not cross.
There isn't.
I'm afraid I don't know what the answer is. The institutions in the US that should have constrained him years ago have all failed.
I appreciate your comment. I think most of us have spent too much time trying to understand this man, and not enough time figuring out what to do to stop him and his regime
I have inappropriately lost my temper with friends and allies who keep asking "why does Trump/pick your cult behave the way they do?" It is a categorical error, IMNSHO, to use fact-based, rational, logical thinking to try to understand them. I truly believe the downfall of the US began with the rise of the WWF and in general bullshit culture that our society allowed to take itself seriously. Reality eventually cracks back, and that, I feel, is what we are witnessing now.
Indeed. When the History Channel stopped running programs based on history and started running stuff like Hillbilly Handfishin', I knew we lost the plot. So many people in this country have no appetite for learning and are like toddlers that just desire to be constantly entertained.
That is a problem too, but Trump still didn't win a majority the votes that were cast. He got about 49.8% and Harris got 48 point something. Plurality but not a majority. And of course he lost the popular vote outright in both 2016 and 2020.
Our institutions reflect our own aggregate notions of what most matters, at least the ones we are willing to act on. We the people kinda lost our way and kinda lost the plot. We have some catching up to do.
Your statement "a majority of US voters who participated in the 2024 election decided to return Trump to the Presidency” is simply not true. So many commenters keep saying this, blaming the voters, but the fact is, Harris won! I seem to be one of the few commenters who have mentioned this. Please take a look at the work that has been done to uncover what truly happened:
On 3/17/26 Heather posted her Thursday “Politics Chat”. In it she discussed the SAVE Act that is currently before Congress and which Trump is trying to force through. So it is important to be familiar with the following;
ICYMI: On 3/17/26 Senator Adam Schiff gave a speech on the SAVE Act on the floor of the US Senate so that it would be entered into the Congressional record:
“Dismantling the SAVE America Act, One Falsehood at a Time - YouTube”
Also ICYMI: Ali Velshi, a Canadian journalist, correspondent for NBC News and anchor for MS NOW, gave a synopsis of what the Heritage foundation is doing to disempower women now that they have succeeded in implementing about half of Project 2025’s assault on our democracy. It is much more than just suppressing women’s vote as the SAVE Act does or controlling women’s healthcare as the Supreme Court’s decisions have. All women (and men) should be aware of the information he provides in this short video which has a historical perspective.
“The Heritage Foundation’s new blueprint for American women - YouTube”
The SAVE Act is a very bad idea. If the Senate approves it, Trump will sign it. Many people will be disenfranchised because the government will require a passport or birth certificate as proof of U.S. citizenship in order to vote. Commenters in this thread know this, but there's more inequity that comes clear now that this legislation has been put on the table.
In the 1980s, my husband and I combined our last names to make a new name. We did it legally. My husband’s birth certificate had to be changed to our new name, because Minnesota law requires that of men but not of women. My birth certificate (i.e., as a woman) retains my birth name. If SAVE passes, he’ll be able to vote, and if I did not have a passport that would prove I am a citizen, I would not be able to vote.
The SAVE Act is not needed to rid us of voter fraud. As an election judge, I know that people who come to vote are vetted with great accuracy. An election investigation in Minnesota in 2025 found that only two ineligible people tried to register. Our elections are fraud-proof to a great enough extent. Preventing fraud in voting is a smoke screen to deny millions of people participation in our democracy.
I’m going with the advice of the messaging maven of the Movement, Anat Shenker-Osorio to stop using their chosen language and call the bill for what it’s intended to do, the Voter Elimination Act.
My view from the bridge, The SAVE act is the Greek army hiding inside the Trojan horse (the war in Iraq, going after Cuba, etc ... ) Congressional members from the extinct republican party to date have not pushed back on any of the executive actions so far will fold on the SAVE act too. Maybe it will be proved unconstitutional, but it will be enough to delay, nullify the mid-terms. If there's jerk-off like Fetterman siding with maga congress, that's the tipping point.
Well, we know Trump is using the presidency to line his own pockets. I’m convinced he’s selling pardons, and Jared has business interests with the Saudis and the Gulf states.
Professor Beharouz Ghamari, author of The Long War in Iran: New Events, Old Questions. He spread the words of reality, historical context, and waging peace. He will be our featured guest for the entire hour. *link for audio version*
"The only countries that I see that are in constant violation of international law are the United States and Israel. And frankly, I am speechless, although I’m speaking, but I am speechless—in what universe can this war be justified as self-defense? You listened to Secretary Rubio’s speech in Munich where he laments 400 years of colonial rule being lost to this international law and laws of fighting wars because they want to go back to the way things were in the 18th and 19th century. This is a naked expansionist, extortionist administration here, and that’s the only reason they have launched this war, and there is absolutely no justification for it." ~Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi
"For years and years, the Israelis have been assassinating Iranian scientists. They were sabotaging Iranian industries. And actually, the Iranian government showed tremendous restraint in responding to these Israeli provocations because they didn’t want to create the situation in which we find ourselves today. But then at the end of the day, calling Iran the aggressor here I think is a total ignorance of history and the context in which this war has started." ~Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi
True, I think he is a smart man, but the smartest men in the room have screwed us royally. I have dismissed his opinions since 2000. Does he have regrets, nah
You can say this about just about anyone who chooses to identify with the fringe left. They are all “too smart” for the rest of us and never pass up an opportunity to tell us that. Of course, when you ask them what their theory of change is, and how it is supposed to work, you get crickets.
Donald Trump needn't give his partner in crime, Netanyahu, all the credit for decapitating the military and intelligence leadership of an authoritarian religious extremist government with nuclear capacity, and brutalizing its own people. Trump's done it here at home.
True. If you bully and hector nations which have been our allies, don’t be surprised if they don’t want to help you pull yourself out of our self-inflicted problems. Donald has never learned this.
The real vulnerability of the midterms may be the election software that is used to scan and count the ballots in almost every precinct. It is written and distributed under the supervision of the Trump dominated Election Assistance Commission. So although we've been taught since grade school that because our elections under the Constitution are controlled by the states they are too distributed to corrupt, ever since the introduction of computers they are actually federally controlled through the election software. Just as we have little idea what the computer code in the Windows updates Microsoft downloads and installs on our personal computers, local election officials have no idea what the election software is doing that the Election Assistance Commission vendors downloads and installs on their election equipment. Sure they run test ballots through their machines at the beginning and end of each election day and spot audits after each election, but the security protocols are designed and written by the same people who design, write and oversee the software. Remember how Volkswagen was able to fool emissions testers for years using their diesel engine management software. The only absolute assurance that ballots were correctly scanned and counted is to conduct a hand count of the paper ballots, something Democrats have been unwilling to demand even when election results seem fantastical as was the case in swing states in the 2024 presidential election that gave the win unexpectedly to Donald Trump. Unfortunately because Trump has continually complained about "stolen elections" it makes anyone with legitimate questions about election integrity seem like a nut case, which may be the real purpose of his complaints. Trump must corrupt the midterms to keep Republicans in control of the House and Senate to complete his authoritarian takeover and protect himself and his cronies. We already know he has no moral or ethical limits and will do anything, legal and illegal, to achieve his goals. Our ability to protect the integrity of the midterms is limited by our failure to imagine the lengths Trump will go to corrupt them. I fear the days following the election when we may be wringing our hands wondering why the "blue wave" that was widely predicted failed to occur.
I think it worth mentioning specifically that the SAFE act proposal also requires women to have the same surname that they have on their birth certificates, as far as I understand. That will especially target women in all sectors and classes for disenfranchisement!
My sister and I are two people who would be exempt. She is married, but has kept her maiden name for professional reasons. I have not ever married. We both have passports, I also have a passport card and my birth certificate. The SAVE Act is a sexist and racist effort to keep people from exercising their right to vote, which should be recognized as a fundamental right.
It especially targets older married women who have changed their names, because they have to find their original marriage certificate to show the name change. Adoptees may also have the same challenge.
When I was doing courthouse security, I would often sit in on ex parte hearings (some of those can get pretty intense.) One of the things that get handled ex parte are name and gender changes. We had one Circuit Court judge who was very positive in acknowledging people with their new names/genders. She was diligent in every way. There was another one, who while less positive, would sometimes rule that criteria weren't met, and who would always warn "There is a very good chance that at some point down the road, this sort of change could end up not being in your best interest." I think he was prescient.
Meanwhile, after weeks of push-polls, Maine Gov. Janet Mills - tempted into the Senate race by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and trailing behind Graham Platner, came out flailing with her first negative campaign ad - but his posts, but his tattoo. All that was missing was 'I'm Susan Collins and I approve this message.'
Heather, are there any historical precedents for a president or cabinet member removing sanctions from a country that is actively assisting an enemy in targeting our soldiers and installations? It seems crazy that, instead of adding additional sanctions to Russia because of their aiding Iran, we’ve lifted sanctions that were working to bankrupt their war effort against Ukraine.
Something that caught my attention; when Donald was asked about Putin helping Iran he said something to the effect of " yeah, they probably are and they think we are helping Ukraine". I'm paraphrasing but it is those little short lines he blurts out that are the tell. He really is that transactional without a hint of irony. But I digress. Constantly trying to figure out this man is a fools errand. Leave that to the physiologists. There is only one thing that matters: Donald Trump is the enemy of the people.
There is a shifting here, where once the US considered Ukraine – and by extension, the EU - our ally and Russia the aggressor. Current US policy, as voiced by the President, is on a trajectory to sideline both Ukraine and the EU in favor of a détente with Russia, more specifically between Trump and Putin, who is playing Trump like a fiddle. Is this further evidence of an agreement to partition the world into three spheres of influence, or a move motivated by Trump’s full-blown avarice – or both?
Trump wants to be a member of the He-Man Women Hater's Club (if you are old enough to catch that reference!)
Alfalfa and Darla ripped apart by Spanky how can we forget?
Hello lauriemcf..... DJT doesn't Respect Women... DJT only sees Women as Objects...
😊 yes, The Little Rascals.
Sadly and gladly I am
Is there any doubt that Putin owns Trump? The circumstantial evidents is overwhelming.
Harvey, I’ll raise you. one re poker ♣️ that putting’s got to the unredated E files plus more ie golden shower. Our dire larder’s now his joker asset, or How to Make a Narcissist Quiver By putting as his memoir….
I heard a conspiracy rumor recently that Melania is a deep undercover agent. That would explain why she's still in her marriage Haha.
Be that as it may, Melania cares about her son.
Your'e right Susan. Color her a human being. Where the conversation goes from there, the sky is the limit. However, one light always flickers when that name appears: click-bait. And, we usually bight but, not always.
You are 100% right. They told us, stop the hand wringing and believe them.
This is a cluster-fuck. Everything and everyone in the White House is dirty and traitor disgusting. I knew this mess was in store when this drag queen orange-painted faced fat asshole (sorry I don’t mean to shame the obese among us but an exception is necessary) won election and I called for the once good generals to suspend the constitution to prevent him from official misrule. I understood it was a no-win proposal but it is what it is; no win. I would have taken my chances with the good generals. If anyone disagrees with me just wait until a nuclear bomb is dropped.
That’s next.
Rally March 28. This is the only thing we can do at this point. They have stolen everything once good in this nation.
Oh, the huge rally numbers will probably be answered with Trump destroying more of the White House as he did the last time the rallies were so large.
My sign for the rally: Donald Trump: The First Pedophile President.
Bill, we can see the horror, but the fact that there is a solid 32% of voters who support this. Being in touch with reality how could anyone with a conscience still support this mad man?
Low developmental ability voters.
Harvey, it is the 33% of the population that still believes in the Lost Cause; it is augmented by the KirkChristains and the oligarchs, but that 1/3 has been constant over time. Witness the "America First" movement going into WWII. They have always been here.
Because they are NOT IN TOUCH WITH REALITY.
They live in their own one dimensional reality. Me good, you bad.
A cowed, confused, selfish and timid population.....brain washed to accept racism, misogyny, intolerance, and false promises of happiness and whatever..... I don't know.
32% of Republican voters. It's important to make that distinction (imo) because the rest of the world will think 32% of the U.S. population is supporting Trump.
They hate the same people he does! It's spelled republiKKKon!
My question exactly! HOW? Are there really 109,000,000 of us who are THAT uninformed to still support this regime, and Trump himself? That baffles me.
Harvey, how could anyone with a brain, let alone a conscience, EVER have supported this moronic, barely-human creature? We've been hearing about his abuses and incompetence for years before he ever entered the political arena.
You guys know, "He" is not a mad man to them. Given the convincing nature of what the "32%" are feeding on, they wonder how "the democrat" is able to flush the toilet. To "them" common sense would not have resulted in lead-pipes in Michigan or dumping sewage into the Potomac but the democrat chose to spend the money on protecting the horned owl. They've yet to even see one. Yup..., 'the Democrat'.
I ask myself the same question daily.
I will add that phrase to my next posters. For those of us of a certain age this era is appalling, a tragedy of immense dimensions. I was musing with my husband this morning, if there is absolutely no return to democracy etc., will the next generations simply be accustomed to a new US with a diminution in constitutional rights, intolerance, an attenuated educational system, an elite-led economy, a media morally and intellectually useless or extinct, led by hypermasculinity, with the collaboration of a timid, cowed and confused population????
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼EXACTLY! I keep telling my adult kids that this is NOT NORMAL, but for those up to say, mid-30s, they've had the heavy thumb of Trump weighing down politics since they have been of voting age.
Please, let’s not speculate on the use of nuclear weapons. This war is unnerving. You are not helping.
We all better speculate on the use of nuclear weapons - to ignore the fact that an insane person has the codes is what everyone should know and fret about and have trump immediately removed from office due to mental instability.
It’s my opinion. I’m not making anything worse than it already is. You forget twt the first time around, the military made sure the nuclear codes were protected.
Face it. Trump said it himself; nothing will stop him except his own mind…and we can all clearly see how that is functioning these days! Will someone in his band of criminals stop him from dropping a nuclear bomb? Remains to be seen. Personally, I wouldn’t count on it. Sorry if you find that reality upsetting. It IS upsetting!
Bill, a nuclear exchange might be less a problem than what is unfolding:
https://rickey125.substack.com/p/nuclear-war-what-is-happening-may
Yo.. Bill! Ya got something to back that up? Will it hold up in court? Just the facts Mam..., just the facts. I mean.., c'mon.., we've guards at the prison who appear to have been bought-off. We've got FBI (Acosta) who appears to have made poor decisions. We have an Attorney General who might just have been an attractive blonde on a sunny day. We have a youngster with parents who were presented a financial consideration they apparently chose to accept? No? Whatdya got?
My sign will be, trumpenstein release the files. We know he’s the worst one in them.
No need to shame drag queens.
Who was doing that Marge ? I missed that.
Whateva…
On social media Trump openly declared his goal is to shift the world order giving him control of the western hemisphere. Trump may be a sadistic and psychotic moron, but Putin isn't, and Trump will do whatever Putin tells him because The Trump-Russia-Epstein Espionage Ring will bring everyone down.
The Supreme Court ruled a POTUS cannot be prosecuted for acts taken while in office and the Constitution, Bill of Rights and Geneva Convention are shredded the next day. Mike Johnson shuts down Congress.
THEN: (Not necessarily in the right order, and certainly not a complete list)...
Trump puts only Barbies and Kens in his cabinet
Puts Bimbo Bondi at the head of the DOJ
GI Joe runs the military
He and Musk gut world and U.S. federal government programs
Passes a budget depriving millions of Americans of healthcare and food
Replaces top military with sycophants
Threatens Canada, Greenland, Cuba, Colombia
Implements illegal tariffs on every country
Illegally starts shooting boats out of the Caribbean
Opens Alligator Alcatraz which went well - sort of
Builds or buys "detention centers" a.k.a. concentration camps
Puts ICE in our streets
ICE arrests and detains American citizens and legal immigrants
ICE starts killing Americans on the street
Takes over Venezuela - sort of (his military test flex)
Demands the SAVE act be passed, disenfranchising women
Invades Iran
Lifts Russian sanctions enabling it to continue pummeling Ukraine
Collapses Cuba's power grid by blocking their access to oil
Openly states he's about to take Cuba
That all took planning, power and backing.
It looks like stupidity, but it's not; he's moving fast things and breaking things; it's shock and awe. Trump was only supposed to be a dictator "Only on day one" and the world laughed. The world played to his ego, giving him crowns and loaning out Nobel Peace Prizes.
When you put all Trump's bizarre, chaotic, senseless, illogical and murderous aggression together, combine it with illegal and unconstitutional acts and war crimes, in the context of changing the world order, it all makes perfect sense.
What doesn't make sense is why people are shocked when he does what he tells us he's going to do.
Who do we have to thank for this potential total collapse of Democracy? (I would argue it's already lost, but....)
John Roberts' Supreme Court
Mitch McConnell
Mike Johnson
The Freedom Caucus
The Heritage Foundation
Project 2025
*** MILLER! *** The orange Toad doesn’t have the intelligence to have plotted all he has done. Toad is a tightly controlled puppet with Miller pulling the strings. Kinda like Rasputin and the last Russian czar. In my humble opinion, of course.
He's evil, but I don't think he's actually intelligent enough to think beyond his own hatred for everyone not white male. He certainly plays his part though.
Of course you are correct.
Over and over again - ad nauseum, I have stated a fact to always keep in top of mind: Our 'problems' are not _ rump, it's in fact the "coalition" that's pulling all the strings. Why is it that many of 'we' don't get that ? _rump is only the tool, the 'face forward' in these travesties.
He think Putin, his daddy stand-in, loves him; he’ll do anything to keep that ‘love’ flowing. Pathetic.
Why try to figure him out? Don't we already know everything we need to know? What we can't figure out is what trick will he pull in the next nano-second. If he gets bored with taking over Cuba, what/who will get his attention?
It's not about Trump. It's about the GOP.
Already in 2008, Steve Bannon met with Alexander Dugin, Putin's palace ideologue.
Bannon, the tech billionaires (and Vance, whose career as venture capitalist and politician is funded by neofascist Peter Thiel), and the GOP's Christian nationalists (the Heritage Foundation etc.) actively AGREE IDEOLOGICALLY with Putin.
THAT is the real problem here.
These are the people who (together with Hungary's neofascist regime) have been meeting and thinking about how to end US democracy and install fascism instead... because they WANT fascism.
When will the American people finally wake up... ?
Who knows. He doesn't know. The rest of the world doesn't know. The fortune teller down the street doesn't know. Even God doesn't know.
Who has the video?
Netanyahu, and Putin.
But at this point who cares?
A traitor and our enemy indeed.
A fool's errand, indeed. Transactionalism and sociopathy often go hand-in-hand, don't they? Aided and abetted by the fear of what opposing that might mean for the individuals who actually see through the shallow idiocy (guessing about 95% of those inside his tent.) An administration based on "here are my principles. If you don't like them...well, I have others" but without the trademark Groucho mustache, self-effacing charm, rapier wit. And yes, all without a hint of irony.
But it isn't working out the way they "planned"...
https://sylvestercat.substack.com/p/when-fuckupery-flails
Transactionalism AKA "corruption".
I wonder. Many corrupt scoundrels do have convictions of one sort or another. This one seems to have none.
Trump’s father Fred Sr. helped to make his son a sociopath. Roy Cohn gave Donald advanced lessons in sociopathy.
But he does have goals. He wants to 1) become as rich as Putin was in 2022, 2) be able to murder anyone with impunity, 3) Use the office of President to threaten other countries unless they pay his bribes, 4) retribution to anyone who ever dared to say or do anything he perceives was against him, 5) build monuments to himself and renaming everything he can to Trump.
GJ Loft ME CA FL NE CT MI,
None of Trumps goals have anything to do with improving our education system, providing teachers with continued training along with assistant teachers to aid and support students who need extra help they cannot receive at home.
There are also students who need special assistance for many reasons that are out of the students control.
If we want a great country, we cannot blame parents or even the children/youth. Turning away from the struggles and difficulties will not make a better nation.
Education, care and concern for these future children and youth will build a stronger foundation for their success and for the future success of our country.
In observing these facts, teachers, their respect, care, continued training and encouragement and excellent pay for the important work they do everyday MUST BE PROVIDED!
We need to insure, our seniors are not left without respectful care that requires special training, hard physical work, providing dignity that is often sacrificed due to lose of strength.....a proper diet....etc. Families should be involved as much as possible. Love is not a soft work....Love takes time, sacrifice, patience...compassion , not judgement.
Something I remember as a youth was visiting the hospital or elderly "home" and spending time with the patients, singing songs that they could sing with us or being an audience as the residents performed for us.
Sorry this is so long, I just want to remove myself, my mind and spirit from our current President and think of ways to love and serve our fellow men and women and children who need encouragement and recognition....as well as to encourage my own family and to encourage and give thanks to friends worldwide who dare to trust us at all!!! Our focus should be on those close to us as well as those who work hard as our fellow citizens. We need one another....to appreciate one another for making this country as great as it is. To keep it great, we must not hide from the difficult places but do our best to help and improve and to give thanks to those who "put their shoulder to the grindstone" everyday.
And, make Putin smile.
Agreed, ICTT. I am not a student of organized crime, but I read a lot, and as a result, am more familiar with Cosa Nostra than Bratva. To the consternation of others, I have admired the strict moral code of Cosa Nostra. Indeed, their core businesses are illegal and immoral, but organizational code of ethics is about as pure as it gets. Loyalty works both vertically and horizontally, and is mutual. Breaking the code is met with punishment. There is an established hierarchy, but every loyal member of the organization is protected. Perhaps, this moral code comes indirectly from the influence of the Roman Catholic Church.
By contrast, I have not found such a strict moral code in Bratva, the Russian criminal organization that taught Donald. Bratva doesn't maintain a strict hierarchy either. It's pretty-much "every man for himself" plus whatever accomplices he can recruit for a particular operation. Loyalty exists among the operators until it doesn't. All of that pretty well describes Donald, does it not?
Distinctions between Cosa Nostra and whatever code of conduct leads to so many sudden, unexplained, tragic 'defenestration' accidents in Russia are well noted, thanks.
Trump inhabits a reality entirely his own. He is, by any observable measure, completely untethered from the world the rest of us live in. He loves you, then despises you — often within the same news cycle — and sees absolutely no contradiction in either. The lack of self awareness is stunning.
Oh no, he is only aware of himself. He only becomes aware of others if, or when "they" interfere with him. Too bad the 'Ship of State' does not have a doctor. A ships doctor may remove a deranged Captain from duty. Dereliction of Duty, along with the other crimes he has committed should be enough for even the MAGA (maggots) to impeach or otherwise remove him from office. Epstein Files? Too many maggots of both parities “named” fear being exposed? Lower courts are working. The high court is failing! We the People must not fail. Be there 3/28!
He is very aware of Putin. Putin has made sure of that.
Yes. He's The Joker.
His displays of infantile behavior - tantrums delivered in all caps - is either a serious regression in his mental abilities or the continued display of the most incompetent and divisive leader in modern history - at war with the state he leads and with the allies we have always supported. I guess he believes that his political fortunes are best served by confrontation and rancor. He uses any issue or crisis to pick fights and increase our social cleavage. It's appalling - a national leader who fails to lead.....!!!
Stephanie, I think it's important to remember that Donald was born with a learning disability that was never addressed by his family; it was papered over with thousand-dollar bills. Having a learning disability doesn't mean a person can't appear to function as normal, especially when he's elevated by millions of dollars. It does, however make him vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation.
Donald's celebrity and vanity have brought him to the attention of many adversaries, both foreign and domestic, who identified him as the perfect distraction who could be used to advance their agendas.
Donald is a monkey on a leash with cymbals tied to his arms, dancing and clanging for peanuts. The crowd around him is entertained and throws peanuts while the handlers at the other end of the leash work their mischief in the shadows. If Donald doesn't get a peanut when he demands one, he throws feces at the crowd and they are shocked that he would do such a thing after they gave him peanuts.
This is the funniest, cleverist post to date. And does he even know he's being used and manipulated, while he continues to think he's a "stable genius!"
He's oblivious, which goes to his extensive array of psychological and personality disorders discussed elsewhere in this conversation.
He's about a stable genius as the fictional(?) tyrannical but incompetent Captain Queeg in "The Cain Mutiny."
A WWII Destroyer crewman told me what he said was the real basis for the “Cain Mutiny.” According to him, the ship was not saved, but Boatswain’s Mate First Class John Ray Schultz, was at least able to enable saving more of the lives of the destroyer “Hull’s” crew than the other two destroyers lost in Typhoon Cobra (a.k.a. Halsey's Typhoon).
He had, despite the captain’s order not to, ordered the crew to put on their life jackets, which he had equipped with whistles and lights, so they could be heard and spotted even in the dark when the Captain’s incompetent seamanship resulted in the expected capsizing and sinking.
The guy that told me the story was especially passionate about what that meant from his serving on destroyers where you had to go on deck to get from the forward compartments to the rear compartments. His ship had lost sailors washed overboard trying to make that trip in less challenging seas than the Hull was lost in, and still had crew members make their way aft as they tried to find and rescue the ones washed overboard.
See https://historynet.com/during-halseys-typhoon-two-captains-fight-a-stormy-fate/
If the congress and courts don't stop him, it seems we need a few more like Ray Schultz to at least limit the damage from our current leader’s tyrannical egregious incompetence and mistakes.
Fabulous assessment, Dale. 💩 flinging 🐒 indeed!!
Stephanie, every day I think about how he sounds like the immature middle schoolers who walk by our house. Just name calling, insults, attempts to blackmail, corruption, bragging, etc. It is appalling indeed.
Isn't he a piece of work though???
"trying to figure out this man?"
What's to figure out? The dumbest fifth grader in class is pulling all of the levers. But if the teacher who like Congress isn't doing anything about it why blame the stupid kid?
First of all, it's very clear what he means: the US withdrew most of its support to Ukraine, leaving only some of it in place. In Trump's mind, that would give Putin reason to be angry at the US, so... he now has the right to help Iran in a similar way. That's how mafia bosses think about "justice". So nothing new here, and VERY easy to figure out.
Secondly, a much more important question is: what is the GOP doing to this country and the world? Because without GOP, Trump wouldn't even have any IDEA of what to do next.
As long as you let yourself be distracted by Trump and don't see the real enemy of US democracy, your resistance won't be effective, I'm afraid.
So are republiKKKons and do-as-little-to-nothing democrats!
I’m not proud of my Party (Dems) for their past behavior BUT, they are certainly better than what is currently in power. I would hope Dems have LEARNED something from all this chaos and are changing our ways quickly. This is a time for great courage to effect REAL CHANGE and Dems must be at the forefront. I pray they will succeed.
Didn't we say they must've learned their lesson after hrc lost? And yet Genocide Joe supported naziyahoo's Genocide and FAILED to prosecute TheracistrapistRUMP for January 6th!
I know keeping up with what he says is a daily (useless) puzzle ‘feat du jour’, his lack of knowledge compiles the degree of difficulty w/ whims and revenge …clearly indicate fixations of delusion…the bully syndrome in full display.
Yes J, excellent….Dangerous Don
I read international news. The German press just calls Trump “verruckt” (crazy). But the mainstream media here just goes floating along….
Our MSN is bought and paid for. And now the billionaire Ellis is closing the illegal purchase of the rest of our media (CNN included!). Where are the protests against these outrageous monopolies?!
No wonder Americans are uninformed!
When he was moaning about the lack of a positive response from allies to his pathetic cri de coeur about the Strait of Hormuz, he said 'we helped with Ukraine, and now they won't help with Iran' making an absurd equivalence between the two situations. He's even threatened NATO saying bad things lie ahead for them for not doing his will.
He also repeated the false and debunked accusation that Biden had provided Ukraine with 350bn in grants and now he was making sure that they or the EU was paying for the aid they received from the US. In fact, Trump has suspended aid to Ukraine three times since he returned to office.
https://abcnews.com/Politics/fact-checking-trumps-claims-amount-us-aid-ukraine/story?id=119167409
He's always been biased against Ukraine, refusing their help with interceptor drones which Zelenskyy is now pitching directly to other NATO members and to the Gulf states who are in dire need of such a solution. Trump has also repeatedly indicated that he wants Russia to be re-admitted to the G7.
Any grade school kid would have figured Trump out in an instant and rendered him invisible. He is now saying everything out loud and why not? He gets away with it now doesn’t he?
"If Trump were purposefully doing Russia's bidding, it's hard to see what he'd be doing differently." - Senator Sheldon Whitehouse(D-R.I.), March 5, 2026
Quote from a 48-minute speech unraveling the mountain of circumstantial evidence connecting Trump, Jeffrey Epstein, Putin and Russia.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fWRRyZDC4-I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylvTFvJvB84
Money, Sex and Blackmail:
Money: Russia → Epstein → Trump Russia funnels money to Epstein onto Trump
Sex: Epstein → Trump → Russia Epstein sends video and pictures of Trump to Russia
Blackmail: Epstein → Russia → Trump Using Epstein material Putin blackmails Trump (Helsinki 2018)
Greg Olears substacks have done some deep dives and TERRIFYING analysis of that.
https://substack.com/@gregolear
Exactly Michael Slayton
I'm gonna second Miselle here: Greg Olear has written some very deep information on the Russian links. Spooky stuff.
Senator White house's statement is worth focusing on. Trump dismantling of alternative energy subsidies and projects is a disservice to the American people. Is trump crazy or a tool of Putin ? No plans to defend the Straits of H ormuz! This man may be far more dangerous than be think. This story about the mind sweepers, the story aboutt the people at the State Department in charge of energy. Is this administration that incompetent or something much worse. Will we have an election in Nocember?!?
A terrific speech!
We are a far, far better nation than our faux, deluded, hate-filled president and his cultist fans portray to America and the world. In our own best interests and the interests of a freer world, we've spent 80+ years promoting a "Melting Pot" vision of equal governance across the globe. Democratic governance based on the simple concept that its key role is supporting the well-being of all citizens, not just the wealthy, white connected citizens. Our mission in the months and years ahead is to restore this visionary gift to America and the world. The worldwide conservative Right, scoffs at these ideals. They admire the fascist Ideal that "Might makes Right", aka "realpolitik". Our ongoing battle is to rekindle our vision among the vast majority of Americans that a free and equal America is the real America. We are not a country of hate. We not a police state protecting the corruption of the powerful. Embrace this battle with pride. Relish it. We've been fighting it for 250 years. We'll keep fighting it. We'll win again.
Reading Heather's letter this morning leaves me with the same tired conclusion: we’re led by people who treat disaster like a marketing stunt. The routine is almost laughable in how predictable it’s become—wreck the system, push out the competent, ignore the details, then act shocked when oil prices jump, supply chains falter, allies waver, and the rest of us get stuck with the tab. This isn’t strength; it’s like setting your own kitchen ablaze and then striking a heroic pose with a garden hose.
What makes it worse is that the chaos never stays in one lane. The same mentality that blunders through international crises also turns inward and starts looking for scapegoats, enemies, and procedural traps for ordinary voters. We are asked to believe that democracy is being saved by making it harder to participate in democracy. That is a con so lazy it barely deserves the name. It is like smashing the town well and calling it water security.
From my point of view, the real scandal is not just incompetence. It is the fusion of incompetence with manipulation. Failure is not corrected; it is repackaged. Damage is not repaired; it is narrated. Public fear becomes a stage prop, public frustration becomes campaign fuel, and public suffering becomes just one more expendable line item in the production budget of authoritarian theater.
Beautifully said. Bottom line--we're toast. Just remember that Congress is allowing our downfall....
Michael Corthell,
Beautifully written synopsis of my own sadness and disappointment with "leadership?" within Washington, DC.
How much more can we/our government be broken by robbers and thugs....many actually elected?!
Marketing stunt. Great term.
Trump is a promoter... always has been.
Well said, Michael. It is layer upon layer of incompetence, malfeasance, ignorance, and intent.
Mary, your very good Q answers itself. NO! A larger in numbers of persons 'No Kings' national gathering is set for March 28.
The New Eve of Destruction is at hand.
It's way past midnight, Bill, but hark, I see a hint of dawn's light arriving March 28.
Bryan, I hope, I hope, I hope for large numbers........BUT
Friends who attended the last time who I hoped to attend again all seem to have other commitments, like family parties. This makes me incredibly disappointed, but it is what it is.
I posted a few days ago about what the Patriots sacrificed in the Revolutionary War, and what the GIs did in WW2. Now, it seems like so many I know are either oversaturated and have given up, or they just don't grasp what is going on.
Miselle, those of us in INDIVISIBLE have been engaging with young students and other folks letting them know about the NO KINGS event. Many of whom I encountered, were very excited to participate. It will be a blowout! The last time our area had a NO KINGS march had easily over 7000 people.
I hope so. Last time the vast majority I saw was older people.
Yes, Heather's details the other day about revolutionary Boston the personal, the very personal splits & the triumph of the Patriots was lifting.
I am a second wave Boomer (1948) & I know exactly where I came from & the scarifies of my my immediate Family.
I'm out in the Bay Area now & expect larger numbers on March 28.
🙏
I hope so. I'll be protesting!
Miselle, I am going to do my level best to be at a No Kings demonstration. I will be 3 weeks and 3 days out from my knee replacement, and scheduled to go see the play "Come From Away" at the Shakespearean Festival that afternoon. If I have to I'll hire an Uber to get me to one (not sure I'll be off pain meds by then).
Ally! I did not know you had surgery! I missed that somehow. I admit, I sometimes have to take breaks from the comment section as, well...I take breaks.
Hope you're off the pain meds and onto a full recovery soon!
Thanks! 2 weeks ago today; I am down to pain meds 3-4 times in a 24 hour period. My PT is pleased with my recovery process, and I'm down to single crutch (vs walker/both crutches inside; still 2 crutches outside. I cannot drive until next week. Playing my tuba a couple times a day; not back into playing shape yet, but I'm planning to go to rehearsal tomorrow night just to listen.
Good you have your music to occupy you. I've always found that distractions help me manage pain better. I generally send one of my favorite books to people I know are going to be laid up, or if they aren't readers, I'll send a comedy DVD.
Looking for logic?? Remember Helsinki
The reason "It seems crazy that, instead of adding additional sanctions to Russia ... we’ve lifted sanctions" is because Trump is crazy. We need a "Recall" mechanism in our Constitution so We the People can remove a future Trump. Actually IMO we need to repeal the single Executive and Elector system and replace that with seven Executives elected by We the Citizens of the United States in a Federal Election. George Washington had only four Executive Departments. Today we have 15 and to keep all our eggs in one basket (in Trump's case that is one basket case) it would mean we have learned nothing after two terms of a pathological lying malignant narcissist with severe antisocial personality disorder and being in cognitive decline felon in the White House. We must unite to not only win elections but also to Amend our Constitution to defend our Democracy. I discuss all this in my Memorandum to We the People. Please read and share it. There are downloads including posters which could be used at the No Kings march. UnitedWeAmend.org
Altering our electoral process to produce a potential oligarchy instead of a potential monarchy? I’m trying to wrap my head around that, and failing.
If the American voter can be seduced into electing one pathological, lying, malignant narcissist, he or she can also be seduced into electing seven of them. The cure lies not in enlarging and complicating the government but rather in educating the people for a democratic republic.
We cannot compare the nation of 1790, thirteen little agrarian states huddled along the Atlantic coast with the vastly larger, far more diverse, far more technologically advanced, and far more interconnected with the world outside nation of 2026. This is no longer Jefferson’s collection of yeoman farmers secure on their land.
And BTW, we already have two ‘recall’ mechanisms; the Electoral College (if it worked as it was originally intended) and impeachment. The reason they haven’t worked to remove Trump is not a factor of a Constitutional lack, but the lack of a willingness on the part of the Republican Party to use those recall mechanisms as they were intended.
I have blocked a person who has repeatedly attacked my thesis in my Memorandum. It is not because I do not wish a discussion about the facts and my resolve therein to defend our Democracy, but because it is clear he has not first even read my Memorandum. I do not have time to respond to someone who argues we are no longer a bunch or farmers as in Jefferson's times. He claims to be a former teacher of history yet he fails to grasp the farmers he mentions were also the Minutemen. He fails to grasp the words that Jefferson wrote about, the "Truths we hold to be self evident...", are simply a description of the actions of those Minutemen. He fails to grasp that those "Truths" are timeless. He fails to understand James Madison was exceptionally bright and knew the Constitution he wrote was not perfect and would need to be amended from time-to-time to keep up with the growth of the country. He somehow is arguing that all we need is "education." No, we need a government of laws. That is why Madison wrote a detailed Constitution and not simply a lesson plan. Besides, what good is a lesson about voting when the Nazis have made voting impossible for certain groups? Moreover, the Department of Education is being burned to the ground. It will be replaced with millions of vouchers to private corporate schools teaching Jesus wrote the Declaration of Independence. He argues we are fair more complex and somehow attempts to reason that means we should not diversify the Executive branch. He is saying it is best to keep all your eggs in one basket and thus not secure our 15 Executive Departments by diversifying the oversight of them among seven Executives elected by We the Citizens of the United States. He either failed to read, or grasp, my Memorandum makes clear that any money provided by Congress to any of the Seven Offices would require the signing of all seven Executives who control a diversified portion of the 15 Departments. Thus the Commander in Chief must find common ground with the Executive overseeing our National Parks, etc. I also made clear that there will be no Dark Money, No Corporate personhood and no employing persons to help the rich express their opinions about anything in elections, State and Federal. They can publish their opinion but must say who they are. Our only hope is to Amend with strong medicine to restore our wounded Democracy. Yet even then, as Benjamin Franklin warned, "It is a Republic if you can keep it." And as the abolitionist Wendell Phillips, warned us "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."
It was the first thing that popped in my mind when I read HCR's article this morning!
How could a POTUS seem to be compromising the interests of his own country so blatantly? How is this not considered treason?
It is, but who’re you gonna call? Republicans are fine with it. Or at least fine enough not to risk angering him.
Remember during this year’s congressional elections: Republicans enabled this. All of this. As I’ve been telling my congresspeople—if you don’t want to do the job, fine. We will elect someone who does.
and his party allows. Exactly what the Founders feared.
Sure sounds like aiding and abetting the enemy
It is as far as Ukraine is concerned.
The Loop
We bombed Iran. Iran basically closed the Strait of Hormuz. Oil prices spiked. So we lifted sanctions on Russia — remember those guys, the country supplying Iran with drones and intelligence to kill the Americans now fighting that war.
Read that again.
Zelensky said it plainly:Russia takes energy revenue, converts it to weapons, and those weapons get used against you.
This is the logic of a man who hands his enemy a loaded gun and insists he didn’t provide the bullets.
The USA is funding, in a closed loop, the coalition killing our own people. And calling it market stabilization.
Why isn’t that treason?
It is. Remember who helped it flourish: congressional Republicans. Elections.
Treason has a very, very specific definition of giving "aid and comfort to the enemy". The US Code definition of "enemy" in all of its descriptions implies "at war" in all of the examples given.
The common usage definition fits, but prosecution under criminal code must revert back to the definition as used in the statute/section.
It seems like Treason to me Mary Hardy
I agree. It is crazy. And for sure counter intuitive.
Mary, If that is not insanity, what the hell is?
Especially since US economic sanctions have been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of deaths in the countries on which they have been imposed.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(25)00278-5/fulltext
Trump obsesses about the Nobel Peace Prize but in his second term he has already bombed nine countries even before the Iran war started and when coupled with his suspension of US aid to needy countries he's already killed more people than Cecil B. DeMille.
Yes, it is CLEAR now that Trump is in bed with Putin! Why else would he LIFT sanctions on them? THEIR oil flowing into the marketplace again will NOT lower OUR gas prices. America does not buy Russian oil among other things.
Finally, aiding a country actively working to help our enemy in a war is certainly a crime. WHY is NO ONE with power holding Trump accountable? We should just arrest him and turn him over to The Hague to be prosecuted for his many war crimes!
Mary, it's not crazy if you are a Russian asset.
Neither Heather nor any of us knows why criminal Donald cowers before Putin.
One thing we all know, however, is that for some reason transactional Donald must let fellow autocrat Putin provide Iran with intelligence and technology to kill U.S. service personnel.
All the autocrats and most of the billionaires and corporations have one key thing here – lack of character. As Adam Smith yesterday was talking about with Lawrence O’Donnell.
Smith, a state of Washington Dem in the U.S. House of Representatives, joined in wondering how it is that Donald just never sees consequences – from Putin, most billionaires, and corporations. He doesn’t plan for contingencies. He never shows any regret for anybody’s loss of life when his own service members have paid that price.
Donald cares only about one thing: that he always be on center stage. That the show be always about him. If this or that show doesn’t keep him in the limelight, he’ll start a new show – new diversion from the Epstein files.
Now he’s buried in an imbroglio of his own idiocy in the Middle East. Rest assured – Congressman Smith is correct – Donald doesn’t care about whatever consequences are yet coming from this newest insanity. He’ll be after newer insanity soon. New damages. Like the 168 Iranian schoolgirls he killed. The 13 U.S. service members who died for his vanity.
How does any human being become so immune to the hurt of others? Let’s change the Q just a little. What do our schools do more? Center history, humanities, and essay writing to see people as individuals in their contexts? Or package the depersonalized abstractions and dehumanized rationalities for our humanly empty billionaires, corporations, and authoritarians?
This war is about distraction from the Epstein files. There is no endgame to the war because that would let the focus return to what is in the files. Thousands of innocent civilians and now American members of the military will be killed or maimed due to the attempts of Trump and the entire Epstein class to avoid being brought to justice.
Our former NATO allies realize this. They are choosing not to be complicit in the scam. But they need to take further actions against Russia to mitigate Trump's gift to Putin of billions for his war effort in Ukraine by reducing the oil sanctions. They are the ones who will have to pay the bill for the added damage to Ukraine that will have to be rebuilt for their protection from Russian aggression.
Heather's letter makes it clear that there were lots of preparations for the war with Iran. It's just that there were preparations to make sure that the US military would suffer more severe losses because we had lost key capabilities like the mine sweepers. This looks like a concerted effort to weaken the American military by drawing down stocks of critical weapons and taxing equipment.
The story of how our "most advanced" aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is falling apart because of delayed maintenance is unbelievable. Toilets that don't work, and fires in the laundry, causing 600 sailors to sleep on the floor because of damage to quarters by the fire, are the result of pushing the carrier's deployment to a year, twice the normal 6-month duty cycle. This will result in an extended time berthed for repairs while the carrier is unavailable for duty. This is just one example of a seemingly small decision with far-reaching consequences for American readiness.
Each of Trump's 2.0 regime decisions has resulted in the destruction of America's hard and soft power in the world or created polarization and dissent at home. My spidey sense says that this constellation of debacles is too fast, too much, and too deliberate to be due to sheer stupidity, incompetence, or even madness. The mechanisms for oversight have been dismantled. All of the people with expertise have been fired.
The ship of state is being scuttled before our eyes.
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2026/03/17/sailors-aboard-uss-gerald-r-ford-reportedly-lost-their-beds-amid-fire/
Asserting "this is all about Epstein" sounds appealing, doesn't it? Unfortunately for us, that's probably not the case. That a media spotlight which can't seem to focus on more than one or two things at once has moved temporarily isn't proof of cause-and-effect though. It's more like a side benefit. It provides noise and distraction to help conceal huge, major re-alignments of the chessboard they seek. It might even turn out to be useful for them if we continue to assert this as though it were fact
War against Venezuela, Iran, Cuba, Greenland, whatever, is actually a pillar of this regime, long time in coming. It accurately reflects an idiot's view of history where the insatiable, childish ego of an extremely dumb man matches his aspirations to return us to the glories of the McKinley Administration, a mythical pre-World War I place where beggar-thy-neighbor tariffs, rule by brute force, and robber-baron economics at home (including the destruction of the public regulatory apparatus for the benefit of private interests). They seek a world where Social Darwinism of the 1800s displaces liberalism at home, and blood-and-soil jingoism and militarism displace the entire post-1945 international global order abroad. So there is most certainly an endgame for them.
But they're also incompetent. It isn't working out the way they "planned." As we keep finding out, there never was any planning because they never contemplated it wouldn't work. And their coalition is cracking. Ships are beginning to desert the Sinking Rat. They're not getting what they want. Of course they aren't, because the whole thing is a Rube Goldberg contraption held together with lies and scotch tape, destined for collapse.
While nobody can say with clarity or wisdom what will happen next, signs of unraveling and desperation clearly abound. It is important to acknowledge the opportunities that provides us, rather than simply asserting that everything has already been pre-determined. That's simply not the case.
Thank god for their incompetence. One shudders to think what things would be if they actually knew what the fuck they were doing.
They are probably doing worse, JohnC-Va, for their stupid, stupid, stupid actions.
You really nailed it today, ICCT. Well stated.
Thanks for the kind words.
I will add my praise to ICTT’s analysis, there does indeed seem to be at least 2 things going on at once - diversion from the Epstein files to protect #47 from indictment, but more importantly a concerted effort to change the world order to “Spheres of Influence”, displacing democracy with rule by the wealthy elite. In the meanwhile, economies around the world are approaching collapse because of the loss of energy supplies (that China is now best to avert because of their forward thinking into renewable energy sources). My thoughts now are yes, it’s important for justice and the rule of law to continue to dig in and get to the bottom of the whole Epstein scandal, it’s also critical to stop the madness towards governance by authoritarianism.
Whatever the philosophy, the rule of law must prevail above all else. The alternative is chaos.
I agree if there were anyone left to enforce law and order. No one seems to be stepping up.
People whose analysis I respect, like yours and Heather’s, keep saying trump’s unraveling, there are cracks, people are deserting, trump’s decompensating, etc. I’m not disputing it; I’m just struggling to believe this. Trump always escapes consequences of his actions. Last admin, I regularly thought ‘oh, this is it; this is the end of him.’ And it never was. And people elected him AGAIN.
Your important questions say much more about Trump's many accomplices and enablers than it does about him, to say nothing of the fools who keep refusing to admit they voted for a carnival-barking criminal and complete phony. Piles of dissertations will be written in the future about both these phenomena, which baffle me no end.
Teflon Don. And I find it hard to believe that he actually got elected. the media spent more time finding the "reasons" he got so many votes rather than the ways he got them, like muskrat and his hackers, the bomb threats being called in on the democratic strong holds.
Do you know the story of Faust? He didn't see the end coming either.
Putin's end game is to weaken the USA with Trump's assistance.
Totally agree with you. All the actions point to re-aligning to "spheres of influence". The global oligarchs are united in their efforts. And, Russia must be ecstatic about its nearly complete destruction of America. Xi can also stand by and smile.
Kegseth hasn’t been concentrating on the things that matter, like maintaining our ships. He’s too busy enforcing racist directives from Trump and vetting officers for their personal loyalty to Trump over the Constitution. He also has killed a number of fishermen and now he and Trump are attacking Iran without consent from Congress or the UN. Even worse, Trump and Kegseth have no strategy or planning, and now they want to prosecute reporters for telling the truth, which the First Amendment permits them to do.
Kegseth is doing what he knows how to do - TV-style propaganda presentation. He thinks make-up and slicked-back hair make him good-looking. They don't.
I have seen more unflattering photos of Kegsbreath since his banishment of the photographers from the press pool than I ever did before. In either the real or the Urban dictionaries, I recommend that when the word "prick" as slang is defined, that one of those photos appear as a demonstration.
You’re correct, and Trump is just as vain as Trump, hence the orange hair dye, the spray tan, and his refusal to wear reading glasses.
Kathy Hughes,
It is not only the lack of maintenance of our ships, it is within every area in which he lacks knowledge of the great value of educated and trained care and concern for our physical infrastructure and also those living creatures within our parks, our rivers, lakes, lands that have been set aside as well as the land and water itself used everyday.
Kathy, we have a President who only cares for how much treasure and power he can acquire for himself and for his family. The world is for himself only and he gets to set his priorities excluding the needs of the citizenry, current as well as future.
Trump is very much like a little child who is put alone in a room of toys and all he is inclined to do is to break them or throw them against a wall.
Your second para here superbly powerful, Georgia.
And your story of the USS Gerald R. Ford -- I'd not known.
And another whopper, fantastic summary writing, your last full para, beginning "Each of Trump's 2.0 decisions has resulted in . . .."
Thank you.
!!!!!🤬!!!!!
Indeed.
No accident, deliberate with added “performance” to keep the attention on the balls in the air.
Georgia - 2.0 indeed! I was about to write it is what autocrats do … but they don’t - they get rid of anyone considered an enemy of their ideals and actions but keep those who provide key infrastructure that is needed. This is a whole new ball game - wage war abroad, wage a form of war on allies, wage war against your own people and institutions- protect your nation’s adversary, control wealthy potential adversaries by supporting schemes of blackmail -including the young Russian women Putin provided. I am thinking it is more basic than totalitarianism or the act of an autocrat but rather at its base, the art of the deal of a psychotic megalomaniac, less a political issue for MAGA and more a psychotic issue that finds support in a greed infested political system that thought they could use him as a tool and lost control. All roads lead to Moscow.
It certainly seems that Putin is the puppetmaster here, although he screwed up badly with the war on Ukraine. I think that was because his generals didn’t tell him the truth about the Ukrainian resistance in the early days of the war. I am amazed at the number of them that died falling off balconies and from car bombs and crashes. It looks like Putin is more ruthless in his retribution tour than Trump is, at least so far.
I think there are a lot of people in Trump’s inner circle who keep whispering in his ear, encouraging pro-Russian actions. Witkoff and Kushner and the Orban worshippers in particular. I am sure there is likely a circle around Hegseth, too. “We have to look tough and send our best carrier there immediately.” “But it is due for maintenance and retrofit” “The crew can tough it out. We need to project strength.” and suddenly Trump OKs the order to reposition the carrier and the crew is going on a 12 month tour as opposed to the usual 6 month one, and the toilets are clogging up, the and laundry goes up in smoke, and the weapons are depleted on board, and the sailors have no beds.
Trump can be swayed by a tweet he sees on X. Putin just needs to plant the talking points and see to it that Russian hackers amplify it on social media. Putin doesn’t even need to send subliminal messages through DJ Trump’s playlist. He can also just tell Dmitriev to call Witkoff.
Georgia, I think you are giving them too much credit. Was the military purposely degraded? No. It’s being run by a drunken an entertainment broadcaster who has no abilities at managing a military. When Trump was first elected, almost every appointment went to individuals who had no ability to fulfill their responsibilities.
So I have good news and bad news. Which first? The good news is that it will never get this bad again. The bad news is that it’s going to get worst. That doesn’t sound right. But I think you get the message.
Georgia, this story of USS Gerald R. Ford includes all the earmarks of advice from McKinsey & Company, the global consulting firm. I'm wondering if the U.S. Navy is or was one of their clients.
A good friend of mine was an engineer for a regional power utility. Prior to hiring McKinsey, the utility maintained an extensive inventory of replacement components for their power generating stations, including a fan blade over 50 feet in diameter that was made in Denmark and took months for delivery. The utility also followed a schedule by which they would shut down one generator per year to do routine maintenance.
McKinsey came in and advised the utility's management that they could save money by adopting a "run-to-fail" approach. This meant not stocking replacement components until they are needed and running the generators until one broke down and actually needed repair. As one might expect, these breakdowns always occurred during peak demand periods when electricity customers most needed power. The utility has since abandoned McKinsey's advice which cost them a fortune and brought darkness to their customers.
But McKinsey carries on, giving bad advice and making piles of money.
Sometimes I just love what you can find in 2 minutes from Perplexity AI pro. Your instincts were spot on!
Yes. Public contracting records and reporting show that the U.S. Navy has awarded consulting contracts to McKinsey & Company.highergov+2
Evidence of Navy–McKinsey contracts
In April 2019, Naval Sea Systems Command awarded McKinsey an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00024‑19‑D‑2416) for “System Level Cost Analysis with Total Ownership Cost Modeling,” a consulting support requirement.https://www.highergov.com/idv/N0002419D2416/
http://USAspending.gov lists specific Navy-funded delivery orders and contracts to “MCKINSEY & COMPANY, INC. WASHINGTON D.C.” under the Department of Defense, funding office “Department of the Navy.”https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_N6833518F0362_9700_N6833518A0042_9700
An NBC News investigation notes McKinsey consulting work for the Department of Defense and explicitly cites contracts involving the Navy, including work for the Naval Information Warfare Center Atlantic.https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/advising-both-chinese-state-companies-pentagon-mckinsey-co-comes-under-n1283777
Trade press reports also show McKinsey as one of several firms on a multiple‑award Navy contract to modernize logistics and supply chain systems (Naval Sustainment System and related enterprise platforms).https://www.govconwire.com/articles/3-firms-win-spots-on-247m-naval-sustainment-system-modernization-contract
So, not only has the Navy had contracts with McKinsey in the past, but McKinsey has been one of several recurring consulting providers across Navy and broader DoD programs.
Holy cow! Or more accurately, the waste consecrated cows produce! Thanks!
And don’t forget the US oil execs trump brought to maralago who he promised big profits in exchange for $1B of campaign contributions. They are making lots of money off the high price of oil right now. The military industrial complex is also running laps to the bank while we burn billions of taxpayer money daily lobbying high cost missiles at iran. All his buddies are winning 🥇.
Good memory on the oil execs! The AI and crypto and prediction market bros just bumped them off my radar.
You brought back to my mind another interesting energy connection though. Gentry Beach, Don Jr.’s college buddy, is doing a deal with Novatek, a Russian LNG company for a joint venture in Alaska. The baby daddy of Putin’s grandchild is involved with Novatek,
You can’t make this stuff up—the corruption is so blatant.
They don’t even try to hide it😳. “ the Biden crime family “ Hahahahaha. Trump is correct that he is way better at crime and corruption than his predecessor….
"...ship of state being scuttled before our very eyes."
Spot on!
I think you are right Georgia .
You make a compelling case Georgia. Who benefits? The answer of course is Russia.
Phil, he truly has a mental disorder that does not allow him to feel the emotion of empathy, malignant narcissism. Whether it be nature or nurture, I.e. caused by some sort of brain disorder or by some error in how he was brought up, no one is clear on this pathologically, but people with this disorder are incapable of feeling empathy for others. And that is a very dangerous disease for a President to have. He can only think about himself.
I am an internal medicine physician. In a book of essays from mental health professionals about the pathology of Donald Trump, prompted by the medical "duty to warn", the best phrase I encountered was "other blaming." Donald Trump is absolutely intolerant of even a hint of criticism. He considers himself a perfect individual. This is why he said doesn't need to pray, because he has nothing to be sorry for. Therefore, in response to any form of challenge or criticism, he will never admit fault. Never. Incapable. That is why his responses to questions from journalists are a mixture of bragging, deflection, denial, pivoting, attacks, name-calling, diversion, endless repetition of unquestionably false claims and grievances, and so forth. Since he considers himself a perfect human being, he feels no limitation on his actions, which are all perfect. That is why he can say that he might continue to bomb Kharg Island "just for fun." For him, a whim is a perfect reason for epic violence and destruction. "Other blaming" really encapsulates him. I am doing everything i can to make sure our democracy is protected and we have a change in national leadership in November and in 2028. I encourage everyone to do the same.
Certainly textbooks on antisocial personality disorder have found their perfect bad example.
Recent incidents have left me, a retired mental health counselor, also considering the ASPD diagnosis. In my experience, not all persons with ASPD are intent on harming others; rather, the fundamental problem is boredom. They seek stimuli, anything exciting, and that's how they get themselves in trouble. This seems to be unfolding IRL with Trump. He clearly gets bored very easily and, unfortunately, has the resources and minions at his disposal to create excitement. And everyone else pays the price.
Nice, Signe.
When you say, "to create excitement," I think of the dehumanized social media billionaires whose realms constitute nothing more than their algorithms'' cheap sensationalism.
In the small town where I was a contract deputy (Ally of Mayberry) we had a young man elected to the City Council who was energetic, had a lot of ideas, and really ruffled the feathers of everyone, from the Mayor (probably the least ruffled), the rest of the Council, city management, and a good third of the voters. Since Council meetings were on my cohort's nights off (I worked days, he worked nights with Wednesday being the only day that we both worked) I went to about a half dozen meetings since things got a bit heated from time to time.
There was one member of city government who was convinced that this fellow was APD. As a cop, I was very familiar with that population, and was intrigued by the theory of how many successful politicians and businessmen seem to have a "bent" in that direction. I do not put ffpotus in that category; I see far more of the negative components to that disorder in him.
He serves as an excellent psychiatric study in how destructive antisocial personality disorder can be.
What? He’s the poster boy, the perfect representative.
Exactly!
Yes, J L, and that is exactly what he will be most famous for: being the perfect example of malignant narcissism. That should be the only contribution to society he should be known for, that we understand this type of pathology so well, that we will never again even consider giving someone like him any power to wield at all. Yes, his example of psychopathology should not only be in our psychology books, but also be included in our history books when illuminating what unnecessary havoc and destruction he caused during his so-called leadership. Forthwith, his name will be synonymous with Warning-Danger!!! We must ensure by amendments and laws that this can never happen again.
JL, I would suggest that Donald is a walking textbook of ALL the psychological and personality disorders, starting with learning disability, exacerbated by ASPD, malignant narcissism, etc., etc., and ending with Alzheimer's. Every component of his mentality is broken.
He certainly is a "perfect storm". Odd so many of us humans worship that.
Along with "just for fun" he said he can "do anything [he] wants with Cuba" -- like it's a piece on a board game.
I will not compare Cuba to a 13 year old girl
I will not compare Cuba to a 13 year old girl
I will..... yes I will. Same freaking attitude.
It's all the same in the mind of Trump.
Indeed it is.
People are objects to a malignant narcissist.
Bandy X Lee MD had several well known experts such as the late Robert Lifton PhD and Judith Herman PhD and John Gsrtner PhD. Along with others . Her story is telling. She was dropped by the APA and lost her position at Yale. David Cay Johnston has said it best a four generation white collar crime family. He has known and written about this for decades. If you go to the late Wayne Barrett’s writings on his temperament and his connections to crimes and overt racism in his family’s housing developments it is all spelled out.
The use of his position as a tool well documented and it continued in the entertainment industry with Mark Burnett. Folks were sold an au currant celeb image. The label really doesn’t matter any more and his ongoing aging presents other cognitive issues. JD Vance and his coterie of trad / conservative Roman Catholics are even more discerning because of the involvement of Peter Theil and others. Like the late pope the current pope is compromised but at least speaks out. This started after Vatican II and especially after the death John Paul 1. Because John Paul II was steeped in anti communism and traumatized . He had lost all his family members in WWII and then was always in a political struggle (Poland’s history and during after WWII is so complex and devastating events happened ) he did not have the wherefullall to comprehend the complexity of the non communist world. The late pope Benedict also of that time and traumatized by again by WWII. He had a relative taken for the pre Holocaust Holocaust of the disabled and other groups.
Some very untoward things happened financially and the openness was closed. I don’t have a good grasp just know some of it the malfeasance and power plays at certain levels going on still. Compassion and loving kindness a core issue for the essence of most spiritualities . Karen Armstrong and Matthew Fox have written extensively on different religions. Richard Rohr and Marabi Star as well. Anne Lamont and the Buddhist folks like Pema Chodran and Susan Salzburg or Joanne Halifax. Many others and also those who are agnostic or atheistic . There are good kind caring people in every group. We just have been scattered and are still being scattered to the winds by many things and also the powers that be. At times I throw up my hands. But there are options and ways to counter act and counter attack. Art is still powerful and history and if nothing else because of Dr Richardson abd all the historians , all the philosophers and the thinkers and some artists in everyday life there is the ongoing possibility of both knowledge gathering abd with overall change. I get ornery at times so I am sorry if I ever offended anyone. I try to walk steps of good every day. Some days are easier than others.
“Like the late pope the current pope is compromised but at least speaks out.” I don’t get this comment. How is Pope Leo “compromised’? He’s finally, finally taking strong positions and actions.
He is speaking up and out but not or not able to do anything else at this point. It looks good because so many people do not know the history of Roman Catholicism and in particular the Vatican. For instance the Jesuits were suppressed by the Vatican at least once and possibly more. A person can go under edict as my great uncle did while he was studying Louvain for his PhD and went to hear a oh my a modernist speak! He had to write an essay and apologize to get back into the good graces of his seminary superiors. He also was for a time not given an assignment . In the states there was always political issues between the German and Irish bishops. Things got more confusing more immigrant groups came to the states. It took a long time to change the Irish/ German bishopric power structure . It was everywhere from the the schools and colleges to dioceses. There would ba French heritage bishop now and then like Amedaus Rappe in Ohio.
One besides being usually an order surpressed or going under edict one Coukd be called to an account and investigated. This has a long, deep and literally torturous history labeled the Spanish Inquisition though not all just in Spain like Miquel Cervantes romance novel Don Quitoxe . It takes place in a Vatican or diocesan prison. There were inquests in South America, Mexico, Manila in the Philippines, and Goa , India. You may recall Galileo was kept under house arrest. In modern times writers like Telliard de Chardin were investigated. The issue was approved publication of works. Some folks just had a non Catholic non approved publication print their works. The church was very powerful. Later in about ten to fifteen years ago the Catholic nun group LCWR was quietly investigated for several years. This came out relatively unscathed. Nuns and their orders abd other clergy and or lay groups always needed to get approval. Many were the proverbial thorn in the side of the papacy for their social justice and sandals on the ground work for those in need. The Beguines,now Doctor of the Church Hildegarde of Bigin were under edict or suppressed or excommunicated for a time or with the Beguines almost squashed out of memory as with the Celtic two sided monasteries one with a male Abbot and one with a female Abbess. Both endowed with equal power except for ordination. Though it has been known during WWII a perhaps ordination in time of great need and there is a history in the very early church of female Draco s and perhaps priests. St Thelca is one Saint. John Dominic Crossan of the old Jesus Seminar had on the cover of his book on St Paul a picture of a cave in Turkey with both Paul and Thelca holding hands raised in blessing with Thelca’s image very damaged possibly more on purpose than not.
The pope Coukd surprises, indict, investigate or excommunicate. I am not sure what being called a heretic would do or mean. Many of the canonical saints for times were at odds or in direct defiance of the Vatican or done Vatican policies. Dogma plays a role here as well. Another universe. Some very good and committed priests have chosen to be laized. And those just members in the Body of Christ and Roman Catholic Church not sure what other actions. Liberation Theology caused problems. But also in WWII in Germany many Na is were also Roman Catholic . I think the story of Maximillian Kolbe is one important story as is The White Rose Society. Many lost their lives and many stayed silent and kept their lives going. Though some were involved with the Nuremberg Trisls. The Men of Sosndu is a good book to read. Pope Leo does have some options. I hope he can discern what to do besides speaking out. Its rosy survey in a way abd dicey. I wish him grace.
As I said elsewhere, it seems that the ugly part of organized religion is narcissistic and political. The whole notion of heresy just reeks of hubris as I see it, as did the evil acts of the 9/11 attackers. It is racism, it is misogyny, it is castes, and all of that is political supremacist violence, the opposite of the humbleness that wisdom and compassion demand. I have had a lifelong interest in religion yet embrace the scientific method to explain our physical circumstances. I don't believe in "Creation" nor in a devil. I was influenced by the thinking of Telliard de Chardin in my teens and consider Galileo a more seminal figure than I think most appreciate. He laid critical groundwork for Newton and Einstein. I value ego and also see it as problematic and potentially dangerous. When ego is all that is left, it can become evil, and that is the tyrannosaur in the room that hides in the plainest sight.
I think that religion, or sincere self exploration, asks some questions the scientific method can greatly inform but not fully answer, about our sentient, sensorial experience of experience, and of human values, and think that the road to exploration of that is by open conversation with one's self and with others.
The playful friendship between Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama spoke volumes to narcissistic, exclusionary sectarianism. Much that claims to be religion is no more than an especially narcissistic power politics, while it seems to me that actual religion, and for that matter any just civilization, asks us to transcend. MAGA "Christianity" is the Orwellian antipode of the themes of what Jesus is said to have taught, bit so too has been the versions of the church that spurred conquest, genocide, slavery, and tortures. We are obliged to pretend they are all the same thing, when they are so nakedly not. I wish more who prize kindness would just say so. Jesus was kind but not passive. Of course, that is what got him killed, as was the case for Gandhi, MLK , arguably Lincoln, as well as the political pressure from China to erase the Dalai Lama. Solidarity in and of itself is the nemesis of tyranny, and Tyrants and tyrant wannabees know it.
Yes. St Francis met with a Sultan. And other spirituallies are really open to friendship and dialogue with other groups and people. God did not create if there is a creator but if there was/ is one they certainly did not create a one size fits all creation. Diversity is inherent and never should be feared just enjoyed
and learned from.
Diversity makes for expanded scope and resilience, and that's why you don't have kids with a sibling. That keeps life interesting, and it does take work, luck and finesse to manage and avoid the inevitable behaviors that are hurtful and destructive.
Yes, but don’t leave out the cognitive decline that allows the worst of his tendencies to show their ugly faces. A younger trump was still despicable, but able to mask his worst with a weak but slightly functional pre-frontal cortex. That governor is gone now and we have the unhinged president blurting the insane out loud!!
Age can intensify the best and the worst in people. Self-awareness and generosity can increase. Likewise, vain entitlement entitlement are absurd self-centeredness.
Yes but age Doesn’t equal cognitive decline. Many 80 yo folks are sharp and more circumspect than when younger. Cognitive decline is early/ soft language for dementia.
Thanks, Gary. Yes, indeed.
And a brilliant move apparently Elon Musk is offering to pay for all transportation to get any voters from either party or any party To acquire their voter ID.
Netanyahu had this planned months ago. Joe Kent knows this. And as for the NATO "allies", NATO is a defense organisation, and Trump is the aggressor. Moreover, as BBC Radio News remarked this morning, Trump seems to have forgotten how the whole of NATO rushed in with help after 9/11.
I am a bit skeptical of Kent because he wrongly claimed Israel caused Syria’s war. Syria was fighting a civil war which ultimately ousted Bashar Al Assad. Kent’s first wife Shannon was a cryptographer killed by ISIS. Netanyahu’s involvement in our stupid Iran war is quite another thing. As long as Netanyahu can keep Israel on a war footing, he can remain in power, and many Israelis want him out.
And as long as Netanyahu can keep Israel on a war footing, he can stay out of prison.
It’s obvious to me that is what he is doing, I don’t think he deliberately let the attacks occur in Southern Israel, as I think he would not deliberately do anything to harm Israel’s citizens. I think that like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, Netanyahu simply was not paying attention, and got caught by surprise. Two intelligence officers found Hamas’s plans and forwarded them up the chain of command, and they were an accurate blueprint of how Hamas executed the attack. One of the generals in Netanyahu’s war cabinet took the fall for the failure to prevent the attacks and resigned.
And as long as trump can remain president, with a very compliant majority, he can remain out of prison. That’s why he ran for reelection. Being the president is boring. Having the privileges of the presidency is cool.
MLM: Plus, he had Project 25 and its creators ready to take over. All he had to do was make a fool of himself, even shoot someone in 5th avenue.... nothing would happen to him.
Tulsi Gabbard's head will be on the chopping block after she testifies before Congress tomorrow. What Trump said yesterday makes that clear. He said that no one told him the Iranians might strike back against other Gulf States and American assets there.
This is another one of those lies meant to convey a threat rather than to be believed. And the person this threat is aimed at is Tulsi Gabbard. For you can be sure that she will be asked if this is true. And Trump has just assured that she will be adjudged at fault regardless of how she answers.
Tulsa Gabbard is finished.
Happier in Hawaii in her Democratic youth.
Yes, Joe Kent admitted that trump invaded Iran by being pressured by Netanyahu. Why would any nation want to reward this with their help? It's mortifying....
No great surprise - we couldn't help noticing that Netanyahu was either on the phone to Trump or appearing on his doorstep about every fortnight.
I could SCREAM every time I hear him bash NATO and lying about all our former allies coming to our aid. Unfortunately, the bad behavior of the bully has come back to haunt him. RIGHTLY SO!
EVIL to the bone.
If someone, somehow, managed to explain empathy to Trump he would just declare it to be a weakness; and he doesn't admit to any kind of weakness.
Empathy is most definitely considered weakness by all of maga. Many of their leaders have already said this out loud. Sméagol ( the despicable Steven miller) for one example.
And a brilliant move apparently Elon Musk is offering to pay for all transportation to get any voters from either party or any party To acquire their voter ID.
By the way, Trump best president of your life
Decimated Kharg Island, he says. But not the oil infrastructure, "out of decency", he says. But he might hit it again, for fun, he says. I wonder if the 8000 inhabitants plus oil workers are enjoying it? I guess that doesn't matter, since the island has been decimated. Or has it? He's got a growing list of words he thinks mean "destroyed".
Trump is the kind of sociopath that enjoys hurting people.
He loves to see people die as well. How many military personnel have already died for this pointless war? How many people will starve around the world because he wants to be king of the world. He certainly doesn't want to rule Cuba to make life better for the Cubans. And he's allowing Putin to pass along information to Iran that could possibly hurt or kill our troops. He's a traitor and needs to be impeached along with his entire cabinet and JD.
He is a sadist, which is part of his sociopathy.
Absolutely. And it's in the Epstein files. Of course, the cowering cowardly Republicans don't want to do anything about anyone in the Epstein files, especially Trump and Musk.
He's also afflicted in his old age by selective deafness. He asks them to repeat the question, then says "I don't know about that", and walks off.
On 3/5/26 Sheldon Whitehouse, who Heather has interviewed several times, read this address on the US Senate floor that runs the tape on the story of Trump, Epstein and Russia coterie/cabal. It explains a lot and is the beginning of understanding the enormity of the international criminal sistema.
“Sen. Whitehouse to uncover connections between Trump, Russia, and Epstein. - YouTube”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylvTFvJvB84
In the video, Whitehouse is speaking into the vacuum of an empty Senate chamber, a fitting metaphor for our current political environment.
I am sure it is playing in the Senate offices as background to the interns busily working away. I am not sure it is playing in the inner sanctums.
They always speak to an empty chamber. That's nothing new -- been the case for decades. We aren't in 1776 where delegates are huddled in a single room, hashing out ideas and clashing with one another any more. I'm sure that's not a great thing, but that is the reality.
Why they need a completely new strategy!!! They used to have flash mobs of song. Why not in the Rotunda or in the empty chambers. You know when I saw my first Shakespeare play my mother sat me down and said I would experience lewd humor and that was for the standing poor folk in front of the stage at the Globe Theater. She said they brought rotten food and scraps and ready to throw on stage at the actors if they were not entertained. She had a point
. Do what you need to do along and inside the framework of everything else.
I saw As You Like It and bawdy though Comedy of Errors more so. I also was lucky enough to see Tom Hanks on stage before he was a star!
I'm trying even to recollect when last the Senate was a "debating chamber." It's a sign of the complexity -- also the degradation -- of our politics. Yes, a row of lowlifes armed with cabbages might help!
I am always stunned when I see the empty chambers on C-Span. How disheartening for anyone who works at their job. There are few in Congress who even care about doing their job. I wonder why they get a paycheck and benefits for doing NOTHING. Yet we have citizens who work two, sometimes three, jobs to make ends meet. There is something very wrong with this picture./
Because they can. They make their own rules.
They don't even write their own legislation anymore. It's done by lawyers and aides. I used to be a Congressional intern for one of the very who DID write his own consumer protection legislation. He was also one of the only Constitutional scholars in the House, and co-wrote a 'handbook' on impeachment just before proceedings against Richard Nixon began. Those days are long gone now.
Thank you for posting
Georgia! Senator Whitehouse has been speaking over hundreds of times on this and other important topics. At this point I think he needs sound and music and film clips to get his points across. Also many times the chamber is empty. He needs to get the media newsboys . Anything at this point.
By the time he got to school it was way too late. He was born a cruel bully and his father encouraged his psychopathy.
Smith is one of my state’s reps and a brilliant leader. Our entire Congressional delegation is top notch: Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell, Rick Larson, Pramila Jayapal. We need to get rid of Baumgartner and Newhouse this time around. Strong Dems are running against them.
I hope you get rid of the Republicans.
Its all about the Epstein files
Bet Putin has them and more. Also bet Putin gave him a preview at Helsinki. And our media missed the scoop of the century
Which is why he destroyed notes of the conversation.
And a brilliant move apparently Elon Musk is offering to pay for all transportation to get any voters from either party or any party To acquire their voter ID.
You poor guy last time words that you’re in your bed is epstein epstein epstein epstein as you pass away and nothing will have changed from today till then. Nice life you lead.
I cannot believe that you, Mr. Balla, dare to cast public education “our schools”, as you call them, as the origin of fault for the depravity of character that is Trump and other megalomaniacs like him.
What is wrong with you?
What an insult to the integrity of this community. And that such a source of blame according to you be echoed over and over by you in this Letters From An American community.
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LFFA?
Letters From An American. Typo on second “F”.
Salud, Anne-Louise
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Don't you know the difference, Christine, between "our schools" and the testers?
I'm very much against the latter, and would never conflate it, them, with the former.
Please. Do not insult me. Your blame is always put on what you perceive as the lack of humanities in the curricula of public schools. And that the lack has been supplanted by standardized testing. And that this lack is at the core of the personality disorder noted.
So do not wiggle around asking me about the “testers”.
I am very much in favor of any testing that drives instruction in any teacher’s classroom.
Where you profess that the lack of humanities in our schools is a culprit does not ring true.
Because it is not. Humanities is at the core of why we even have the system of public education available to all children.
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For the truest account, Christine, see Diane Ravitch's "The Language Police."
Please stop forwarding the bromide that "Humanities is at the core of why we even have the system of public education available to all children." The humanities, to which you appeal, got systematically killed in our schools ever since the Powell memo of 1971. You really do not know this history?
The Diane Ravitch book will give you the key facts and historical narrative (plus hundreds of appendices). Wendell Berry, Kurt Andersen, Sheldon Whitehouse -- many fine authorities (by their own erudition and humane experience) have spoken to these facts. If you don't know them, won't look into them, even having been alerted to them, then I don't insult you. You insult yourself.
Of course I know Diane’s book. And, no thank you on your take on the humanities. It’s not ever been banished in any classroom I have been privileged to supervise. The combined element of an excellent teacher and diverse students working together as a community negates your opinion of what’s missing from the curricula in public schools.
Quit blaming schools and standardized testing. You are obsessed on a wrong path. Perhaps Donald Trump played in the wrong sandbox. I assure you it is not the norm.
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The Language Police is a most wonderful book. It has lists of rules for textbooks that can make you laugh out loud. Don't show Asian students being docile in school. Don't show Asian students aggressively raising their hands in school.
After a while the game is to imagine "Ethnic Slurs" that are debatable. For example THE FIGHTING IRISH. What about Welshing on a bet? And then look those up . . .
It seems that tyrants are the only people Trump might actually admire, and Russia has, by his kid's own admission, supported his financial interests bigly over a number of years.
Has it dawned on Donald his good friend Vlad is helping Iran? I doubt it.
I guess they remind him of Daddy, and better still they're nice to him.
Trump is still trying to get love and acceptance from his father, through Putin. Those denied acceptance and love, become deeply debauched. And something strange maybe despite love? Why Chopra, who teaches truth, and the heads of all the major tech companies, have thrown aside all deeper values for money, and knowingly participate in the violation of young people, bodily, or emotionally/psychologically via tech. Related: Too many rats in a cage start killing each other, now watched and betted on by prey outside the cage. Sorry, very ugly, but the question is why? What was the book? Lord of the Flies? Deprived of healthy connection, depravity: the falsities of life take over.
Break out of the spell and find interaction with family, neighbors, and open fields or land portions again, and your personal, inner human. Search for: The Robot Who Wanted to Be Human, by Charles Eisenstein.
Yes, Peggy: "find interaction with family, neighbors, and . . ..'
Funny, you know. Our schools could do this, but by testing, corporate textbook packaging, and the mandates of "higher" ed's depersonalized silo specializations, we've marched instead to a much deadlier drummer.
<How does any human being become so immune to the hurt of others?>
Donald Trump is a malignant narcissist (antisocial behavior, paranoid, sadism, lacks empathy, grandiose thinking). He may also fit the definition of dark tetrad (sadism, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy).
Surely his abusive father and distant mother did not help his development, but he was born this way.
Money.
What if he knows exactly what he’s doing and he’s executing every possible Putin plan to assist in creating the new world order including helping BRICS members corner the market on energy and minerals while simultaneously destroying NATO and the United States and leaving Europe open to takeover by Russia. All the while making insane money for himself and his family… and escaping any consequences for Epstein and all of the crimes and atrocities he and his cronies have committed all over the world— destroying American credibility and proving he can be even crazier and more ruthless than any other strongman.
Thanks, DMS.
I think Putin "knows exactly what he's doing," not Donald. That criminal, rapist, pedophile in the White House knows only enough "bing-bing-boing-bong" to keep himself center stage in our era of cowardly corporate media and schools taken over by the billionaire predators of testing.
(Ouch! that word AGAIN!)
I am guessing that Putin being the heart throb to Trump as Trump is similarly to the the effusively fizzing over Lindsey G., that Donnie’s love interest, that sneaky old KBG-er, Vlodya, has his very own без изъятий copy of Файлы Эпштейна….
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Spoiler Alert: That 1st word in Cyrillic above (без изъятий) means ‘unredacted’-so, knowing that-I’m guessing you know what ‘Файлы Эпштейна’ means….
Damn, but Google ‘Translate’ is SOOOO fun!!!!
Someone posted this insight not too long ago. “Look what I did, daddy! I destroyed the world! Nobody ever did this before, I am the best, I am unique! Do you love me now?” This encapsulates the sickness of DJT.
And POTUS took history in high school about 65 years ago, before the history was attempted to be written with more truth... he grew up on white cowboy westerns and likely consumed those more than he ever did any real history. Those were his formative history and he wants to take us back to those "good ole days." Embarrassingly untethered from reality.
Yes, Phil and the republican party just keeps going along. They have no shame it seems.
It would be interesting for HRC to look at the back story of how Reagan created the Iran of today. He committed treason when he secretly set up a deal with Khomeini in 1980 NOT to release the hostages until after the election. At the time Reagan was a private citizen, Carter, the president, set up a deal with Banisadr—elected to be president of Iran by 76% of the voters in Iran’s first election. In return, Reagan, once elected, supplied the Taliban with weapons. The hostages were released the hostages about the same time that Reagan took his oath of office and he took credit for it. Sabotaging a sitting president and making a separate deal is an act of treason. I could have some details and spellings wrong. Would like to see what Heather would write on this.
The Taliban didn't exist yet when Reagan was president. The Reagan administration did assist the mujahideen and Pashtuns that were fighting against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan later in his term. Charlie Wilson's War was a book and film that detailed the funding and weapons that as a Congressman, Wilson, used his position on the Appropriations Committee to massively increase funding for Afghan rebels.
As for the backchannel meetings between Reagan's campaign advisors and strategists, it was extremely unethical if not outright illegal and deplorable. When Jimmy Carter had lost the election, in his final months as president, he worked relentlessly to get the hostages released up until the day of Reagan's inauguration. The Reagan campaign feared a late-October release of the hostages (an "October surprise") would give President Carter a last-minute boost in the polls. Reagan's team promised future arms deals to the Iranian regime in exchange for holding the 52 American hostages until just after Reagan's 1981 inauguration. Later in the Reagan presidency, the Iran-Contra affair was uncovered. It involved strange transactions of weapons that were sold to Iran, supporting the Contras in Nicaragua with weapons and even funding it with illicit activities like shipments of cocaine loaded onto the empty planes flying back that suddenly flooded the streets of Compton, Oakland and inner cities with crack.
My understanding is that it was actually bushie 1 who did the dirty deed with Iran. ronnie was dumb as a box of rocks: I don’t think he could put 2 and 2 together and get 4 without help, let alone come up with the Iran-contra idea. But he could read a B movie script, which is all bushie 1 hired him for anyway.
Somebody who remembers, thank you. The machinations of Nixon in 1968 and Reagan in 1980 are the things that should have been headlined and never forgotten. Democratic candidates never had that power focus to the exclusion of any morality
We are a far, far better nation than our faux, deluded, hate-filled president and his cultist fans portray to America and the world. In our own best interests and the interests of a freer world, we've spent 80+ years promoting a "Melting Pot" vision of equal governance across the globe. Democratic governance based on the simple concept that its key role is supporting the well-being of all citizens, not just the wealthy, white connected citizens. Our mission in the months and years ahead is to restore this visionary gift to America and the world. The worldwide conservative Right, scoffs at these ideals. They admire the fascist Ideal that "Might makes Right", aka "realpolitik". Our ongoing battle is to rekindle our vision among the vast majority of Americans that a free and equal America is the real America. We are not a country of hate. We not a police state protecting the corruption of the powerful. Embrace this battle with pride. Relish it. We've been fighting it for 250 years. We'll keep fighting it. We'll win again.
Nixon did the same on Vietnam, going behind Johnson’s back, promising a better deal, whatever that was.
Pamela- Thank you for remembering and reminding us.
All this was inevitable the day a majority of US voters who participated in the 2024 election decided to return Trump to the Presidency. People keep using the wrong lens to view Trump. The correct lens is to see him as a terrified and stupid animal, trapped, fighting for its life and willing to do anything to escape. And the only escape he sees is to seize absolute power. If we don't recognize the nature of the problem, we will keep believing there is some line he will not cross.
There isn't.
I'm afraid I don't know what the answer is. The institutions in the US that should have constrained him years ago have all failed.
I appreciate your comment. I think most of us have spent too much time trying to understand this man, and not enough time figuring out what to do to stop him and his regime
I have inappropriately lost my temper with friends and allies who keep asking "why does Trump/pick your cult behave the way they do?" It is a categorical error, IMNSHO, to use fact-based, rational, logical thinking to try to understand them. I truly believe the downfall of the US began with the rise of the WWF and in general bullshit culture that our society allowed to take itself seriously. Reality eventually cracks back, and that, I feel, is what we are witnessing now.
Indeed. When the History Channel stopped running programs based on history and started running stuff like Hillbilly Handfishin', I knew we lost the plot. So many people in this country have no appetite for learning and are like toddlers that just desire to be constantly entertained.
Exactly. Add to that the Weather Channel abandoning 24 hour weather coverage in lieu of "disaster shows" or "ice tow trucks" etc.
Trump received a plurality of the vote, not a majority. He fell short of gaining more than 50% of the vote.
Correct. It drives me crazy when people say he won a majority of the votes cast. He did not, and yes that matters.
The largest percentage of the voting eligible population did not vote rather than cast a vote for any candidate.
That is a problem too, but Trump still didn't win a majority the votes that were cast. He got about 49.8% and Harris got 48 point something. Plurality but not a majority. And of course he lost the popular vote outright in both 2016 and 2020.
Exactly so.
49% is the landslide!!
Our institutions reflect our own aggregate notions of what most matters, at least the ones we are willing to act on. We the people kinda lost our way and kinda lost the plot. We have some catching up to do.
There isn’t (a line he will not cross).
Trump is a true “make-up” man.
Your statement "a majority of US voters who participated in the 2024 election decided to return Trump to the Presidency” is simply not true. So many commenters keep saying this, blaming the voters, but the fact is, Harris won! I seem to be one of the few commenters who have mentioned this. Please take a look at the work that has been done to uncover what truly happened:
https://thecommoncoalition.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/TheCommonCoalitionReport_5.14_NM.pdf?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Also follow the ThisWillHold Substack for detailed mathematical analyses and more.
putin and netanyahu STARTED and PERPETUATED a WAR to stay IN POWER and OUT of PRISON!!
trump is doing the SAME THING NOW with his TRUMP-EPSTEIN WAR in Iran!!
trump would WILLINGLY kill ANYONE rather than RELEASE ALL THE trump-epstein Files!!
THAT is the very definition of TREASON!!!
Spot on Sky Blue. This is so apparent.
On 3/17/26 Heather posted her Thursday “Politics Chat”. In it she discussed the SAVE Act that is currently before Congress and which Trump is trying to force through. So it is important to be familiar with the following;
ICYMI: On 3/17/26 Senator Adam Schiff gave a speech on the SAVE Act on the floor of the US Senate so that it would be entered into the Congressional record:
“Dismantling the SAVE America Act, One Falsehood at a Time - YouTube”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stxqiVCr-LU
https://schiffnotes.substack.com/p/senate-republicans-and-trump-want?r=1d2cea&utm_medium=ios
And Senator Sheldon Whitehouse entered the circumstances of the seizure of the Fulton County voting records into the Congressional record.
“Sen. Whitehouse on FBI Fulton County Raid: "Was this the most incompetent search warrant ever?" - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsjp9Jw7YVM
Also ICYMI: Ali Velshi, a Canadian journalist, correspondent for NBC News and anchor for MS NOW, gave a synopsis of what the Heritage foundation is doing to disempower women now that they have succeeded in implementing about half of Project 2025’s assault on our democracy. It is much more than just suppressing women’s vote as the SAVE Act does or controlling women’s healthcare as the Supreme Court’s decisions have. All women (and men) should be aware of the information he provides in this short video which has a historical perspective.
“The Heritage Foundation’s new blueprint for American women - YouTube”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orbSiS-9ZWU
Thanks for those great links. We need to be all hands on deck now, calling reps to defeat this horror.
The SAVE Act is a very bad idea. If the Senate approves it, Trump will sign it. Many people will be disenfranchised because the government will require a passport or birth certificate as proof of U.S. citizenship in order to vote. Commenters in this thread know this, but there's more inequity that comes clear now that this legislation has been put on the table.
In the 1980s, my husband and I combined our last names to make a new name. We did it legally. My husband’s birth certificate had to be changed to our new name, because Minnesota law requires that of men but not of women. My birth certificate (i.e., as a woman) retains my birth name. If SAVE passes, he’ll be able to vote, and if I did not have a passport that would prove I am a citizen, I would not be able to vote.
The SAVE Act is not needed to rid us of voter fraud. As an election judge, I know that people who come to vote are vetted with great accuracy. An election investigation in Minnesota in 2025 found that only two ineligible people tried to register. Our elections are fraud-proof to a great enough extent. Preventing fraud in voting is a smoke screen to deny millions of people participation in our democracy.
This before all others
I’m going with the advice of the messaging maven of the Movement, Anat Shenker-Osorio to stop using their chosen language and call the bill for what it’s intended to do, the Voter Elimination Act.
My view from the bridge, The SAVE act is the Greek army hiding inside the Trojan horse (the war in Iraq, going after Cuba, etc ... ) Congressional members from the extinct republican party to date have not pushed back on any of the executive actions so far will fold on the SAVE act too. Maybe it will be proved unconstitutional, but it will be enough to delay, nullify the mid-terms. If there's jerk-off like Fetterman siding with maga congress, that's the tipping point.
#shorts - TyrantTrump waging Iran war so his family profits, #warCRIMES
https://youtube.com/shorts/An_NXGdKomM?si=ltBfyHSTXxRhKa4B
What a coincidence that Trump’s sons invested $750 million in building military drone warfare?
Yeah…the grift that keeps on grifting….or how about “the family that grifts together”…..um, goes to jail together (hopefully!).
Well, we know Trump is using the presidency to line his own pockets. I’m convinced he’s selling pardons, and Jared has business interests with the Saudis and the Gulf states.
Yes, but but but, um, Hunter Biden and Burisma!!!!!/snark to the 10th degree…
Professor Beharouz Ghamari, author of The Long War in Iran: New Events, Old Questions. He spread the words of reality, historical context, and waging peace. He will be our featured guest for the entire hour. *link for audio version*
https://ralphnader.substack.com/p/the-long-war-on-iran?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
"The only countries that I see that are in constant violation of international law are the United States and Israel. And frankly, I am speechless, although I’m speaking, but I am speechless—in what universe can this war be justified as self-defense? You listened to Secretary Rubio’s speech in Munich where he laments 400 years of colonial rule being lost to this international law and laws of fighting wars because they want to go back to the way things were in the 18th and 19th century. This is a naked expansionist, extortionist administration here, and that’s the only reason they have launched this war, and there is absolutely no justification for it." ~Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi
"For years and years, the Israelis have been assassinating Iranian scientists. They were sabotaging Iranian industries. And actually, the Iranian government showed tremendous restraint in responding to these Israeli provocations because they didn’t want to create the situation in which we find ourselves today. But then at the end of the day, calling Iran the aggressor here I think is a total ignorance of history and the context in which this war has started." ~Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi
Ralph Nader Radio Hour | Mar 07, 2026 | Substack
Shut up Ralph, you gave us W/Dickie. Smart man but you had that power trip that still reverberates
Best for you to just skip reading any Substack from Ralph Nader’s team, because you already know you won’t like it.
True, I think he is a smart man, but the smartest men in the room have screwed us royally. I have dismissed his opinions since 2000. Does he have regrets, nah
You can be smart yet foolish. What we need is wisdom.
You can say this about just about anyone who chooses to identify with the fringe left. They are all “too smart” for the rest of us and never pass up an opportunity to tell us that. Of course, when you ask them what their theory of change is, and how it is supposed to work, you get crickets.
Donald Trump needn't give his partner in crime, Netanyahu, all the credit for decapitating the military and intelligence leadership of an authoritarian religious extremist government with nuclear capacity, and brutalizing its own people. Trump's done it here at home.
Deliberately and with malice. And I should add glee
The words “I alone can fix it” kept ringing in my head as I read this summation. Thank you, as always, Heather.
It would have been more honest to say that he alone could break it or screw it up, because he doesn’t know how to fix anything.
Chutzpah; insulting and alienating old friends and then asking for their help in getting you out of a jam you made all by yourself out of nothing.
True. If you bully and hector nations which have been our allies, don’t be surprised if they don’t want to help you pull yourself out of our self-inflicted problems. Donald has never learned this.
‘If Trump were purposefully doing Russia's bidding, it's hard to see what he'd be doing differently.’ — Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D)
The real vulnerability of the midterms may be the election software that is used to scan and count the ballots in almost every precinct. It is written and distributed under the supervision of the Trump dominated Election Assistance Commission. So although we've been taught since grade school that because our elections under the Constitution are controlled by the states they are too distributed to corrupt, ever since the introduction of computers they are actually federally controlled through the election software. Just as we have little idea what the computer code in the Windows updates Microsoft downloads and installs on our personal computers, local election officials have no idea what the election software is doing that the Election Assistance Commission vendors downloads and installs on their election equipment. Sure they run test ballots through their machines at the beginning and end of each election day and spot audits after each election, but the security protocols are designed and written by the same people who design, write and oversee the software. Remember how Volkswagen was able to fool emissions testers for years using their diesel engine management software. The only absolute assurance that ballots were correctly scanned and counted is to conduct a hand count of the paper ballots, something Democrats have been unwilling to demand even when election results seem fantastical as was the case in swing states in the 2024 presidential election that gave the win unexpectedly to Donald Trump. Unfortunately because Trump has continually complained about "stolen elections" it makes anyone with legitimate questions about election integrity seem like a nut case, which may be the real purpose of his complaints. Trump must corrupt the midterms to keep Republicans in control of the House and Senate to complete his authoritarian takeover and protect himself and his cronies. We already know he has no moral or ethical limits and will do anything, legal and illegal, to achieve his goals. Our ability to protect the integrity of the midterms is limited by our failure to imagine the lengths Trump will go to corrupt them. I fear the days following the election when we may be wringing our hands wondering why the "blue wave" that was widely predicted failed to occur.
Your points are valid.
Breathe ...
I think it worth mentioning specifically that the SAFE act proposal also requires women to have the same surname that they have on their birth certificates, as far as I understand. That will especially target women in all sectors and classes for disenfranchisement!
My sister and I are two people who would be exempt. She is married, but has kept her maiden name for professional reasons. I have not ever married. We both have passports, I also have a passport card and my birth certificate. The SAVE Act is a sexist and racist effort to keep people from exercising their right to vote, which should be recognized as a fundamental right.
It especially targets older married women who have changed their names, because they have to find their original marriage certificate to show the name change. Adoptees may also have the same challenge.
Adoptees definitely have the same trouble, as do trans people. This is why he is doing this. These blocks tend to vote blue.
Thanks for mentioning our Trans sibs.
When I was doing courthouse security, I would often sit in on ex parte hearings (some of those can get pretty intense.) One of the things that get handled ex parte are name and gender changes. We had one Circuit Court judge who was very positive in acknowledging people with their new names/genders. She was diligent in every way. There was another one, who while less positive, would sometimes rule that criteria weren't met, and who would always warn "There is a very good chance that at some point down the road, this sort of change could end up not being in your best interest." I think he was prescient.
Meanwhile, after weeks of push-polls, Maine Gov. Janet Mills - tempted into the Senate race by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and trailing behind Graham Platner, came out flailing with her first negative campaign ad - but his posts, but his tattoo. All that was missing was 'I'm Susan Collins and I approve this message.'
Have not seen this ad. Will look for it. Extremely disappointing.
But of course.
🧨 Trump & Mike Johnson block Senate backed houses for middle America =
write to your Congress 🔥 thank you Jess Craven
https://substack.com/@jesscraven101/note/c-228466714?r=kxzps&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action