Barry~ you're missing the point. It isn't 'one term'. It's forever in their minds. Remember Ernst Röhm, they'll jettison everything to stay in charge.They had four years to correct the flaws of the 2016 Plan, and they did that for 2024. They aren't going away now.....least of all peacefully.
I understand that is their plan. I don’t believe it will work. Not all Rs are MAGA and Trump, Musk et al are not just waltzing into power and turning us into Russia. We’ve all been fed this nightmare scenario by the media. Not going to happen.
Barry~ I wish you were correct, but they've been after this since the Business Man's Plot and Smedley Butler in the early '30's. I don't think any media is actually controlled by the "unwealthy", so it's already filtered to fit the sales profile. I fully agree it's 'Not going to happen', because it already has.
Barry~It's true 'Not all Rs are MAGA', there's just not enough of them to matter anymore. The Liz Cheneys and Adam Kinsingers are purged. The actual conservatives (yes, conservatives are vital to the existence of a real a democracy) have been superseded by the 'stick to the libs' short-sightedness of the angry. I would like to have your faith, but I studied the Weimar.
And so the authoritarian infrastructure begins to form. Rules, norms and most of all, laws will be broken with reckless abandon. All of the people who thought, “it can’t happen here” will be constantly “shocked” with each new low Trump will go. He has no bottom. He can only offer chaos and destruction.
I have lost my ability to be shocked by this depraved, malignant narcissist years ago. He will take credit for this robust economy while destroying all of the supports for it. “At least the trains run on time”, was the common phrase during Mussolini’s regime. What lies will the infinitely more robust right wing media of our times spew, normalizing the destruction of this experiment in democracy? After all, this is what most of the voters wanted.
I’m glad to see some signs of more responsible Republicans resisting Trump’s ridiculous appointments. Part of me is leery of what Trump is doing. Cognitive deficits aside. I still think he’s smart like a fox; he must know that these appointments won’t fly because he wants appointments made in Congress’ recess. I think he has other appointees in the wings as replacements for those that can’t get past advise and consent. They may appear more reasonable so that some may sneak through. I know that sounds paranoid. Maybe the Senate will hold him in check out of concern for their own political future. Gaetz may only be seeking a way out of the House to kill his ethics blunders. The House should have gotten rid of him when they could, but they needed his vote; now we will pay the price. He will escape prosecution just like Trump. The whole country is paying the price for our lack of ability for critical thinking. Somehow I failed to fully understand that concept during my 7 disastrous quarters in a for profit college. Now it’s crystal clear. I was schooled in confirmation bias and realized my own. I value your voice of reason.
Kim I think u are wise to be Leery of Trump. Smart like a fox. No morality either. He is committed to taking down democracy and his key methods are to exhaust the senate and threaten to destroy their careers. Coming at them everyday the way he is doing overwhelms normal people and those who are experiencing tension between protecting our country vs their careers. Ethics is the way to go but I fear Repubs still there have lost the meaning of “for the greater good”. I will back any who do that however! Moreover, all should send emails of thank to Thune and others who do not to acquiesce to Trump when he does actions to harm others, exhibit cronyism instead of choosing the most knowledgeable person for the job, and when they do not react and instead do what are norms. I do not know how to get theirvtel numbers and emails but going to try tomorrow. Hope others consider doing this as power comes in numbers. And charts is much like Trump to do whatever to benefit himself.
People do not believe or care about Trumps criminal behavior or plan to become king. Trump voters say “both sides lie”. Just like Jan 6, so much time has passed, everyone is lining up behind Trump like it never happened.
I wake up everyday and read HCR. She writes beautiful, accurate, information. But I am also very frustrated each time I read these letters. Scholarly, accurate info is not getting to the majority of Americans that vote. The voting public relies on Facebook lies, tweets and incorrect insta info that comes in short burst, often with pics or at least great, eye catching, bold type. We are allowing our scholarly, correct and extremely well written essays etc to be drown out by Russian propaganda. Until we start pushing back on misinformation and Fox “News” and change the way we deliver our message we will not see progress.
Trump campaigns from the bottom up engaging rural America. Democrats campaign from the top and stay at the top. I live in NC. I did not see one campaign add about CHIPS or anything Biden has done for our state. NC has spent 614 million over the last 10 years on vouchers, taking away from public schools. Not one rural American that I know believes social security is going to be defunded.
Stange as it may sound, I’d be comforted to read a book by you along the lines of
Star-spangled Grift: Graft and Corruption in American Politics in the 20th Century and how a democracy makes it easier and how a democracy survives it
or something along that line. I feel in “me waters” that we are in for a gang-buster season of graft with the Trump V.2 presidency and from my perspective in the present looking forward, the near future feels quite bleak. I know we have had these periods of bald-faced political corruption in the past, we have had media moguls like Hearst in the past, and we have come thru somehow. I need someone like you whose perspective is of longer duration than mine, to clarify how this is able to come about in a democracy and how it has been dealt with—what changes or tweaks lead to the liberal progress we began to enjoy until recently.
It seems, our Supreme Court is now contaminated with graft from billionaire oligarchs like it never has before (am I right about this?). I need you, a historian not a pundit, to frame and interpret the present for me in light of your understanding of the past like you did in your excellent book on Democracy Awakening (thanks or writing that). Good Luck to us all, Sally
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - George Santayana. Dr. Richardson does an excellent job of breaking down and explaining what is and what could happen. However, I take a darker view. What is going on here is right out of the Dictator's playbook, a synopsis is here if you are interested https://www.citizenshandbook.org/dictators-playbook.pdf. If anyone thinks that there are republicans that will remind Trump of the rule of law, be in opposition to him, etc., they will not last long. I point out Jeff Flake and Liz Cheney. Furthermore, I hear the "wishful hopefulness" of something happening in opposition because Trump is suffering the effects of ageism and a more sane group of people will be able to recover the government. Ha ha! This is the likely scenario https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enabling_Act_of_1933. Remember the Patriot Act? I really hope I am wrong, otherwise we are headed for "The Night of the Long Knives." Just remember, nothing happens unless the military allows it to happen.......
Let the Republican in-fighting begin! Why would Senators fall in line for a one term chaos President.
Barry~ you're missing the point. It isn't 'one term'. It's forever in their minds. Remember Ernst Röhm, they'll jettison everything to stay in charge.They had four years to correct the flaws of the 2016 Plan, and they did that for 2024. They aren't going away now.....least of all peacefully.
Yes Robert, and now you are really going to find out what "fake news" actually is.
I understand that is their plan. I don’t believe it will work. Not all Rs are MAGA and Trump, Musk et al are not just waltzing into power and turning us into Russia. We’ve all been fed this nightmare scenario by the media. Not going to happen.
Barry~ I wish you were correct, but they've been after this since the Business Man's Plot and Smedley Butler in the early '30's. I don't think any media is actually controlled by the "unwealthy", so it's already filtered to fit the sales profile. I fully agree it's 'Not going to happen', because it already has.
Barry~It's true 'Not all Rs are MAGA', there's just not enough of them to matter anymore. The Liz Cheneys and Adam Kinsingers are purged. The actual conservatives (yes, conservatives are vital to the existence of a real a democracy) have been superseded by the 'stick to the libs' short-sightedness of the angry. I would like to have your faith, but I studied the Weimar.
You’re probably right Robert. I’m trying to stay positive.
Excellent point!
And so the authoritarian infrastructure begins to form. Rules, norms and most of all, laws will be broken with reckless abandon. All of the people who thought, “it can’t happen here” will be constantly “shocked” with each new low Trump will go. He has no bottom. He can only offer chaos and destruction.
I have lost my ability to be shocked by this depraved, malignant narcissist years ago. He will take credit for this robust economy while destroying all of the supports for it. “At least the trains run on time”, was the common phrase during Mussolini’s regime. What lies will the infinitely more robust right wing media of our times spew, normalizing the destruction of this experiment in democracy? After all, this is what most of the voters wanted.
I’m glad to see some signs of more responsible Republicans resisting Trump’s ridiculous appointments. Part of me is leery of what Trump is doing. Cognitive deficits aside. I still think he’s smart like a fox; he must know that these appointments won’t fly because he wants appointments made in Congress’ recess. I think he has other appointees in the wings as replacements for those that can’t get past advise and consent. They may appear more reasonable so that some may sneak through. I know that sounds paranoid. Maybe the Senate will hold him in check out of concern for their own political future. Gaetz may only be seeking a way out of the House to kill his ethics blunders. The House should have gotten rid of him when they could, but they needed his vote; now we will pay the price. He will escape prosecution just like Trump. The whole country is paying the price for our lack of ability for critical thinking. Somehow I failed to fully understand that concept during my 7 disastrous quarters in a for profit college. Now it’s crystal clear. I was schooled in confirmation bias and realized my own. I value your voice of reason.
Kim I think u are wise to be Leery of Trump. Smart like a fox. No morality either. He is committed to taking down democracy and his key methods are to exhaust the senate and threaten to destroy their careers. Coming at them everyday the way he is doing overwhelms normal people and those who are experiencing tension between protecting our country vs their careers. Ethics is the way to go but I fear Repubs still there have lost the meaning of “for the greater good”. I will back any who do that however! Moreover, all should send emails of thank to Thune and others who do not to acquiesce to Trump when he does actions to harm others, exhibit cronyism instead of choosing the most knowledgeable person for the job, and when they do not react and instead do what are norms. I do not know how to get theirvtel numbers and emails but going to try tomorrow. Hope others consider doing this as power comes in numbers. And charts is much like Trump to do whatever to benefit himself.
People do not believe or care about Trumps criminal behavior or plan to become king. Trump voters say “both sides lie”. Just like Jan 6, so much time has passed, everyone is lining up behind Trump like it never happened.
I wake up everyday and read HCR. She writes beautiful, accurate, information. But I am also very frustrated each time I read these letters. Scholarly, accurate info is not getting to the majority of Americans that vote. The voting public relies on Facebook lies, tweets and incorrect insta info that comes in short burst, often with pics or at least great, eye catching, bold type. We are allowing our scholarly, correct and extremely well written essays etc to be drown out by Russian propaganda. Until we start pushing back on misinformation and Fox “News” and change the way we deliver our message we will not see progress.
Trump campaigns from the bottom up engaging rural America. Democrats campaign from the top and stay at the top. I live in NC. I did not see one campaign add about CHIPS or anything Biden has done for our state. NC has spent 614 million over the last 10 years on vouchers, taking away from public schools. Not one rural American that I know believes social security is going to be defunded.
dear Heather,
Stange as it may sound, I’d be comforted to read a book by you along the lines of
Star-spangled Grift: Graft and Corruption in American Politics in the 20th Century and how a democracy makes it easier and how a democracy survives it
or something along that line. I feel in “me waters” that we are in for a gang-buster season of graft with the Trump V.2 presidency and from my perspective in the present looking forward, the near future feels quite bleak. I know we have had these periods of bald-faced political corruption in the past, we have had media moguls like Hearst in the past, and we have come thru somehow. I need someone like you whose perspective is of longer duration than mine, to clarify how this is able to come about in a democracy and how it has been dealt with—what changes or tweaks lead to the liberal progress we began to enjoy until recently.
It seems, our Supreme Court is now contaminated with graft from billionaire oligarchs like it never has before (am I right about this?). I need you, a historian not a pundit, to frame and interpret the present for me in light of your understanding of the past like you did in your excellent book on Democracy Awakening (thanks or writing that). Good Luck to us all, Sally
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - George Santayana. Dr. Richardson does an excellent job of breaking down and explaining what is and what could happen. However, I take a darker view. What is going on here is right out of the Dictator's playbook, a synopsis is here if you are interested https://www.citizenshandbook.org/dictators-playbook.pdf. If anyone thinks that there are republicans that will remind Trump of the rule of law, be in opposition to him, etc., they will not last long. I point out Jeff Flake and Liz Cheney. Furthermore, I hear the "wishful hopefulness" of something happening in opposition because Trump is suffering the effects of ageism and a more sane group of people will be able to recover the government. Ha ha! This is the likely scenario https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enabling_Act_of_1933. Remember the Patriot Act? I really hope I am wrong, otherwise we are headed for "The Night of the Long Knives." Just remember, nothing happens unless the military allows it to happen.......
Please only send written text....that is what I have paid for, twice, in fact.