It mystifies me that the Movement Conservatives and tech's Masters of the Universe want to destroy the very fundamentals of America that allowed them to create and increase their wealth: the rule of law, public schools, building codes, public health measures like vaccinations and other medical advances, safe air and water, and so much mo…
It mystifies me that the Movement Conservatives and tech's Masters of the Universe want to destroy the very fundamentals of America that allowed them to create and increase their wealth: the rule of law, public schools, building codes, public health measures like vaccinations and other medical advances, safe air and water, and so much more -even traffic lights, newspapers, and our roads and highways. I'm disgusted by their arrogance and sense of righteous entitlement and superiority.
Who do they think will buy their products, staff their businesses, trust their contracts, and allow them to create and increase their wealth? After Trump and his allies empty the US treasury, bankrupt adversaries with phony lawsuits and investigations, appropriate profitable businesses, and destroy non-profits, there won't be much of a country left. Who will be their doctors, architects, pilots, and bankers?
We've seen this movie before, and it doesn't end well, even for the grifters and oligarchs. Unless we stop this soon, it certainly won't end well for most Americans, including MAGA folks.
There is no way to "stop this soon." They have two years to wreak havoc. The only reliable checks on Trump (that he values) are the money people and financial markets. Maybe a few court cases will restrain him. And maybe occasionally the Republican senate will show some spine. We can only hope that Dems come roaring back in the midterms. Post-election despair and euphoria will at some point yield to reality. https://jimbuie.substack.com/p/why-did-democratic-senate-candidates
Jim, Because states are our last guardrail, I believe local communities everywhere must work to develop action plans for using local constituent power to help in the nationwide effort to beat back MAGA.
Robin, Agreed. Still, in my view, we cannot, nor should we, expect them to carry the weight of resisting at every turn freedoms and rights that are in peril unless we, too, are engaged in the struggle.
We need to beat the drum of democracy's advantages over creeping autocracy since pointing out the dangers of #47 and his ilk means nothing to his supporters.
I would think people should start moving out of Florida, Idaho and Indiana as well as the deep south and especially Texas. Because none of those states will come along peacefully. They will fight tooth and nail to keep their death grip on democracy.
Laurie, yes and some of those waters leak over into Oregon. I have an ex-student who lives in northern Idaho. He and his partner (male I think) seem to be trying to get off the grid. I also have a good friend from library school who lives in Moscow. She and her husband do their best to counter the nonsense.
I am so sorry for you. I hope that you are older and don't have to worry about getting pregnant. I've been hearing stories about women being airlifted to other states to get medical treatment. I also have heard that there is a mass evacuation of medical doctors who specialize in difficult pregnancies.
Well, you are there. And also all the rich lefties from California! (unless they actually moved there because they were conservatives in a sea of blue?)
Barbara Jo Krieger, I agree with you. It will only be from the bottom up that this can be urged to veer off the horrible trajectory we are on. Yet also we have to concurrently address the lack-of-megaphone problem. All the damaging changes have been able to occur because of successful mis/dis information campaigns/focus groups/news sites/social media. That behemoth needs to be addressed. Heather does her best here with us. If she had the muskrats reach - and unlimited wealth-, we would not be in this situation. How do we change that?
It is a shame that our ability to get a message out depends on how deep our pockets are, or a private citizen's interest in that message. We have lost our way as a country. The Reagan Years did so much damage.
@MLRGRMI, Currently, our party is leaderless. We need a leader, contrary to Biden, who can take full advantage of the bully pulpit, both to prosecute the opposition and to connect our story to people’s felt needs.
In Oregon the Ds have a super majority in both House and Senate in the legislature. I don't know how that will play out. Certain incoming Rs death star types are threatening to arrest local officials and they will certainly punish any D areas by withholding funds or not funding.
We as democratic people need to form up some few ways of resistance especially at the local level, using laws and groups in touch with each other to help out in both crisis scenes kind of like the South Koreans just did, as well as blowback ways of tripping up the R's at every turn. Have to remember we're dealing with bullies, and bullies start to defunction when they are opposed. Let's encourage Republican senators and representatives now as the new term starts, to use their common senses and keep things alive across the aisles in all areas of common concern.
The states will try to protect individuals within their borders, but the real last guardrail is the military. Will Trump finally have the generals who, like Hitler’s, will do his bidding, at least for awhile? Will some of them eventually try to kill him? Will it matter in two years? If Trump declares an emergency on his first day back in office—armed with the new immunity bestowed upon him by the Supreme Court—“life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” could be damaged beyond repair.
Dave, Given military bases abound in every state, I share your concern. Nonetheless, I’m banking on MAGA bullies backing down when confronted with formidable resistance we know is on the right side of history.
@B. J. K. & others on this thread…Criminals and vandals—every one—may succeed for a time using their warped views and philosophies to subjugate others to their selfish will. But, it is good to keep front of mind that even the most powerful evildoers make mistakes…Al Capone (and so many others like him) died in a maximum security prison, tripped up by his own hubris and the mistake of willfully cheating on his taxes. The USSR, organized out of the regressive worldviews of Marx & Lenin, rotted and ultimately dissolved into the wasteland created out of its own worst ideas and biases meant to control human individuality and innate intelligence. Hitler’s own personal, drug-addled insanities caused him to overreach in service of his own delusions of personal power and domination to slink meekly out of this life into the infinitely hotter climes of vacation land for damned tyrants and other miscreants.
If free thinking devotees of individual liberties struggle to maintain firm footing in this world, even today’s MAGAts will come to heel before their worst machinations eventuate. It won’t be easy or immediate, but even Trump’s legions of doom will fall prey to the power of pluralism.
"Their worst machinations" have MANIFESTED for the 1 in 3 American Girls & Women who have already lost their right to abortion, surgical and drug induced. If more men could understand the deadly gravity of this fact, we would not be facing this fascist gov't right now.
Let it Sink In. Women are dying. Whether they want their pregnancy or not.
Women have no right to decide the most important thing in their lives. Women are dying. They are bleeding out in the parking lot, at home, or right in the Hospital!!!
And states like Texas are abolishing the departments that keep track of maternal deaths, or putting an Aunt Lydia in charge of them. Men need to Wake Up and stand with Women, side by side. sigh. whatever. we've been yelling it and speaking about it and trying to reach legislators about it ever since Reagan.
Why should I believe that most men would even care?
Barbara, Oregon has an Air National Guard base in Portland, Kingsley Field in Klamath Falls (Hosting a Fighter Wing) , and an Army Recruiting Station in Portland. There are 14 Coast Guard Stations along the coast from Brookings to Astoria, plus one in Portland.
Ally, to me the problem is that so many of military and ex-miliitary agree with the orange puss bucket as well as LE. It is true that eventually some of Hitler's generals plotted to kill him. All the vets that I know are absolutely against death star and take their oaths seriously. Then there is the D of Defense nominee whose own mother apparently doesn't like him.
I don’t know if that is true. Can you provide a link with data?
California has the most military people of any state.
“California
Has the most active duty military personnel in the country, with nearly 160,000 troops. 75,000 of these are from the Navy and 54,000 are from the Marines.” AI overview.
Yes. State Militias are making a comeback, or in the case of Texas, have already been called out and are in training on the pretext of Border Control, which they have no constitutional right to be "securing."
Barbara, I live in a ruby red state: our governor is roaring back with vouchers again this session, after defeat last term; our gerrymandered state is 2/3. Republican; one US senator is a national joke and was just reelected, the other campaigned on “Trump supports me,” and hoped desperately to be in his cabinet; and our rep is Gaetz’s bff. We aren’t giving up (BlueTennessee.org) but the climb is stupendous.
@MLMinET, I very much appreciate you writing and imagine the two Justins are associated with BlueTennessee.org I mention this, because, as you clearly know, the way forward starts with identifying and connecting with worthy groups prepared to resist at every turn freedoms and rights that are in peril.
Hahhaaaa.. Putting "States" back in charge of (you name it) will be the un-doing of this. Were numbnuts to make the "government" the decider, then we'd have a real problem. 350 million of us in 50 states aren't going to put up with this nonsense. Watch.
@MadRussian12A, In the absence of meaningful checks at the federal level against the excesses of executive power, using our local constituent power to help in the nationwide effort to resist at every turn freedoms and rights that are in peril, in my view, is our sole recourse. If you’ve developed an action plan for an alternative approach, I’d love to hear it.
Well stated Barbara Jo. We "constituents" are certainly where the real power resides. We've got a real problem , in our hands. No "alternative approach" needed, waking up is needed. We've been humming along.
Time, Dementia, will be the Ultimate Check on DJT... Looking at the Videos of DJT the past couple of weeks at Mar-a-Lago, DJT's Dementia is Progressing... If the Money-People check DJT, then the Rest-Of-Us could become Collateral-Casualties... If DJT does indeed become Mad, then DJT could cancel the '26, and '28 Elections...
You write “Time, Dementia, will be the Ultimate Check on DJT.”
True but beside the point. Trump is a symptom of the problem, not the cause. The cause are his sheep like followers who have been duped into thinking he and his policies benefit them and not the most wealthy among us and their corporate interests.
DJT is also the Evil Avatar... The Test Of Time will be if his Cult Persists when DJT eventually leaves the Stage, or the Cult Dissipates, or the Cult Morphs into something Different... Reading Up On Kash Patel... Not Good....
Bingo. I have been wondering all along that when the evil figurehead leaves the throne will his followers in congress be freed up like the flying monkeys in Wizard of OZ?
Yes Barbara, I see 'them' bouncing all over the place....un til a leader emerges... i.e. one who provides the statuesque character-image-mouth, they can 'identify with' (like numbskull), and are ready and willing to do anything to be seen next to. That, is what DJT provides. Kamala/Waltz ? not-so-much (urrrp!)
Ed, It’s not going to be easy, but, if there’s a silver lining, it could come from MAGA showing exactly who they are. I would add some consider MAGA a dying movement taking its last gasp.
@ L duffy, Admittedly, it doesn’t feel that way, but I believe society is progressing whether they like it or not. And when they claim to have a mandate and shove the red map in our faces, they knowingly are conflating land and population, let alone disregarding that non-voters were the largest bloc.
MAGA has already shown who they are. The problem is that a 40-point to 60-point majority of white Americans, especially white men and white evangelicals, like like like what MAGA are. And the central plank they like most is the protection of systemic white advantages in under the law, in the workplace, and at the ballot box. They do not like what Abraham Lincoln worked for and what Democrats work for now, which is fair treatment by government of black Americans and other marginalized groups. And they will do everything they can to make sure Democrats cannot make progress towards fairness. Decent Americans have been fighting them since 1980 and made spotty progress from time to time, but decent Americans never got on firm ground. How could they with the white majority, backed by big money Wall Streeters, united against them?
True Trump is the symptom while duped sheep are the cause. And removing all guardrails regarding blatant lies and propaganda is a major cause that allows such duping. We must put some guardrails on propaganda back in place to have any hope of maintaining a democracy that depends on citizens having some semblance of shared truth.
The necessary guardrails I see are primarily economic, e.g., the overturning of the Citizens United decision. Corporate control of the media, news and otherwise, is also a huge problem, but how to deal with that without running afoul of the 1st Amendment?
Welp.. exigent action (so needed) "afoul the 1st Amendment", TAKE IT! Let it be appealed, litigated, in the press and court. Settle the matter, legally! Later. The border fiasco could've been handled that way. So can Citizens United. This is why we have a President. But, alas we seem to be bestowed with a rich-mans puppet. Currently. And, for the next four years.
Absolutely! The FCC in it's infinite wisdom destroyed those guardrails in 1985. Fox and Sinclair have made billions off of that and more importantly, we now have a population of uninformed idiots who vote against their own best interests. 2% control 98% of the wealth. What could possibly go wrong?
its not just followers who have been duped, this is spearheaded by a focussed group of arch conservatives who want to roll back social support in government, and of course, business types, who want to maximize profits. And yes, there are quite a few crazies enlisted in the effort.
The stuff going on behind all this would shock people. It all smacks of the hidden and super mysterious institutions mentioned in the novel Angels and Demons. Those mysterious cabals of world order fabulously wealthy individuals who move the pieces around. In our case Putin has been working for decades to destroy the United States. He stumbled upon just the right useful idiot in trump.
Ed, you are correct. We offered up a defeatable alternative and guess what? We were defeated. There was a time Billy Bubba Clinton just had to get BJs from a big-lipped intern leaving little for Al Gore.
I had more to say but the software is preventing me from elaborating. Therefore, I will send a hard copy letter to Substack in San Fran and announce that I will cease paying for any of my chosen writers. It will be up to Heather and Joyce and other big-names to influence Substack to withdraw this since I am now restricted. The concept of sharing our opinions is quaint but unnecessary. In the future, I will be restricted to reading only and this is sufficient for me. “They” always spoil things.
It seems fair to me. We all have the opportunity to create our own Substack world. Is it reasonable to then turn around and use Dr. Richardson's comments board to create in essence a whole Substack of your own? You are riding on her work.
He is the cause. He started all of this 9 years ago. The followers are the result of his influence. His followers could never have pulled off the coup he has executed.
I think we may agree more than I think you think we do. Look at this sentence I wrote again. “The cause are his sheep like followers who have been duped into thinking he and his policies benefit them and not the most wealthy among us and their corporate interests.”
He didn’t create the sheep that blindly follow him to their own economic, social and national security detriment, he’s exploiting them to his own benefit.
He got into the race originally nine years ago primarily to revive his sagging “brand”. He has been riding the wind ever since, leaving a trail of devastation.
The cause goes back to the JP Morgans and Bush and Dupont Dynasties and many more who discovered the lucre of war and the lure of Fascism Way back in the early 1930's. Add on all the War Barons and the MIC built for WWII, and Oil barons like (Bush) and Koch Industries, and we have the Oligarchs behind the coup that first took the Supreme Court, and now, with help from the New Tech Oligarchy that long ago discovered the joy of privatization, and the Defense Budget, they have it all. The Trifecta. Trump will soon be dispensable. A liability in fact. As he said, to his beloved Christians, we "will never have to vote again."
But, as Bill Barr famously said, over my dead body.
He has already declared many many times that if he won the presidency this time people would "not have to vote again" because he would "fix it" that they "wouldnt have to." And, once he has dismantled all the government departments, (which he is showing us he is actually really planning to do by giving us the names of the airhead puppets he will be heading them up with so that they will cease to function, and once he has secured the "go-ahead" to be able to unleash the military, (and perhaps the soon-to-be-freed "January 6th Hostages" with their sharp flagpoles) on ordinary American citizens for whatever reason he'd like (which he has been publicly working on doing)I'm thinking we will be more able to suspend our disbelief of the fact that our country has just been taken over. Its happening right now. Plain as day.
For me, the problem is so big and i am so small and inept when faced with this that im just numb and filled with dread. He has told us what he will do and he is doing it.
I just bought a copy of Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. It's a short read, and I plan to make it my handbook. The first lesson is Do Not Obey in Advance. Trump has not even taken office, and I see no reason to capitulate, even emotionally, before he does.
There are many Levels of Resistance in the 'System'.... The 'System' has Accrued for over 200 Years... DJT will eventually Pass... Depending on what DJT actually tries to DO, the Pain could be Great... But this Land, and its People will Persist... For the Indigenous, We Will Remain... The Indigenous can be Independent if We Wish To... We have Resisted for over 500 years...
Yes, have you noticed that the timeline for the end of our planet's habitability has been shrinking and updated to 6 years from now (some say four). See Bernie Sander's interview with environmentalist Bill McGibbon on YouTube. Its a very good interview. Dont know how to wrap my head around that....
Your article should be required reading in every school. History and Civics should be taught together and give context to what the future will look like. Your article eloquently encapsulates this premise. Thank you.
Yes \Vince S, Indivisible has countless local grassroots groups that We The People MUST be active in, imo. And to also alert/call to discussion & action our city councils, school boards, and ask all houses of worship to step up to practice true social justice.
And as states allow a president to seize. California' Governor Newsom has already said his state is unlikely to cooperate with mass deportations of those who are not criminals. Other states will follow. How will mass deportations be done? Police or military going door to door demanding citizenship papers? That's a hornets nest. Aggressive raids of businesses? Obama administration deported more people than Trump did in first term.
The sob-in-question may have such plans; his 'raving', which I detest and fear, must be ultimately checked legally, or physically. I have become ancient and feeble, incapable of any effort. I and my fellow/sister citizens must rely on the good sense and offices of the younger, newer and more free Americans, our spiritual descendants. Please!
“A president has no power to cancel elections.” Also, “No man is above the law.” Clinging to these traditional rules for comfort ignores reality. Russia has elections. Trump has immunity and pardon power for any who abet his willingness to ignore any law to stay in power. The oligarchs controlling the media (legacy and new) are well versed in the Orban and Putin model to continue brainwashing and crushing dissent. And don’t kid yourself, those Oligarchs will have no problem steering our dark cartoon president. Not to mention true believers with AK47’s who never heard of John Locke and are watching football this weekend.
I hope that You are Right... DJT could Declare a National Emergency, and Invoke the Insurrections Act... DJT could also Federalize the State National Guards under the Military Commissions Act enacted during the GWB Administration... Let's Hope That None Of This Happens....
People serving in the military are required by law to obey lawful orders. But if memory serves, we were also required NOT to obey unlawful orders. Recall Lt. Calley at My Lai in Vietnam. The folks schooled in these matters could make an effort to ensure that everyone serving in the military understands the difference between lawful and unlawful orders.
Yes and of course what seems to be constantly overlooked is that orders to enforce deporting undocumented immigrants are quite legal and any military personnel refusing to obey such orders would be subject to court martial.
depends on what's "inside" the military, when it comes to that. The National Guard still gunned down demonstrators at Kent University back in the 60s wasn't it?
He wouldn't have to cancel elections. A few months before the midterms he could foment and instigate violence and disruptions in the streets.(He could rile up a bunch of people and pay the rest to make mischief.) Then declare a state of emergency. Then it would be one short sweet step to postponing the election to safeguard voters. Then extending the postponement. Any public outcry against him would be proof of the need for reestablish safety before having the election.
I sincerely believe that SCOTUS would not allow that. They have not bowed to his every whim and the 'official duties ' of the presidency can be further defined to prevent him.
I believe it was Heather that stated in one of her amazing political chats, that we are not flower pots. We will know what to do, when and where. We will.
I don’t that sort of madness is the point. He becomes even more unpredictable as the dementia increases. He knows he’s losing it, hence the willingness to name appointees faster than fast. He is now more at the mercy of Musk’s manipulations.
Dementia is quite evident but many people have done a lot of harm while suffering from dementia. As they say, even a clown with a flamethrower can do a lot of harm.
It's going to be tough to roar back in 2 years. trump is inheriting a strong and growing economy for which he well take full credit and the media will help him. I don't think even trump's incompetence can destroy that in 2 years. We can't depend on any spine from the republicans and the courts are getting worse, not better. We are in for a tough time. Eventually, they will fail, but it will take time.
And most of us will be collateral damage in the meantime. If this continues, we'll become another banana republic with nuclear weapons like Russia. The Chinese Century will become a reality.
Lol sorry not trying to be cynical but I am cynical. If you are talking about election crimes THIS year I don't think there are many certainly none that could likely be pegged to Trump. As for 2020, those cases have been dismissed or are moot. I wouldn't count on anything happening like that. Not at least for two years and more likely four if ever.
DOJ issued an order Sept. 4 . At a minimum circumstatial evidence that Russia, it's agents and willful idiots to disrupt the election. On Sept. 4, documented by DOJ. State crimes abound.
What are these facts, where is the jurisdiction, what state is equipped to move an investigation then an action forward in anything less than a snail’s pace? We are living in a Shakespearean tragedy in modern times when the law remains “an ass”.
Those that elected Trump constituted a coalition of different interest groups. At the base, there are the extremists, the Truth Social crowd, who are perhaps the equivalent of the Brown Shirts in the 1920-1930 era in Germany and (arguably, to a degree) our own Weather Underground in the late 1960s. In Germany, the Brown Shirts became a powerful force with the ascension of Hitler, while in the U.S. the Weather Underground lost support after the bombing at the U of Wisconsin killed a researcher. It’s up us to prevent the Truth Socialists from taking power. Consider joining one of the groups opposed to Trumpian extremism, such as Democracy2025, the Union of Concerned Scientists, among many others listed on Democracy2025’s website.
Yes. The Dems need to pick 10-15 Congressional Districts that they can flip and get grass roots campaigning going in the communities. As soon as the tariffs raise prices, the rounding up of families hurts all the communities and businesses that need them to work, that the Trump-buddy-billionaires get a big tax break but wages don’t go up, more women die in ERs, trans people get beaten up, the stock market tanks, and the DOJ tells people to shut up and go home, then the real culprits have to be clarified and voted out. A new Congress can marginalize Trump and smash the MAGA movement.
Dear Laurie, please read the book by Anne Applebaum "Autocracy". She answers your question in detail. One point is that modern Oligarchs don't make their money from consumers any more. Their continued wealth growth is, in fact, as Prof. Applebaum aptly illustrates with simple math, not longer dependent upon others buying their stuff. One could just as well take their wealth, which in the USA is about 1/2 the total, out of the economy and it wouldn't make a difference to the rest of us, because it isn't "in the economy" any more. Their money is elsewhere...gone...no trickle down. Held for personal greed.
Elon Musk doesn't care if you buy his cars, take a ride into space, bore a tunnel, or complain about his excess. All he cares about is growing his horde of wealth, along with the other Oligarchs, and for that they need more power...which the Mango Mussolini and Pee Pee le Put are going to give him, because he represents the new generation of Greed.
I love Anne Applebaum. Also Timothy Snyder and Ruth Ben-Ghiat. Some of my questions are rhetorical, and I suppose the oligarchs will make sure they themselves have excellent doctors, attorneys, ship captains, and pilots.
Power tends to corrupt. There is no shortage of examples. That why the founders tried to divide powers and establish checks and balances. It's been up to us to maintain and improve that system.
The irony is that many of the Russian oligarchs come to the US, or at least park their money here. So where will American oligarchs go? Such a shame they might have to actually live on their yachts. Or move in at Mar-a-Lago with the boss.
The Russian Oligarchs have been 'Floating' the Trump Organization for over 20-Years per Don Jr. .... The Oligarchs are 'Citizens-Of-The-World, they have bought Properties around the World such as in New Zealand, Canada, and the UK... These Countries have passed Laws to protect the Housing Markets so that their Citizens can live there...
Idaho used to be an exceptionally nice place with kind people. Seems like lots of disaffected mean spirited transplants from (CA?) have changed the landscape. Heart breaker.
Those of us who saw this coming ( sort of) moved back to the woods to be self reliant …it was much more encompassing than most imagined and most , dissolutioned, returned to seek other paths, many sought far more education -becoming yuppies some incorporating the best of both worlds and doing much for the natural world as innovation and financial ability permitted.
What perplexed me most as time passed was what was hidden upon knowledge of its harm , gall due to greed versus making better progress for the whole , gifts of selfless caring as enough had been attained and thus ‘progress’ became a dirty word.
Every faction has many subsets . A few have enough. A few are greedy. A few are evil. A few are sick. A few are poor. A few…you get the picture…
Education seems to benefit most. Perhaps it’s the most needed focus? Control is the draw sought by most and those boundaries need to be clear , strong, upheld to keep greed from becoming our undoing.
History clearly tells we’re not there yet, progress has been made, yes …but far too many still suffer needlessly.
I know we shouldn’t throw out principle, just define the baby from the bath water better.
I was producing corporate videos in the 80's when companies started moving factories offshore, or moving to the state that gave them the biggest tax break and I said "don't they understand what they are doing ?" They are killing off the middle class Americans who buy their products...now here we are with these guys...
Frank, I've boycotted WalMart for many years. They killed mom and pop merchants in towns across the US with their Chinese imports. They pay their people poorly, union bust and are one of the wealthiest families in the US. I won't go there...or use Amazon.
All the supermarket chains killed mom and pops, it was a matter of scale, then Walmart did in some of those chains by scaling up even more. Walmart et al all imported from Asia, part of a long term and deliberate government strategy on all sides of the political fence, Chicago school of economics maybe? You might also ask why the Feds haven't bothered to increase the minimum wage of $7.25 or so in a generation. I do use Walmart mostly for certain items, but generally not. Afraid i use Amazon quite a bit! Costco on your avoid list? I use it too. Plus the other major Canadian chains (being where i live). I do agree, a broad union movement in retail is greatly needed. Thing is, there is a lot of resistance to unions, not just from billionaire owners. It would take some doing to make progress here, but i'd be all for it. I wouldnt hope for a lot under Trump! Now that too is interesting, since he's proposed a 10% tariff increase. Does that include textiles, which were wiped out in North America under globalization a couple generations ago. The trade off has been employment displacement for lower prices, but America manages to have more or less full employment. Anything much below 4% unemployment will only spur wage inflation which in turn will spill into prices. Messy, isn't it!
Kellog School of Business Administration (Chicago) The Wharton Business School, and others, Frank. I think the outsourcers et al underestimated the mobility of the US workforce and the comeback of nuts&bolts manufacturing in our highly political Supply Chain world. However, the USA is firmly in the Knowledge economy now, whereas Europe with its immobile workforce agreements lags way behind. The US's economy is on Steroids while Germany faces a melt-down. Who was right? I guess we'll see when the "debt-bomb" finally hits. Germany may look really smart then, but I doubt it.
Interesting, Bruce, you're more in the know than I. But i got "Chicago" right without getting into the weeds. An AI search pulled up this for me. There are about one billion knowledge workers globally. Knowledge workers are people who use their knowledge and expertise to create value and make decisions. They work in a variety of fields, including: marketing, customer experience, engineering, design, and education.
The knowledge economy is a large part of the global economy, and the number of knowledge workers has been growing steadily:
Canada
In 1971, 14% of Canada's workforce was in high-knowledge occupations, and by 2001, that number had almost doubled to 25%.
United States
The number of patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office has been growing, from 71,114 in 1981 to 374,006 in 2021.
The knowledge economy places a high value on intangible assets like software, brand recognition, and patented designs. Countries are ranked based on their "enabling factors" for the knowledge economy, which include:
It is messy. I've never joined a Costco or other big box warehouse. About the only box store I support is Lowes because they have some things I can't find in my local hardware stores. I try to stay out of Home Depot because they support Trump. The textile story is a whole other issue we were involved with at Jos. A. Bank & Under Armour here in MD.
What would you propose? I'm all ears. We failed to enlarge the Supreme Court when we should have and allowed Trump to put the arch conservatives in the court so it is now 6-3 right wing. That will last at least another generation or two.
And here we are. Who will harvest our food, who will mop the floors of our favorite restaurants, mow our lawns, move goods in our warehouses, build houses?? Prepare for the great collapse.
And who will open new businesses, invent and expand our global connections, enrich American culture, and raise up a generation of loyal American innovators and good neighbors?
Short-term greed. Plain and simple. The greedy scum figure they got theirs, so screw everyone else. By rigging the tax system, their wealth becomes multi-generational, so their offspring also will be insulated from the hell-scape their greed creates.
GeorgeC.. thank you my friend. You have just called out some real c--ksuckers. And they fit right in with that house of swingers..RIP Jeffry Epstein, hohoho. Santa is coming..., who's wearing that suit?
I'm concerned that the resistance won't respond quickly enough and MAGA will have infiltrated b4 Dems can unite to resist. LIke the Jan 18 Peoples March crowd size bigger than his Inauguration crowd (personally I already have a call in to the best charter bus company in our county for Jan 18) and putting in as much strengthening of democracy guard rails between Dec. 1 and Jan 20, like more judges approved, and whatever other things Schumer, Pelosi, Jeffries, Biden, Harris, etc can put together, "for the people."
I share your mystification, and I have often said how ironic it is that Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Rupert Murdoch and other such immigrants came to this country because it offered them a functioning economic system that allowed them to accumulate great wealth, and now they want to tear that system down. Go figure. I guess they were happier under an apartheid government.
Sometimes, ya gotta dick around til something is really broke before fixing it. We're not quite there yet. The 51 Senators don't have anything to really bite into.
It mystifies me that the Movement Conservatives and tech's Masters of the Universe want to destroy the very fundamentals of America that allowed them to create and increase their wealth: the rule of law, public schools, building codes, public health measures like vaccinations and other medical advances, safe air and water, and so much more -even traffic lights, newspapers, and our roads and highways. I'm disgusted by their arrogance and sense of righteous entitlement and superiority.
Who do they think will buy their products, staff their businesses, trust their contracts, and allow them to create and increase their wealth? After Trump and his allies empty the US treasury, bankrupt adversaries with phony lawsuits and investigations, appropriate profitable businesses, and destroy non-profits, there won't be much of a country left. Who will be their doctors, architects, pilots, and bankers?
We've seen this movie before, and it doesn't end well, even for the grifters and oligarchs. Unless we stop this soon, it certainly won't end well for most Americans, including MAGA folks.
There is no way to "stop this soon." They have two years to wreak havoc. The only reliable checks on Trump (that he values) are the money people and financial markets. Maybe a few court cases will restrain him. And maybe occasionally the Republican senate will show some spine. We can only hope that Dems come roaring back in the midterms. Post-election despair and euphoria will at some point yield to reality. https://jimbuie.substack.com/p/why-did-democratic-senate-candidates
Jim, Because states are our last guardrail, I believe local communities everywhere must work to develop action plans for using local constituent power to help in the nationwide effort to beat back MAGA.
All the Democratic governors are already doing this, most especially the 17 states where Dems have all the control of their legislatures as well.
Robin, Agreed. Still, in my view, we cannot, nor should we, expect them to carry the weight of resisting at every turn freedoms and rights that are in peril unless we, too, are engaged in the struggle.
We need to beat the drum of democracy's advantages over creeping autocracy since pointing out the dangers of #47 and his ilk means nothing to his supporters.
True, but I am here in Idaho. Beyond hopeless. There is no finger in the dam.
I would think people should start moving out of Florida, Idaho and Indiana as well as the deep south and especially Texas. Because none of those states will come along peacefully. They will fight tooth and nail to keep their death grip on democracy.
I live in Florida ……
We are doomed
Laurie, yes and some of those waters leak over into Oregon. I have an ex-student who lives in northern Idaho. He and his partner (male I think) seem to be trying to get off the grid. I also have a good friend from library school who lives in Moscow. She and her husband do their best to counter the nonsense.
I am so sorry for you. I hope that you are older and don't have to worry about getting pregnant. I've been hearing stories about women being airlifted to other states to get medical treatment. I also have heard that there is a mass evacuation of medical doctors who specialize in difficult pregnancies.
Well, you are there. And also all the rich lefties from California! (unless they actually moved there because they were conservatives in a sea of blue?)
I love rural states like Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas. But there are issues.
https://yadontknow.blogspot.com/2024/09/rural-democracy.html
Barbara Jo Krieger, I agree with you. It will only be from the bottom up that this can be urged to veer off the horrible trajectory we are on. Yet also we have to concurrently address the lack-of-megaphone problem. All the damaging changes have been able to occur because of successful mis/dis information campaigns/focus groups/news sites/social media. That behemoth needs to be addressed. Heather does her best here with us. If she had the muskrats reach - and unlimited wealth-, we would not be in this situation. How do we change that?
It is a shame that our ability to get a message out depends on how deep our pockets are, or a private citizen's interest in that message. We have lost our way as a country. The Reagan Years did so much damage.
@MLRGRMI, Currently, our party is leaderless. We need a leader, contrary to Biden, who can take full advantage of the bully pulpit, both to prosecute the opposition and to connect our story to people’s felt needs.
In Oregon the Ds have a super majority in both House and Senate in the legislature. I don't know how that will play out. Certain incoming Rs death star types are threatening to arrest local officials and they will certainly punish any D areas by withholding funds or not funding.
We as democratic people need to form up some few ways of resistance especially at the local level, using laws and groups in touch with each other to help out in both crisis scenes kind of like the South Koreans just did, as well as blowback ways of tripping up the R's at every turn. Have to remember we're dealing with bullies, and bullies start to defunction when they are opposed. Let's encourage Republican senators and representatives now as the new term starts, to use their common senses and keep things alive across the aisles in all areas of common concern.
The states will try to protect individuals within their borders, but the real last guardrail is the military. Will Trump finally have the generals who, like Hitler’s, will do his bidding, at least for awhile? Will some of them eventually try to kill him? Will it matter in two years? If Trump declares an emergency on his first day back in office—armed with the new immunity bestowed upon him by the Supreme Court—“life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” could be damaged beyond repair.
Dave, Given military bases abound in every state, I share your concern. Nonetheless, I’m banking on MAGA bullies backing down when confronted with formidable resistance we know is on the right side of history.
@B. J. K. & others on this thread…Criminals and vandals—every one—may succeed for a time using their warped views and philosophies to subjugate others to their selfish will. But, it is good to keep front of mind that even the most powerful evildoers make mistakes…Al Capone (and so many others like him) died in a maximum security prison, tripped up by his own hubris and the mistake of willfully cheating on his taxes. The USSR, organized out of the regressive worldviews of Marx & Lenin, rotted and ultimately dissolved into the wasteland created out of its own worst ideas and biases meant to control human individuality and innate intelligence. Hitler’s own personal, drug-addled insanities caused him to overreach in service of his own delusions of personal power and domination to slink meekly out of this life into the infinitely hotter climes of vacation land for damned tyrants and other miscreants.
If free thinking devotees of individual liberties struggle to maintain firm footing in this world, even today’s MAGAts will come to heel before their worst machinations eventuate. It won’t be easy or immediate, but even Trump’s legions of doom will fall prey to the power of pluralism.
"Their worst machinations" have MANIFESTED for the 1 in 3 American Girls & Women who have already lost their right to abortion, surgical and drug induced. If more men could understand the deadly gravity of this fact, we would not be facing this fascist gov't right now.
Let it Sink In. Women are dying. Whether they want their pregnancy or not.
Women have no right to decide the most important thing in their lives. Women are dying. They are bleeding out in the parking lot, at home, or right in the Hospital!!!
And states like Texas are abolishing the departments that keep track of maternal deaths, or putting an Aunt Lydia in charge of them. Men need to Wake Up and stand with Women, side by side. sigh. whatever. we've been yelling it and speaking about it and trying to reach legislators about it ever since Reagan.
Why should I believe that most men would even care?
You're right Doc, it'll take some time, but it will come around. Give em enough rope!
Barbara, Oregon has an Air National Guard base in Portland, Kingsley Field in Klamath Falls (Hosting a Fighter Wing) , and an Army Recruiting Station in Portland. There are 14 Coast Guard Stations along the coast from Brookings to Astoria, plus one in Portland.
Ally, to me the problem is that so many of military and ex-miliitary agree with the orange puss bucket as well as LE. It is true that eventually some of Hitler's generals plotted to kill him. All the vets that I know are absolutely against death star and take their oaths seriously. Then there is the D of Defense nominee whose own mother apparently doesn't like him.
Barbara you are much too optimistic on my opinion. I hope you are right but I sincerely doubt it.
Jon, As in most struggles, the odds are not in our favor. But that didn’t stop those who came before us, and it will not stop us either.
The problem is most military bases are in Red states, a deal LBJ
made to get them to support the Civil Rights Act.
I don’t know if that is true. Can you provide a link with data?
California has the most military people of any state.
“California
Has the most active duty military personnel in the country, with nearly 160,000 troops. 75,000 of these are from the Navy and 54,000 are from the Marines.” AI overview.
Dave, excellent comment.
Having served, IMHO purges are coming.
In my state, DeSantis already set up his own army, and co-opted the Florida National Guard.
Yes. State Militias are making a comeback, or in the case of Texas, have already been called out and are in training on the pretext of Border Control, which they have no constitutional right to be "securing."
No Dave. WE are the "last guardrail", don't you ever forget that.
Barbara, I live in a ruby red state: our governor is roaring back with vouchers again this session, after defeat last term; our gerrymandered state is 2/3. Republican; one US senator is a national joke and was just reelected, the other campaigned on “Trump supports me,” and hoped desperately to be in his cabinet; and our rep is Gaetz’s bff. We aren’t giving up (BlueTennessee.org) but the climb is stupendous.
I feel for you. Tennessee is infected with a type of Christian rationality that beggers understanding.
@MLMinET, I very much appreciate you writing and imagine the two Justins are associated with BlueTennessee.org I mention this, because, as you clearly know, the way forward starts with identifying and connecting with worthy groups prepared to resist at every turn freedoms and rights that are in peril.
Hahhaaaa.. Putting "States" back in charge of (you name it) will be the un-doing of this. Were numbnuts to make the "government" the decider, then we'd have a real problem. 350 million of us in 50 states aren't going to put up with this nonsense. Watch.
@MadRussian12A, In the absence of meaningful checks at the federal level against the excesses of executive power, using our local constituent power to help in the nationwide effort to resist at every turn freedoms and rights that are in peril, in my view, is our sole recourse. If you’ve developed an action plan for an alternative approach, I’d love to hear it.
Well stated Barbara Jo. We "constituents" are certainly where the real power resides. We've got a real problem , in our hands. No "alternative approach" needed, waking up is needed. We've been humming along.
Time, Dementia, will be the Ultimate Check on DJT... Looking at the Videos of DJT the past couple of weeks at Mar-a-Lago, DJT's Dementia is Progressing... If the Money-People check DJT, then the Rest-Of-Us could become Collateral-Casualties... If DJT does indeed become Mad, then DJT could cancel the '26, and '28 Elections...
You write “Time, Dementia, will be the Ultimate Check on DJT.”
True but beside the point. Trump is a symptom of the problem, not the cause. The cause are his sheep like followers who have been duped into thinking he and his policies benefit them and not the most wealthy among us and their corporate interests.
DJT is also the Evil Avatar... The Test Of Time will be if his Cult Persists when DJT eventually leaves the Stage, or the Cult Dissipates, or the Cult Morphs into something Different... Reading Up On Kash Patel... Not Good....
Kash Patel -- the analogy to Marvel Comic Villains continues. I mean WTAF?
I might be overly optimistic but Patel seems to be the least confirmable in a list of very questionable confirmations.
Bingo. I have been wondering all along that when the evil figurehead leaves the throne will his followers in congress be freed up like the flying monkeys in Wizard of OZ?
Yes Barbara, I see 'them' bouncing all over the place....un til a leader emerges... i.e. one who provides the statuesque character-image-mouth, they can 'identify with' (like numbskull), and are ready and willing to do anything to be seen next to. That, is what DJT provides. Kamala/Waltz ? not-so-much (urrrp!)
Brownie Points
Ed, It’s not going to be easy, but, if there’s a silver lining, it could come from MAGA showing exactly who they are. I would add some consider MAGA a dying movement taking its last gasp.
Certainly not so in SW FL.
@ L duffy, Admittedly, it doesn’t feel that way, but I believe society is progressing whether they like it or not. And when they claim to have a mandate and shove the red map in our faces, they knowingly are conflating land and population, let alone disregarding that non-voters were the largest bloc.
MAGA has already shown who they are. The problem is that a 40-point to 60-point majority of white Americans, especially white men and white evangelicals, like like like what MAGA are. And the central plank they like most is the protection of systemic white advantages in under the law, in the workplace, and at the ballot box. They do not like what Abraham Lincoln worked for and what Democrats work for now, which is fair treatment by government of black Americans and other marginalized groups. And they will do everything they can to make sure Democrats cannot make progress towards fairness. Decent Americans have been fighting them since 1980 and made spotty progress from time to time, but decent Americans never got on firm ground. How could they with the white majority, backed by big money Wall Streeters, united against them?
Not in central Florida either.
Anyone who thinks MAGA is a "dying movement" is a real fool on the hill.
I agree. It was AFTER Trump won that more of his signs appeared in my neighborhood.
you want to hope so....
True Trump is the symptom while duped sheep are the cause. And removing all guardrails regarding blatant lies and propaganda is a major cause that allows such duping. We must put some guardrails on propaganda back in place to have any hope of maintaining a democracy that depends on citizens having some semblance of shared truth.
The necessary guardrails I see are primarily economic, e.g., the overturning of the Citizens United decision. Corporate control of the media, news and otherwise, is also a huge problem, but how to deal with that without running afoul of the 1st Amendment?
Welp.. exigent action (so needed) "afoul the 1st Amendment", TAKE IT! Let it be appealed, litigated, in the press and court. Settle the matter, legally! Later. The border fiasco could've been handled that way. So can Citizens United. This is why we have a President. But, alas we seem to be bestowed with a rich-mans puppet. Currently. And, for the next four years.
Absolutely! The FCC in it's infinite wisdom destroyed those guardrails in 1985. Fox and Sinclair have made billions off of that and more importantly, we now have a population of uninformed idiots who vote against their own best interests. 2% control 98% of the wealth. What could possibly go wrong?
its not just followers who have been duped, this is spearheaded by a focussed group of arch conservatives who want to roll back social support in government, and of course, business types, who want to maximize profits. And yes, there are quite a few crazies enlisted in the effort.
The stuff going on behind all this would shock people. It all smacks of the hidden and super mysterious institutions mentioned in the novel Angels and Demons. Those mysterious cabals of world order fabulously wealthy individuals who move the pieces around. In our case Putin has been working for decades to destroy the United States. He stumbled upon just the right useful idiot in trump.
Ed, you are correct. We offered up a defeatable alternative and guess what? We were defeated. There was a time Billy Bubba Clinton just had to get BJs from a big-lipped intern leaving little for Al Gore.
I had more to say but the software is preventing me from elaborating. Therefore, I will send a hard copy letter to Substack in San Fran and announce that I will cease paying for any of my chosen writers. It will be up to Heather and Joyce and other big-names to influence Substack to withdraw this since I am now restricted. The concept of sharing our opinions is quaint but unnecessary. In the future, I will be restricted to reading only and this is sufficient for me. “They” always spoil things.
What has happened? I may disagree with you, but you haven't crossed any boundaries as I see them, unlike some others who have been here.
Bill. It is affecting everyone.
It seems fair to me. We all have the opportunity to create our own Substack world. Is it reasonable to then turn around and use Dr. Richardson's comments board to create in essence a whole Substack of your own? You are riding on her work.
get a litany of complains about you, Bill?
Bill, lighten up on Monica. The citizenry of this country let Al Gore down, and this is where we have ended up.
mmmm, I think the Bush Dynasty gave their boy a Big boost in Florida. Well, actually only 537 votes, in America's 3rd most populous state.
Just enough to pretend he won his brother's state's electors.
Total circus, Brooks Bros Riot included.
He is the cause. He started all of this 9 years ago. The followers are the result of his influence. His followers could never have pulled off the coup he has executed.
I think we may agree more than I think you think we do. Look at this sentence I wrote again. “The cause are his sheep like followers who have been duped into thinking he and his policies benefit them and not the most wealthy among us and their corporate interests.”
He didn’t create the sheep that blindly follow him to their own economic, social and national security detriment, he’s exploiting them to his own benefit.
He got into the race originally nine years ago primarily to revive his sagging “brand”. He has been riding the wind ever since, leaving a trail of devastation.
The cause goes back to the JP Morgans and Bush and Dupont Dynasties and many more who discovered the lucre of war and the lure of Fascism Way back in the early 1930's. Add on all the War Barons and the MIC built for WWII, and Oil barons like (Bush) and Koch Industries, and we have the Oligarchs behind the coup that first took the Supreme Court, and now, with help from the New Tech Oligarchy that long ago discovered the joy of privatization, and the Defense Budget, they have it all. The Trifecta. Trump will soon be dispensable. A liability in fact. As he said, to his beloved Christians, we "will never have to vote again."
But, as Bill Barr famously said, over my dead body.
He has already declared many many times that if he won the presidency this time people would "not have to vote again" because he would "fix it" that they "wouldnt have to." And, once he has dismantled all the government departments, (which he is showing us he is actually really planning to do by giving us the names of the airhead puppets he will be heading them up with so that they will cease to function, and once he has secured the "go-ahead" to be able to unleash the military, (and perhaps the soon-to-be-freed "January 6th Hostages" with their sharp flagpoles) on ordinary American citizens for whatever reason he'd like (which he has been publicly working on doing)I'm thinking we will be more able to suspend our disbelief of the fact that our country has just been taken over. Its happening right now. Plain as day.
For me, the problem is so big and i am so small and inept when faced with this that im just numb and filled with dread. He has told us what he will do and he is doing it.
I just bought a copy of Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. It's a short read, and I plan to make it my handbook. The first lesson is Do Not Obey in Advance. Trump has not even taken office, and I see no reason to capitulate, even emotionally, before he does.
I just bought one too. Thanks for the tip!
There are many Levels of Resistance in the 'System'.... The 'System' has Accrued for over 200 Years... DJT will eventually Pass... Depending on what DJT actually tries to DO, the Pain could be Great... But this Land, and its People will Persist... For the Indigenous, We Will Remain... The Indigenous can be Independent if We Wish To... We have Resisted for over 500 years...
Depends on if the planet gets too inhospitable first.
Yes, have you noticed that the timeline for the end of our planet's habitability has been shrinking and updated to 6 years from now (some say four). See Bernie Sander's interview with environmentalist Bill McGibbon on YouTube. Its a very good interview. Dont know how to wrap my head around that....
The Indigenous have very Dark Prophesies...
Your article should be required reading in every school. History and Civics should be taught together and give context to what the future will look like. Your article eloquently encapsulates this premise. Thank you.
A president has no power to cancel elections. Such a declaration would simply reveal him to be a raving lunatic.
A president has as much power as the congress and their financial backers allow him to seize.
Many people will insist on maintaining the rule of law.
It remains to be seen whether or not they/we will succeed.
Ed:
Very true.
That's why I recommend becoming part of a local activist group allied with INDIVISIBLE.
\Vince S
Yes \Vince S, Indivisible has countless local grassroots groups that We The People MUST be active in, imo. And to also alert/call to discussion & action our city councils, school boards, and ask all houses of worship to step up to practice true social justice.
And as states allow a president to seize. California' Governor Newsom has already said his state is unlikely to cooperate with mass deportations of those who are not criminals. Other states will follow. How will mass deportations be done? Police or military going door to door demanding citizenship papers? That's a hornets nest. Aggressive raids of businesses? Obama administration deported more people than Trump did in first term.
Sadly, he's already shown himself to be a raving lunatic and that got him reelected.
The sob-in-question may have such plans; his 'raving', which I detest and fear, must be ultimately checked legally, or physically. I have become ancient and feeble, incapable of any effort. I and my fellow/sister citizens must rely on the good sense and offices of the younger, newer and more free Americans, our spiritual descendants. Please!
“A president has no power to cancel elections.” Also, “No man is above the law.” Clinging to these traditional rules for comfort ignores reality. Russia has elections. Trump has immunity and pardon power for any who abet his willingness to ignore any law to stay in power. The oligarchs controlling the media (legacy and new) are well versed in the Orban and Putin model to continue brainwashing and crushing dissent. And don’t kid yourself, those Oligarchs will have no problem steering our dark cartoon president. Not to mention true believers with AK47’s who never heard of John Locke and are watching football this weekend.
I hope that You are Right... DJT could Declare a National Emergency, and Invoke the Insurrections Act... DJT could also Federalize the State National Guards under the Military Commissions Act enacted during the GWB Administration... Let's Hope That None Of This Happens....
People serving in the military are required by law to obey lawful orders. But if memory serves, we were also required NOT to obey unlawful orders. Recall Lt. Calley at My Lai in Vietnam. The folks schooled in these matters could make an effort to ensure that everyone serving in the military understands the difference between lawful and unlawful orders.
Yes and of course what seems to be constantly overlooked is that orders to enforce deporting undocumented immigrants are quite legal and any military personnel refusing to obey such orders would be subject to court martial.
depends on what's "inside" the military, when it comes to that. The National Guard still gunned down demonstrators at Kent University back in the 60s wasn't it?
He wouldn't have to cancel elections. A few months before the midterms he could foment and instigate violence and disruptions in the streets.(He could rile up a bunch of people and pay the rest to make mischief.) Then declare a state of emergency. Then it would be one short sweet step to postponing the election to safeguard voters. Then extending the postponement. Any public outcry against him would be proof of the need for reestablish safety before having the election.
I sincerely believe that SCOTUS would not allow that. They have not bowed to his every whim and the 'official duties ' of the presidency can be further defined to prevent him.
I trust SCOTUS to act in a reasonable matter just about as far as I can throw a cheesecake underwater.
ROFLMAO! I never tried that Ally. I expect it wouldn't go far. And I totally agree with you, SCOTUS will back him on most things. 6-3 at least.
I believe it was Heather that stated in one of her amazing political chats, that we are not flower pots. We will know what to do, when and where. We will.
Are you ready to take up a fire arm in defense of your own freedoms? That's where it may end, sigh.
I don’t that sort of madness is the point. He becomes even more unpredictable as the dementia increases. He knows he’s losing it, hence the willingness to name appointees faster than fast. He is now more at the mercy of Musk’s manipulations.
Way too many people keep talking about "dementia". I do not know but I wouldn't count on it.
Dementia is quite evident but many people have done a lot of harm while suffering from dementia. As they say, even a clown with a flamethrower can do a lot of harm.
I'm expecting that or sham elections.
overreach there, Apache.
It's going to be tough to roar back in 2 years. trump is inheriting a strong and growing economy for which he well take full credit and the media will help him. I don't think even trump's incompetence can destroy that in 2 years. We can't depend on any spine from the republicans and the courts are getting worse, not better. We are in for a tough time. Eventually, they will fail, but it will take time.
And most of us will be collateral damage in the meantime. If this continues, we'll become another banana republic with nuclear weapons like Russia. The Chinese Century will become a reality.
1st priority should be election crimes. We need action NOW!
Lol sorry not trying to be cynical but I am cynical. If you are talking about election crimes THIS year I don't think there are many certainly none that could likely be pegged to Trump. As for 2020, those cases have been dismissed or are moot. I wouldn't count on anything happening like that. Not at least for two years and more likely four if ever.
DOJ issued an order Sept. 4 . At a minimum circumstatial evidence that Russia, it's agents and willful idiots to disrupt the election. On Sept. 4, documented by DOJ. State crimes abound.
I feel certain that crimes were committed but who are you going to get to prosecute them?
Biden is still president. State laws violated. State AGs and DAs.
IMHO in some states based on expert analysis, there is probable cause to do a hand count. Depends on language of state law.
Our immediate concern should be that Putin tilted the election. National security violation We should be discussing the war powers Act.
Plus. Disinformation. Some voters here in Baghdad By the Sea were sent to the wrong location. Was this replicated elsewhere?
Different methods of analysis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrFb-rLVF10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfs2kC0xOmU
We've discussed Spoonamore previously.
What are these facts, where is the jurisdiction, what state is equipped to move an investigation then an action forward in anything less than a snail’s pace? We are living in a Shakespearean tragedy in modern times when the law remains “an ass”.
1. That Russians inrterfered is a FACT.
2. Each state has election interference laws. In Pa, statewide hand count. Can be done ASAP.
3. As unitary executive, based on recent SCOTUS rulings, Biden can order them.
Those that elected Trump constituted a coalition of different interest groups. At the base, there are the extremists, the Truth Social crowd, who are perhaps the equivalent of the Brown Shirts in the 1920-1930 era in Germany and (arguably, to a degree) our own Weather Underground in the late 1960s. In Germany, the Brown Shirts became a powerful force with the ascension of Hitler, while in the U.S. the Weather Underground lost support after the bombing at the U of Wisconsin killed a researcher. It’s up us to prevent the Truth Socialists from taking power. Consider joining one of the groups opposed to Trumpian extremism, such as Democracy2025, the Union of Concerned Scientists, among many others listed on Democracy2025’s website.
Yes. The Dems need to pick 10-15 Congressional Districts that they can flip and get grass roots campaigning going in the communities. As soon as the tariffs raise prices, the rounding up of families hurts all the communities and businesses that need them to work, that the Trump-buddy-billionaires get a big tax break but wages don’t go up, more women die in ERs, trans people get beaten up, the stock market tanks, and the DOJ tells people to shut up and go home, then the real culprits have to be clarified and voted out. A new Congress can marginalize Trump and smash the MAGA movement.
Dear Laurie, please read the book by Anne Applebaum "Autocracy". She answers your question in detail. One point is that modern Oligarchs don't make their money from consumers any more. Their continued wealth growth is, in fact, as Prof. Applebaum aptly illustrates with simple math, not longer dependent upon others buying their stuff. One could just as well take their wealth, which in the USA is about 1/2 the total, out of the economy and it wouldn't make a difference to the rest of us, because it isn't "in the economy" any more. Their money is elsewhere...gone...no trickle down. Held for personal greed.
Elon Musk doesn't care if you buy his cars, take a ride into space, bore a tunnel, or complain about his excess. All he cares about is growing his horde of wealth, along with the other Oligarchs, and for that they need more power...which the Mango Mussolini and Pee Pee le Put are going to give him, because he represents the new generation of Greed.
I love Anne Applebaum. Also Timothy Snyder and Ruth Ben-Ghiat. Some of my questions are rhetorical, and I suppose the oligarchs will make sure they themselves have excellent doctors, attorneys, ship captains, and pilots.
Thank you for recommendation and info. Have book on hold at local bookstore.
Read read read and pass the good ones on, Laurie. Especially to the younger ones.
Power tends to corrupt. There is no shortage of examples. That why the founders tried to divide powers and establish checks and balances. It's been up to us to maintain and improve that system.
The rich don’t hang around after the system implodes, they hit the road note all the Russian oligarchs not living in Russia.
The irony is that many of the Russian oligarchs come to the US, or at least park their money here. So where will American oligarchs go? Such a shame they might have to actually live on their yachts. Or move in at Mar-a-Lago with the boss.
The Russian Oligarchs have been 'Floating' the Trump Organization for over 20-Years per Don Jr. .... The Oligarchs are 'Citizens-Of-The-World, they have bought Properties around the World such as in New Zealand, Canada, and the UK... These Countries have passed Laws to protect the Housing Markets so that their Citizens can live there...
A number of them have bought their own Caribbean islands from which they sell their mega yachts from which they can live lavishly.
Idaho used to be an exceptionally nice place with kind people. Seems like lots of disaffected mean spirited transplants from (CA?) have changed the landscape. Heart breaker.
Lots have estates in places like New Zealand, Laurie ...
They also keep Britain running by parking their money in Britain’s commercial banks.
Those of us who saw this coming ( sort of) moved back to the woods to be self reliant …it was much more encompassing than most imagined and most , dissolutioned, returned to seek other paths, many sought far more education -becoming yuppies some incorporating the best of both worlds and doing much for the natural world as innovation and financial ability permitted.
What perplexed me most as time passed was what was hidden upon knowledge of its harm , gall due to greed versus making better progress for the whole , gifts of selfless caring as enough had been attained and thus ‘progress’ became a dirty word.
Every faction has many subsets . A few have enough. A few are greedy. A few are evil. A few are sick. A few are poor. A few…you get the picture…
Education seems to benefit most. Perhaps it’s the most needed focus? Control is the draw sought by most and those boundaries need to be clear , strong, upheld to keep greed from becoming our undoing.
History clearly tells we’re not there yet, progress has been made, yes …but far too many still suffer needlessly.
I know we shouldn’t throw out principle, just define the baby from the bath water better.
Where are they living? I believe in “democracies” with the rule of law that protects their money
Exactly right, Laurie. It's madness.
I was producing corporate videos in the 80's when companies started moving factories offshore, or moving to the state that gave them the biggest tax break and I said "don't they understand what they are doing ?" They are killing off the middle class Americans who buy their products...now here we are with these guys...
wealthier than ever, regardless of what's happened to the middle class. Walmart is hugely profitable.
Frank, I've boycotted WalMart for many years. They killed mom and pop merchants in towns across the US with their Chinese imports. They pay their people poorly, union bust and are one of the wealthiest families in the US. I won't go there...or use Amazon.
All the supermarket chains killed mom and pops, it was a matter of scale, then Walmart did in some of those chains by scaling up even more. Walmart et al all imported from Asia, part of a long term and deliberate government strategy on all sides of the political fence, Chicago school of economics maybe? You might also ask why the Feds haven't bothered to increase the minimum wage of $7.25 or so in a generation. I do use Walmart mostly for certain items, but generally not. Afraid i use Amazon quite a bit! Costco on your avoid list? I use it too. Plus the other major Canadian chains (being where i live). I do agree, a broad union movement in retail is greatly needed. Thing is, there is a lot of resistance to unions, not just from billionaire owners. It would take some doing to make progress here, but i'd be all for it. I wouldnt hope for a lot under Trump! Now that too is interesting, since he's proposed a 10% tariff increase. Does that include textiles, which were wiped out in North America under globalization a couple generations ago. The trade off has been employment displacement for lower prices, but America manages to have more or less full employment. Anything much below 4% unemployment will only spur wage inflation which in turn will spill into prices. Messy, isn't it!
Kellog School of Business Administration (Chicago) The Wharton Business School, and others, Frank. I think the outsourcers et al underestimated the mobility of the US workforce and the comeback of nuts&bolts manufacturing in our highly political Supply Chain world. However, the USA is firmly in the Knowledge economy now, whereas Europe with its immobile workforce agreements lags way behind. The US's economy is on Steroids while Germany faces a melt-down. Who was right? I guess we'll see when the "debt-bomb" finally hits. Germany may look really smart then, but I doubt it.
Interesting, Bruce, you're more in the know than I. But i got "Chicago" right without getting into the weeds. An AI search pulled up this for me. There are about one billion knowledge workers globally. Knowledge workers are people who use their knowledge and expertise to create value and make decisions. They work in a variety of fields, including: marketing, customer experience, engineering, design, and education.
The knowledge economy is a large part of the global economy, and the number of knowledge workers has been growing steadily:
Canada
In 1971, 14% of Canada's workforce was in high-knowledge occupations, and by 2001, that number had almost doubled to 25%.
United States
The number of patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office has been growing, from 71,114 in 1981 to 374,006 in 2021.
The knowledge economy places a high value on intangible assets like software, brand recognition, and patented designs. Countries are ranked based on their "enabling factors" for the knowledge economy, which include:
Education levels
It is messy. I've never joined a Costco or other big box warehouse. About the only box store I support is Lowes because they have some things I can't find in my local hardware stores. I try to stay out of Home Depot because they support Trump. The textile story is a whole other issue we were involved with at Jos. A. Bank & Under Armour here in MD.
Exactly!
It won’t end well, especially for a lot of MAGA folks who live paycheck to paycheck. Think how a severe recession would hit them.
Or a loss of their ACA healthcare.
We need to do something about the corrupt Supreme Court who have created this situation and enabled this administration. Follow the money…
What would you propose? I'm all ears. We failed to enlarge the Supreme Court when we should have and allowed Trump to put the arch conservatives in the court so it is now 6-3 right wing. That will last at least another generation or two.
Think Ruth Bader Ginsberg. She could have retired during Obama but she rebuffed him at that White House meeting. Thought she would live forever.
How do we stop this soon?
And here we are. Who will harvest our food, who will mop the floors of our favorite restaurants, mow our lawns, move goods in our warehouses, build houses?? Prepare for the great collapse.
And who will open new businesses, invent and expand our global connections, enrich American culture, and raise up a generation of loyal American innovators and good neighbors?
Short-term greed. Plain and simple. The greedy scum figure they got theirs, so screw everyone else. By rigging the tax system, their wealth becomes multi-generational, so their offspring also will be insulated from the hell-scape their greed creates.
GeorgeC.. thank you my friend. You have just called out some real c--ksuckers. And they fit right in with that house of swingers..RIP Jeffry Epstein, hohoho. Santa is coming..., who's wearing that suit?
I'm concerned that the resistance won't respond quickly enough and MAGA will have infiltrated b4 Dems can unite to resist. LIke the Jan 18 Peoples March crowd size bigger than his Inauguration crowd (personally I already have a call in to the best charter bus company in our county for Jan 18) and putting in as much strengthening of democracy guard rails between Dec. 1 and Jan 20, like more judges approved, and whatever other things Schumer, Pelosi, Jeffries, Biden, Harris, etc can put together, "for the people."
Cut their noses off to spite their faces. How long will it take for them to figure it out?
I share your mystification, and I have often said how ironic it is that Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Rupert Murdoch and other such immigrants came to this country because it offered them a functioning economic system that allowed them to accumulate great wealth, and now they want to tear that system down. Go figure. I guess they were happier under an apartheid government.
HOW?????
Sometimes, ya gotta dick around til something is really broke before fixing it. We're not quite there yet. The 51 Senators don't have anything to really bite into.