Last Thursday, September 25, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suddenly announced he was calling about 800 of the nation’s top military generals and admirals, along with their top enlisted advisors, to meet at Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Virginia, today.
What 900 of the country’s top military officers saw was a waddling, Adderal-addicted, THC-using, incoherent, incontinent, demented old creep slurring his words, gripping a lectern for support, simultaneously threatening and hoping to impress them — so contemptuous of their time and professionalism he arrived 26 minutes late to his own pep talk, giving ample space for some preening sock puppet flunky to make a complete jackass out of himself first.
To say these generals and admirals were not impressed with two snarling dipwads phonier than proverbial $3 bills, who forced them to sit in stony silence through a tired Las Vegas lounge shtick doesn’t begin to capture it.
SEN. MARK KELLY -- former naval officer--(Lawrence O'Donnell--MSNBC / 09/30/25) ---RE/ MILITARY MEETING
"I hope the American people take some comfort in knowing that most of those people in the room are not signing up for the political nature of the military that both the Secretary of Defense and the Commander-In-Chief want."
HOPE SITS QUIETLY BY HER ROCK AND LOOKS INTO THE DARKNESS...
I HOPE that many - if not all or most of those/our military leaders gleaned from that gathering in Quantico, VA, on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, is how can I or what can I do to generate down through the ranks of the men and women under my command, some sort of positive influence that none of them wind up as pitiful and flawed as these two individuals that had us gather here to listen to their babbling stupidity and idiocy?!?!? What a shameful display—it was seen not just by us—but basically, by the world…our friends, allies and those who might want to be—but also our enemies saw this disgusting display!!!
Is this the America that you want to leave your kids, your children, your grandkids, your grandchildren, your family and your friends to try and live and thrive as best they can in?
Beautifully said... That's why we have to pushback, boycott, protest, call out whatever we see that is going on, and we need to stay connected to each other and to those in our families and communities... We are being tested - we will be tested even more... but one thing we must not do and that is we must not give up, because that is the Regime's biggest goal - our capitulation... I don't think any of us want to give them that satisfaction...
Michele, I see this as standing against EVIL. There is no end game that I can see that will benefit anyone. Even the very rich will suffer when there is nothing left of our planet for them to get money from or stuff to buy. These are just a bunch of scared white men and their allies who want to prove their manhood and ability to control others. It is up to us to not be controlled.!
I __________________________________________________,
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and I agree and support The principles of this CANDIDATE’S VOTER SUPPORT AGREEMENT for an honest Government, by stopping Elected Official Corruption.
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I will not support any proposed law, nor will I propose any of the laws that I want enacted without first getting them approved by “We the People’s” Citizen’s Law Review Committee.
All laws must equally benefit everyone, in the United States of America, and I fully support all the proposals In The Mandate by Lucky Lieberman.
If I fail to support this agreement, I will repay three times the amount of money I was given to get elected, I will resign my elected office immediately and I will pay all damages I caused, and my bankruptcy does not absolve me of this obligation. In addition, I will pay all attorney fees and costs.
I’m going to email every member of Congress this Candidate Voter Support Agreement, from my soon to be completed website called; USALAWREVIEWCOMMITTEE.COM along with my explanation of the purpose of the Citizen’s Law Review Committee’s purpose, which is to stop the corruption in congress……
"Robert Reich: We are watching what we never thought possible—the apparent transformation of our democracy into a dictatorship (or, as Donald Trump has promoted, a monarchy with him as king).
You may be feeling helpless, powerless, and alone. But you are not. Most Americans are as disgusted by this as you are. Trump and his billionaire friends want us to feel helpless, powerless, and alone—because that's how Trump will take over.
But tyranny cannot prevail over people who refuse to succumb to it.
And something is beginning to happen. We've already seen what's possible when we organize. Boycotts are taking hold. Protests are on the rise.
When Trump attempted to end birthright citizenship, the courts blocked him.
When Harvard refused to follow the White House’s demand to eliminate DEI programs, Trump backed down and claimed the demands were a “mistake.”
And remember, during his first term, MoveOn helped lead the movement that saved the Affordable Care Act and forced Trump to end family separation at the border.
Authoritarians throughout history have understood that their greatest enemy is an organized citizenry.
I've seen the power of organized resistance before. More than 55 years ago, I participated in the movement against the Vietnam War—a movement that ultimately ended the war and caused a once-powerful president to resign.
Today, we will prevail because we are relearning that same basic truth:
But we are not together. Too many white people are untouched and able to detach from the repercussions of white supremacy and the hitler-redux vision they are spinning us toward. “How bad can it get? Que up another episode of ‘Big Brother’. “
Michele, yes yes!! Let's be out no matter the weather or which of Trump's sycophants and military forces are out there. There are more of us than of them and we need to try to make more of the thems, us.
Thank You Michele…Steve Bannon said or established back in 2015 or 2016 or possibly even earlier: Democrats bring a pillow to a knife fight or something similar…in essence, democrats seem to not know how to fight anymore — and I’ll add that it seems they have [we have] lost our ability to run a good, sound, solidly effective political campaign(s)!
Our party and leaders — elected and non-elected — have been making too many mistakes!
When Republicans used to be Conservatives, they were never this dishonest. Democrats didn't have to pull a knife to get their point of view heard, and people could vote on those issues. The psychological manipulation of the MAGA Republicans is strong and vicious, but we will need a decade of fact checking to know the truth. They are persuasive, especially if they through in the Christian word. The Democrats need to develop and post their positions, if they want to win a fight.
Jim, I hope what our military leaders got from that gathering is that they have another reason not to carry out the directives Hegseth and Trump outlined. The existing reason is their oath of fealty to the Constitution. The clear reason from yesterday is that neither one of the speakers is mentally competent, disciplined, or operating for the common good of our country's citizens or of the world.
Just imagine what went through those generals' veins while listening to this gibberish from this date rapist frat boy. You can't be a fat general but you can be a fat president? Jeez....
IMO it is impossible to imagine. These heroes have devoted their lives to America and our Constitution. And in return American hands them Cadet Bone Spurs and a drunk using them as background extras for a diversion video for not releasing the Epstein files. Maybe they were in agreement that they need to "‘handle" the "enemy from within." They have sworn an oath to protect the Constitution.
But they sat there and listened. They may seeth all they want. But they sat there and listened. Another institution meant to guard us against fascism bending a knee to unconstitutional leadership.
Jim, my answer to that is that I don't want to leave this insanity to anyone. I really value your idea of hoping those officers will help their subordinates to develop a strong positive sense of purpose of working toward peace but having the ability to fight when necessary, but not against American cities that Toddler-Trump does not like.
There was a time in my old local area the stations were everywhere turned to those channels.
Also one should look up Mark Twain’s work in the last years of his life a short story that has a section called War Prayer. It described a church service. He was reacting to the beginnings of overreach in the Spanish American War and overtaking of lands. He was I think beyond furious. He famiky estate banned this writing for years.
If one wants an interesting take Star Trek the Next Generstion has a two parter with him as a character also Jack London who wrote Call of the Wild.
The late Hal
Holbrook would do his Mark Twain Tonight on albums then on stage. Richards Thomas is supposedly going to try to do that now.
Ken Burns also did a great documentary on him and Toni Morrison had great criticism and analysis of his writings and thinking. Percival Everett also blew my mind with his wonderful novel James based on Huckleberry Finn. A flawed and damaged human who tried to breakthrough the life he was born to. He also with George McDonald of Waterbabies and The Princess.and Currie books for children ( and adults) brought the Fisk College Jubilee Singers to England. They didn’t have to do that. Like any voluntary effort those that are kind and sometimes generous always get my applause for effort and trying to think out of the box.
America, is this who we want our sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, granddaughters and grandsons to emulate? Do we want to raise little hegseths and bloviarinh trumpies? Or do we want them to grow into real men and admirable women of honesty, integrity, generosity and achievement?
My vote Donna is for honest and admirable men and women of integrity which begins with exhibiting respect for humankind and nature which should include all animals, plants and our environment!
Each one a national embarrassment—tough guy personas uniquely different but selected by our broken political systems as our leaders (but not leaders really, intimidators perhaps, bullies and con men beloved by those who recognize their prejudices in them). We failed to guard against their coming.
Jim - I would not assume too much here. Or hope too much. I would assume that the large majority of high ranking officers in the armed services are staunch Republicans. Pretty safe to declare that IMO. And they have no special immunity to the disease that has now afflicted almost all staunch Republicans - MAGA. I am not holding my breath for a big outcry from military leadership at large.
However, I was heartened by the lack of applause either for Hegeth or Trump. That said something. At least I hope.
James, I hope that you are partially correct and partially wrong—however, I do know that the answer to all of these shenanigans lies in the hands of the voting electorate—assuming fair and unimpeded elections in 2026 and 2028!!!
The democrats along with allied independents, rhino’s or moderate republicans and those who label themselves as a political need to vote in these next two major elections as if their lives and those of their loved ones depended upon it!!!
It is hopeful. My son is such a man, an officer who stayed on because ‘if we who defend the Constitutional rights all leave, who will be left?’ Yet we have an insidious surveillance culture at play here, with Tech Billionaire proxies in every branch of government— at least. Communications are exposed. There’s the snitch GOP culture. Knowing how hard it is to defy even an illegal order, how will they have any cohesive resistance?
Senator Mark Kelly alluded to the challenges the military might have to face in "pushing back"--- but this meeting might have awakened some creative thinking when the generals, admirals, etc. get back to their bases.
To achieve promotion to Flag Rank takes the knowledge and experience of PhD level training. The people in that room with this lofty level of expertise got a ringside-seat introduction to what it is like to be lead by 2 individuals who know absolutely nothing useful, lack and disparage expertise, and will never figure out how badly they (the 2 speakers) bombed. 5 Will get you 10, that on the way back all of these Flag Officers are rereading the sections of The US Code of Military Justice regarding 'Illegal Orders'.
Back in 1965 there was still some "physical enlightenment" that no one would ask charges to be brought forward on as mutual (non-verbal) understanding was achieved in seconds with no outside help. The example I saw was a young NCO that misused his authority over junior troops for his own benefit. As we were extremely busy with higher priorities Major "Flash" Gordon yelled at him to come into his office picked up a copy of the UCMJ and asked him if he knew what it was. When he said he did, the major threw it at him, told him, "Next next time I'll really throw it at you!" (A 5-second solution understood to mean the legal way).
I was thinking about “illegal orders” and while it’s the mandated duty to follow orders, orders which seek to controvert the Constitution are a totally different matter. These Flag Rank officers are the best and brightest and hopefully were not lulled into submission by the outright threats to them as officers and citizens.
There was not a lot of creative thinking during the Vietnam War as much as there was a lot of "fragging," when troops threw grenades into their commanding officers tents, because they had no trust in their leadership. Fragging also referred to shooting the CO in the field during a firefight.
When some soldiers were convinced the CO's aggressiveness and/or incompetence was going to get them killed, as it had already killed their brothers-in-arms, they decided it was either going to be the CO or me that wouldn't make it through that day. Of course Hegseth and Trump don't know or care about history, so . . .
I send deep gratitude to your son for his service and deep allegiance to our country. I imagine him as a mighty oak in the midst of a terrible storm, roots deep and unwavering. Thank you.
Our heartfelt thanks to your son and may he be safe, I fear there are those who will report those who don't cave to maga and true patriots will be forced out.
Yes... Despair for me as well is the fact that we have not taken care of this planet... Why is it that it is not understood by some that if you destroy part of the chain of life you are ultimately destroying yourself. I think living in nature , you have a better understanding of the deeper connections between humans and their environment... To see the loss of butterflies and bees and birds just to name a few that are endangered is sad... When Australia had that huge wildfire, there was so much loss of animals and habitat, I felt sick for weeks..And now we have Trump who would rather try to con a Heritage site out of its property in order to build yet another "luxury hotel.
I agree, Michele. A report commissioned by the WWF about the 2019-20 bushfires found that some 3 billion animals had been killed or displaced (143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds, and 51 million frogs).
Humans are part of nature and we're not the only animals engaged in ecosystem engineering but we are by far the most destructive. The planet will take care of itself because it always has, but there may be no place for us on it if we carry on as we are doing at the moment. Trump seems to be hastening the decline of our species by his foolhardly rejection of science.
Your reply made me think of the volcanic eruption of Mt. St. Helens in Washington. I remember reading not too long ago that frogs and salamanders have come back... And there are ponds and some ecosystems I think. And that seems amazing since the volcano erupted in 1980... That's to your point about the planet taking care of itself. But in Oregon they were studying frogs, because they, too, have been disappearing. And that is disturbing because frogs have adapted to many climates and can be found all over the world.
I live in view of the front range of the Rockies in an earth berm home, and while it's no longer in "nature" with the ugly growth Colorado has seen in recent years, it's a joy every morning.
And I let my 3 acres go to high prairie natural plants and what I do plant is for the creature. Deer triplets were born on July 4 in the shelter of the berm.
Jen, I hear you about growing native plants. I live in the Chihuahuan Desert and will plant only things that are native to our area. Even though we live in the city, wildflowers still make it into our yard, with some wonderful surprises. Insects like my cacti, and both hummingbirds and hummingbird moths (in this case white-lined sphinx moths) like my desert willows. The city has give us multiple notices saying they don't like how our yard looks, (it does need trimming more often than my husband does it), but after one of the early notices I explained to the employee who came around what I was doing. The only "gorgeous" yards around here are the ones with astroturf, albeit with the ubiquitous bermuda grass growing around the edges.
I feel this deeply, Michele. Living close to nature awakens a sense of how every part of the chain of life is connected, and how much we lose when we treat land and creatures as expendable. The disappearance of bees, butterflies, and birds is not only sad, it is a warning of how fragile our own future is.
What you name, from wildfires to reckless exploitation of land, shows why we need leaders and communities who protect rather than plunder, and who see care for the earth as inseparable from care for ourselves.
Christy, that is exactly why we would be better off if we honored our Indigenous people and learned their ways. I've been reading some Native American authors, and what I pick up from one particular one is that his tribe (Kiowa) had a relationship with the bison herds, and asked permission to kill what they needed, including one bull per year for ceremonies. The bison gave permission. We've been watching a program called The Zoo, about the Bronx zoo since the start of the pandemic (watching it over and over), and have seen that bison have real relationships among the herd members, unlike any other herd animal I've ever encountered. The creatures, the plants, the very foundations of our planet deserve our care and respect.
We said, Michele. Trump's reign of terror extends to all life on the planet. I think we can take the meeting with the generals as Trump's attempt to declare Marshal Law. When Republicans control the White House, the Legislature and the Judiciary, blaming Democrats for the government shutdown is truly idiotic. We all need to join the public rallies and appose the destruction of the country and of life on the planet!
I know! Haven’t they watched John SaylesMantewan? Or read Denise Gridina’s Unquiet Earth? Silas House and his writings? Or Homer Hickman’s works and the films based on them? The level of ignorance is beyond me. I can understand the Kennedy brothers shock at seeing Appalachia in the early sixties or late 1950’s . They should have known but for their background not surprising. But at least they tried to help. It didn’t work but they tried.
The bubbles and silos people live in despite our vast internet is beyond my comprehension.
How things connect, Michele, begs we be willing to see complications.
We could entertain the flux, the serendipity, the odd logic of things if we -- and our schools -- prioritized essay writing, and in essay writing also prioritized citing from a wide variety of humanities.
Schools lost their freedom to center on the human and the natural, however, when agencies of the Powell memo set impersonal corporate agendas instead. Agendas (testing packages them all) fit to the profit-making increases of billionaires, and serf-making poisoned economies for everyone else.
Did you hear Heir Miller in a statement the other day? He was using the language of the Powell Memo verbatim. How the radical left is so organized, so well funded, so deliberate. Every accusation was a confession.
When I was in grade school junior high grade our school parish abd others in the diocese switched to a new textbook and educational philosophy. My one teacher was furious abd for one lesson for one day taught us how to diagram. Otherwise we learned about soothing and gerunds. Though the poetry and accompanying illustrations were lovely. Math was changed as well. Cardinal sets and numbers and Ibwas at a loss and my parents did understand the new math
or new grammar/ English thinking as well.
I think it came from a fear of Russia and Sputnik.
Later on my mother picked up books from much earlier times and noticed Shakespeare full plays so she thought something had changed and no idea of all the textbooks evolved but thought something was going on. My father’s approved Roman Catholic American Lit textbook There is a Latin phrase I cannot pull up. The book highlighted Confederate / Southern poets. John Bannister Tabb, Sidney Lanier and others.
My father loved poetry so he was emerged in a legacy he never would have chosen in his younger days. It helped he had that exposure when Rush Limbaugh came around. He was primed for that in a strange way.
Michele2, What you've said is exactly why I have come to deeply appreciate Native American cultures (and other indigenous cultures). They understand that everything on this planet is inter-related, and that everything from the rocks and plants to animals of every type deserves care and respect. They understand that if they take care of nature, nature will take care of them. Unfortunately their holistic thinking is something most people of European extraction just don't understand.
I agree, seeing that is like seeing the words STUPID ASS on the hat. Now, this may sound nitpicking to many but it’s a thing I really don’t like that every President since Reagan. I actually feel despair over it too. Reagan came from Hollywood and if he knew anything it was the importance of image; especially using hokey BS images. What Reagan started was using the military salute to acknowledge being saluted by members of the military. In my opinion it may confuse people, especially children. The military salute is a formal gesture performed by military personal of bringing the right hand to their hat or eyebrow, with the palm down, fingers extended and joined, and arm at a specific angle. A civilian salute shows respect by placing their right hand over their heart. What bothers me is it is a big deal that Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution makes the President the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military. The big deal is the President is and can only be a civilian! Thus the proper image (lesson) for a President to lead the country by doing is to salute members of the military with a civilian salute. It would remind people that We the People command our military and not the other way around. For Cadet Bone Spurs to be saluting those Generals was just wrong for many reasons.
The Republicans continually to tell barefaced lies about the Democrat's motivation for shutting down the government (it was not about padding the profits of insurance companies or funding healthcare for undocumented migrants). They continue to harp on about the 'clean' CR the Democrats voted against without mentioning the Democrat funding bill they voted down in the Senate.
And the vindictive retribution has begun. Trump has fired all the members of the National Council on the Humanities save for his four appointees. They've frozen $18bn of infrastructure funding for New York City. Employees in HHS were sent an out-of-office email blaming the Democrats for the shutdown in what appears to be a clear violation of the Hatch Act. Mike Johnson has claimed that the Democrats have handed "the keys of the kingdom" to the executive branch presumably meaning more retribution will follow. It's all a grotesque parody of government and will do nothing to improve the lives of ordinary Americans and that's the message the Democrats should be getting out.
LOVE Wendell Berry. And the one I keep turning to: The Slim Fir Seeds by Robert Bly. The end of this little poem: “We want eternal oceans. But we are perishable; Friends, we are salty, impermanent kingdoms.”
He was part of the Iron John movement. Somewhat problematic but very interesting. Michael Meade was part of that and separated himself from that group. Bly also was friends with the poet James Wright. ( many poems to read from him) And Bly’s wife is/ was named Carol and influential in her own way.
Marian Woodman was part of that all somehow. The now defunct magazine Parabola was also somehow involved.
To each of you who are sharing and have shared these beautiful, valuable, and restorative nature poems and sites, thank you! I am saving them to share.
It is a wonderful poem. I don't know that I agree with the sentiment though in context of Trump. I am not going to be content to just let him do his thing, even though it is in his nature to be the way he is. Or rather, he can do his thing, but not as our president.
Thank you for this. I just shared it with our local people who are picking up the pieces from the Grand Blanc shooting/church fire/attempted bombing. My road is still blocked off, but children are back in school.
OMG -- I am so so sorry about what happened. I grew up in South East Michigan, outside Detroit. I love the state and was so saddened by this horrible tragedy. Love and positive thoughts to all in Grand Blanc.
One more poetry recommendation: Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye, the daughter of an American mother and a Palestinian father. You can hear her read it on You Tube, and I just did.
I want to share a paragraph from the book I'm reading now, The Place of Tides by James Rebanks:
Anna’s example was simple: if we are to save the world, we have to start somewhere. We just have to do one damn thing after another. Hers was a small kind of heroism, but it was the most powerful kind. The kind that saves us. We all have to go to work in our own communities, in our own landscapes. We have to show up day in, day out, for years and years, doing the work. There will be no brass band, no parade. And we have to accept and keep the faith in each other, and somehow work together. It is the only way we can make our own tiny deeds add up to become the change we all need.
My daughter wrote a paper on the poem in tenth grade in high school, but I discussed it with my fourth graders during a poetry unit. In fourth grade we just talked about the meaning. I love that poem. Dickinson is brilliant.
When Trump was asked why all the top brass were summoned at the same time, he told reporters that it was an exercise in 'esprit de corp' - he called it 'spiritizing'(!!). Well, they didn't look particularly 'spiritized' to me, dragged halfway across the world to be told they were fat by a power-drunk war secretary.
A few days ago, press secretary Karoline Leavitt at a press conference told the White House press pool that it would be impossible for Gazans to continue to occupy Gaza during rebuilding because it was 'uninhabiddabidable'. She declined to explain how Gaza had become uninhabiddabidable.
Like those fatties that chased Sean Dunn, the Sandwich Guy. The $50k signing-up bonus (and $60k student loan forgiveness) has attracted all sorts of unsuitable people.
Great picture you shared Russell. They all look thrilled to be there- about as thrilled as ones waiting for their massive inoculations military folks get. Wish T would stop trying to use fancy words & phrases- sure shows how uneducated he is.
I saw it in the Washington Post and it spoke volumes to me about the mood of those gathered in Quantico to hear those two megalomaniacs. Naturally, there has already been some blowback from veterans.
Here is what a veteran commander had to say. Funny, as I watched the hegseth fanstasy hour, I thought that this guy missed his calling: a junior high soccer coach. https://youtu.be/egJCtc9iPOY
The caption for that pic.? W.T.flamin'F. are we doing here?
Would to love to see the pip-squeak walk up to a flag officer of color or a female flag officer and say, "Umm. Not sure you belong here." That would, in a hurry, make for one less blow-hard to worry about.
The caption reads: “. . . and then Randy Quaid yells, ‘Hello, boys, I’m back!,’ and flies his jet right into the alien ship, blowing it up, and I think you all just need to be more like that.”
All I can say is — glad you did so I didn’t have to. The 15-second clips shown on Lawrence O’Donnell were more than enough for me. I literally cannot stand more than about 4 seconds of that exhausted, sing-song, Baby Huey, whiny-bitchy voice or look at those deranged, lifeless, demented eyes poking out from under that dead marmoset on his head, let alone be in the same room to get a whiff of butt seeping out from under those Depends.
When watching the rogue Trumpanzee out of control on tape-delay through C-span, l set the speed set at 2x 🫨-- to get it over with. 🙄When I watch Hegseth, I am driven to the shower afterwards; 🤢 at 1x or 2x speed, the macho mouth slimes me every time. 😱
Absolutely. 💡 Nice to hear from you, Cindy. 🫱🏻🫲🏼 As I listened to Trump's speech, even a 2x speed (which loses a lot of the effect of what he is doing and saying😳), I could not help but wonder whether some of these officers speculated that they were really at a bio-weapons testing facility, the flatulence was so thick and unrelenting.😉🤭🤢
The DSM-5-TR has a lot to categorize such people, the dark practical summations apply to every one of our current administration . It is both frighteningly deplorable and precursor warnings ..serious trouble ahead , folks. Vote them out. Put them away. There are safe places for such deviants .
American Public …take note ..you have one choice left.
To allow lying ,fear ,intimidation , violence and bullying to define a regime leads only to more..and it garners the like …BEWARE.
But that’s the problem. So many DO back down to bullies, whether it’s in the schoolyard or the government. There’s often a carrot and stick applied where they get some benefit (for a while at least) from going along. It takes genuine courage to stand up to bullies. Time for spines of steel.
SO, we Americans just spent MILLIONS to fly all of the top brass of our military into Quantico to be told the you can’t be fat or where a beard? The wild meanderings of the fat orange blob and the game show host strutting his plastic body and face across a stage must have been excruciating for these career public servants to endure! I say WTAF! We can’t afford healthcare, school lunches, schools, SNAP for poor people, Medicaid, cancer research, etc., etc. But we can sure let billionaires have tax breaks and these goons playing with lives on our dime. I DON’T want my tax dollars paying for these idiots to strut their stuff!
No, they flew the top brass of our military to Quantico to tell them that they no longer want black, brown, female, or democratic soldiers, and to tell them that they will be called upon to attack American citizens on the orders of a Russian asset, draft doging, child molester. As if they didnt already know that, but more importantly the militias and Trumps other terrorist organizations will see that and know the military is on thier side.
"Trump and Generals" works well too. His final exit stage left was memorable - he did the whole handclapping, finger- pointing rally thing, and not one soul applauded.
Bill Katz, you can go on YouTube and get the speech. There are a couple that give news commentaries but keep scrolling and you’ll find the full speech.
Merton was so and should be still interesting. He really struggled and sought solace from all spiritualities. One of my motivations come from a title of his. Somethig about being a guilty bystander. I never want to be that bystander just looking at not trying to stop.
The felon child rapist and the drunk rapist are fools, they are mad, they are full of hate for any except white guys. They would destroy this country to rule over the ashes. They have no morals, no ethics, no care for any of the people or our traditions or the Constitution.
The military leaders however see exactly what these ghouls are and are filled with distain. No way would they ever follow illegal orders - I am confident of this...
The silence Trump met that so rattled him is called discipline. Discipline makes decisions via rules. Rules are established via law. Law is determined via agreement.
Trump is attempting to rewrite law unilaterally and wants to short circuit the connection to discipline by dint of personality. That brings us back to the silence that so disarmed him. It is unlikely that a disciplined group will march behind a rule breaker. It is also unlikely that the message they are out of condition mentally and physically will help in their transition to a praetorian guard.
Is this the same Mark Kelly who voted for Rubio (State), Ratcliffe (CIA), Bessent (Treasury), Duffy (Transportation), Zeldin (EPA), COLLINS (VETERANS AFFAIRS), Burgum (Interior), Driscoll (Dept of Defense "WAR") and Chaves-DeRemer (Labor)? That Mark Kelly approved the above for Trump's Cabinet. He likes to be interviewed in front of cameras, but when voting, he votes for Trump.
Yes it is one and the same. But alot has happened since then... There may be many Republicans who see the changes but remain silent. Kelly did speak out and did say Trump was incoherent. And he did say that if we wanted a strong military we should not be putting them in parades or in cities collecting garbage.. If he has a change of heart, I'll take it at this point. The more dissent the better...
Well, to follow hope's journey... A week or two ago, Hope crawled out from under a rock. Today she is sitting by the rock looking reflectively into the darkness... I can't yet predict what she will do next... But she is instinctively following some hopeful signs...
Michele2, however, here is Ruth Ben-Ghiat's take on the situation. She has been right so far with explaining Trump and predicting his actions. There is no comfort to be taken.
Linda ---Gov. Moore was just on Jenn Psaki. Gov. Moore said that the military will follow the commands of their Chief IF they are lawful. They do not have to follow orders if they are unlawful. Using American cities as "training grounds" for the military forces is not only " nonsensical but also unlawful" according to Gov. Moore.
Meanwhile, Pritzker said today that the 25th amendment should be invoked re/ Trump... I am sure there will be more... So much going on...
Linda... I skimmed through the article. I have read articles by Ruth Ben-Ghiat.She is good. It could be their plan( they are attempting to follow the authoritarian handbook), but there are many variables. Sen Kelly was a former naval officer. He said he knew many of the officers in the room. After the meeting he was with one group. He gives his opinion. Trump's mental health is deteriorating at warp speed. He is not respected. And most of them I'm sure think Pete Hegseth is in no way qualified for the job. Sen Kelly certainly thinks that. As Heather and Rachel Maddow have both pointed out, Trump and the Regime make mistakes. Trump is weak and trying to give the image of strength. They are rushing. We are onto their plan.
Heather had to postpone her Politics Chat, so that should be available soon. She's a calm voice and let's hear what she has to say about the meeting, etc. I thought the meeting was good, in that it showed both Hegseth's arrogance and ineptitude while also highlighting the degree to which Trump's mental state had deteriorated.These are highly trained professionals. These aren't "Proud Boys" just released from prison and who attacked the Capitol. Trump tried to get these soldiers to laugh with him, but it didn't work. Sen Kelly said they laughed a couple of times but was it with him or against him? -implying the latter. I think we wait and see. Nothing is set in stone... If I hear anything else, I will let you know...
Most of those generals and admirals came up in rank seeing less competent and talented yet less able contenders fail. Much of what their experience consists of is a mixture of being placed in increasingly demanding situations. Not failing is rewarded by being handed another more demanding assignment - repeatedly -until you reach the limits of your ability. Or not.
These guys weren't teevee personalities. They're the real thing. And by the time those senior officers became Generals and Admirals their tolerance for having their time wasted over chickenshit was all used up, so I can only imagine how unimpressed this meeting must have left them.
These military leaders have now seen firsthand how alarmingly damaged and demented Trump has become. If this was a "pep rally" to gain the military's support for his authoritarian plans, Trump failed miserably. These leaders may be what saves our nation. The scared and compromised GOP House and Senate have tucked their tails between their legs and are hiding from the storm. The Democrats, with their geriatric leaders, are clearly not up to the task of countering Trump's assaults on the Constitution. These men, who Trump stood on the stage and mumbled and rambled at for over an hour, will in the end be his downfall. Trump may have all three branches of the government at his beck and call, but the looks on those men's faces and their silence show they aren't in his corner. Trump is obviously losing his edge. His bullying days will soon be behind him.
I suspect at least some of these military leaders support trump to some degree. I hope seeing him in the flesh and being confronted with just how demented he is will wake them up. Hegseth? I doubt any of them have EVER had any respect for this fool, and being insulted by him can not make them any more interested in obeying him. And the younger members who are anticipating a military career and hoping to rise to the level of those who were ordered to such a demoralizing talking-to, as if they were little kids? What must they be thinking? Early out?
Our CIC is overweight, unexercised with symptoms of heart failure & early cognitive impairment. His speech sure emphasized that. He couldn't make it out of a burning building on his own.
Yes, no matter how often they see on television, or read a transcript, actually seeing, in person, the man who is supposed to be your leader, must have been a shocking experience...
Huge "think" balloon over all their heads: "This is why I had to clear my diary, miss my son's birthday, lose two nights' sleep to get three long-distance flights here with two top staffers?"
Trump was expecting the military audience to clap like trained seals, just as they do at his MAGA rallies. He forgot these military officers are professionals and are going to hear and understand that what he wants them to do is in conflict with their duties under the Constitution. Although I don’t think the audience would have said anything publicly, I’m sure they were wondering. “Just what is wrong with these guys?”
All of those high ranking officers and NCOs have served in the military for decades to attain that rank. Most have been serving for over 30 years under numerous presidencies, geopolitical situations and so many different events, crises and scenarios, but none of them probably ever thought an administration could be this treacherous and unbelievably insane.
Those officers also surely saw Trump clapping like a trained seal for Putin at another military base in Alaska only 6 weeks ago.
How many of those generals voted for Kamala Harris, do you imagine? I hope I’m wrong but I think ten percent would be generous. We can try to reassure each other that these generals will stick their necks out and refuse orders they don’t like but do we really believe that?
It feels like we’ve been whistling past the graveyard for quite a while now and we’re determined to just keep whistling louder.
I’m not at all certain you’re correct. Remember these are service academy graduates and those that have risen to their posts by being highly educated and trained. Out of the 1.3 million troops these are the best of the best. Refuse orders, maybe not. Refuse illegal orders? After the nonsense of yesterday’s speeches I’m more of the opinion their backbones are stiffened and that “esprit de corps” may be in a direction not anticipated by the clown show.
After reading most of the comments this morning...I HOPE you are correct. Whether they voted for Kamala or not, they didn't vote for this. Kamala's biggest "mistake" is that she was a woman. What a different world we would be living in. Remember JOY? Laughter and kindness?
Yes Gail, I welcomed a combat infantry general to my helicopter nearly every single morning of my tour of duty. That is why I say they didn’t fall off the turnip truck last night. During the Nixon administration we simply swallowed his lies and bent our intentions to bring as many soldiers home from battle as we could. General Louisell had a price on his head, came from a military family, was successful in multiple battles on any given day and led soldiers in their darkest days. The politicians had control but I never saw one, not one, on the combat assaults that General led. There was a genius even an elegance and certainly a historical familiarity about how he conducted his affairs. My memory fades now but he passed in his 90’s about two Januaries ago. Having seen my flight logs we had amassed 266 combat assault flights up to that point in time. This was not a sit on your ass General. I was proud for him when he got his Brigadier’s star the old fashioned hard way.
That’s probably true, but it’s hard to say for sure what percentage voted for Kamala. At any rate, they’ve now seen first hand just how incompetent, amateurish and treasonous Trump and Hegseth are.
It’s not refusing orders they don’t like, it’s disobeying an unlawful order and to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
A couple more meetings like this and I am wondering when a military coup takes place. Is it when Trump orders the troops to fire on peaceful protesters? Or is it when Trump orders the Midterms Cancelled?
I hoped someone else would note both speaker's seeming unpreparedness for an event of such apparent importance. I in my working press years covered I've no idea how many political speeches -- the first was by Sen. Estes Kefauver in 1958 -- and those scheduled in advance were obviously well polished. But lack of preparation was uncomfortably apparent in the verbosity and repetitiousness of Hegseth's speech and in the conceptual hopscotch of Trump's presentation, its disorganization further underscored by his tardiness. It seemed to me both addresses felt like cobbled-together panegyrics of the sort spawned by last-minute changes of plans. That said, I wonder if widespread speculation the event might be the onset of a military coup may have delayed the coup's execution; if this is indeed what happened, it would not be the first time discussion of a possible enemy action resulted in its postponement or cancellation.
Meanwhile the answer to gwHornPlayer's excellent will-they-or-won't-they question remains unknown; it is a subset of another question we cannot answer: how thoroughly is the military subverted by Christonazism? But we know from the work of Michael Weinstein's Military Religious Freedom Foundation there are enough Christonazis in the officer corps to be a constant threat to personnel who are atheists, agnostics or believers in non-Christian faiths or spiritual practices. We also know there seems to have been no hesitation in obeying clearly illegal orders to murder Venezuelan boaters. Whatever the magnitude of Christonazi subversion, we can be certain that its followers are (1)-murder-minded theocrats who (2)-will obey the president without question because they believe that despite his flaws, he is their sadistic deity's chosen enforcer -- that is, the 21st Century equivalent of a divine-right tyrant. And the speakers' repeated references to fighting for "god and country" deliberately encourage such fanaticism.
You are likely correct that most of those leaders did not vote for a "Woke" black woman. The military is a bastion of conservatism. Conserving our country is what they do. But, they didn't sign on to support this raving orange sociopath's plans to install himself as President-for-Life. Trump is like the wicked witch when she was doused with water; he is melting and receding before our eyes.
Pathetic potus has never worked a day in his life unlike the generals, admirals and immigrants who have to listen to the dreck he throws up. Anyone with common sense can see what a clown show that was. A waste of time and money that a serious presidential administration would never consider. Two vain bozos were probably congratulating themselves while generals and admirals were shuttled around on busses!!🤮
Seeing these two clowns performing "live" drove the point home to these top-tier military leaders just how serious and dangerous the situation is for our nation. There will be many quiet, discreet discussions among these leaders about the need to be prepared, when the time comes, to tell the orange sociopath, no.
That is the question. I think he spends too much time imposing financial ruin, bad economic policies, corruption, self-enrichment, obstructing justice and other bad acts. Under the Constitution, the President as head of the executive branch is supposed to take care that the laws are faithfully executed. Trump isn’t doing that. He’s imposing laws and policies that under the Constitution belong only,to the legislative branch. Congress and the Senate do nothing to call him out on his openly unconstitutional behavior, and then the six Federalist Society justices approve his behavior while making sure their opinions stay on the shadow docket, because the Republicans fully intend to govern in perpetuity. Our Constitution is broken, as are the mechanisms for enforcing it.
Interesting, horhai. You made me think of two of my former work cohort (it is too hard for me to use the word "friends" with these two men (and that pains me deeply with one of them) whose sons attained the Master Chief Petty Officer rank, one of whom left the Navy shortly after hitting his 20 year mark (don't know about the other). I suspect that the son of the guy that I served with on both regular and special duty assignments left because he hated Biden...
I wonder if this was supposed to be a fealty test to see whether they top brass would support him and his Fascist administration in a coup.
Who among our 17 - 25 year olds was inspired by that speech to run down to their recruiting station and beg to join any of the branches of service.
The only reason ICE is able to recruit is they are bribing their little army of thugs. I suspect most of them will blow through their signing bonus and then try to quit.
It's going to get ugly when the administration tries to recover their bonuses.
If the ICE agents are deemed “essential personnel” they will be required to continue working, without pay, during the shutdown. It will be interesting to see what will happen if they just don’t show up for work, like some TSA folks did during the last one. Will the signing bonuses be clawed back? Will the student loan forgiveness be rescinded? I doubt it, but at least they might be fewer masked, pardoned insurrectionists roaming the streets.
It certainly wouldn’t surprise me if Trump and Kegseth saw it as a chance to evaluate the loyalty of officers still serving, and to purge other officers they thought would refuse to violate the Constitution. I have never been in the service, but I do know military branches take seriously their commitments to follow proper laws, treaties and rules governing warfare, and officers as well as enlisted personnel are intensively educated on what they can and cannot do.
Trump has been waiting 55 years for today to happen. That Reality TV show today, “Commander Apprentice” was clearly inspired by “Patton” (1970) staring George C. Scott. That epic film begins with a speech by General Patton played by Scott, standing in front of a giant American flag. “Now, I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.” Read more with the link below and see where Trump and Hegseth pumped-up to be ready for the lights, camera, action today after blowing millions of dollars flying real heroes from all over the world to be a their background extras as they stood in front of a giant American flag prop and ... act. IMO they both ignore how obnoxious and insulting they both are. I am honestly surprised they are both still alive. Although I feel America would be better off with both of them gone I am also aware that such absence in the eyes of our powerful enemies in this world would signal a dangerous instability. This makes me even more angry with both of these two jackasses. I know I am not the only one.
Patton was an excellent, hard-driving general, but let’s not forget, he could also be a heartless jerk. He did not believe soldiers could suffer from “battle fatigue” or what is now known as PTSD. He was disciplined for slapping two soldiers who were hospitalized for “battle fatigue.” The directive below seems to line up perfectly with Hegseth’s “warrior ethos.”
“It has come to my attention that a very small number of soldiers are going to the hospital on the pretext that they are nervously incapable of combat. Such men are cowards and bring discredit on the army and disgrace to their comrades, whom they heartlessly leave to endure the dangers of battle while they, themselves, use the hospital as a means of escape. You will take measures to see that such cases are not sent to the hospital but dealt with in their units. Those who are not willing to fight will be tried by court-martial for cowardice in the face of the enemy.—Patton directive to the Seventh Army, August 5, 1943
Let us all never forget that Trump was a coward who used his wealth and influence to avoid serving in Vietnam and then went on the criticize John McCain for being captured when his plane was shot down over Vietnam.
None of those officers and NCO’s will have any respect for either man.
Unfortunately BJ, even though I wish that I can feel confident and say that I agree with you—I cannot honestly say that I do, with human nature being what it is! Consider that there are very likely more that are of a similar nature to former General Mike Flynn.
I sadly hold your opinion, Jim Riley. The ones who do not have similar nature to the traitor Michael Flynn, are being put on notice that they are unprotected. The gathering was a most likely meant to fracture cohesiveness. Many in the military support white supremacy. Not the US Constitution.
MLRGRMI, well…I’m hoping that those individuals of color and several others do not harbor those same sentiments…I just couldn’t resist that thought—but I am thinking and hoping — that your assessment of those in the likely class of who might be classified as such could more realistically be identified as some are supporting white supremacy — as opposed to many?
Albert, I estimate that our current state of instability is just as dangerous now as it would be without the two TV performers who occupy the highest positions in the U.S. military.
Trump’s stagecraft is faltering, and Judge William G. Young’s words in Boston prove why. Against a president who struts with “pardons and tanks,” the judge reminded America that TRUE POWER lies in the Constitution and in a people willing to defend it. That postcard troll asked what one man has. Young answered: duty, and when joined with millions of others, an unbreakable democracy.
His ruling, striking down Trump’s attempt to deport people for their speech, was not only a legal rebuke. It was a moral declaration. Fear and spectacle cannot outlast the daily courage of ordinary Americans who still reach out in disasters, still stand for neighbors they do not know, still rush toward danger to save others. That tradition—Lincoln’s “better angels”—has not vanished.
Trump and his allies count on apathy, on division, on the silence of citizens lulled into thinking tyranny will not touch them. But as Judge Young reminded us, our freedom survives only when we extend it to the weakest among us. That principle is alive.
Trump’s performance at Quantico may have been loud, but it was hollow. Young’s ruling was quiet, but it rang with authority. The balance is shifting. The Constitution is not a relic—it is still a living shield, and the people are beginning to lift it high. https://essayx.substack.com/p/duty-over-tanks-why-judge-youngs
Michael, what a perfect summary of what HCR was offering us today. Juxtaposing Judge Young's quiet, profound words to Trump's loud, hollow rantings is exactly what what we needed to be reminded of, along with the poetry of Dickinson and Berry. YES! Hope does rise in silence. And we cannot lose hope at this crucial moment in our history.
I am eager to see how the Judge's 167 pages will play out. "our freedom survives only when we extend it to the weakest among us. that principle is alive."
I will continue to repeat this as often as possible: The words of Mitt Romney to his biographer: “A very large portion of my party really doesn’t believe in the [U.S.] Constitution”!
My sadness is that the democrats seem to be afraid or shameful of its legitimacy and history. Our leaders — elected and non-elected democrats — are letting down those stalwarts of our Party who have gone before!
Michael, thanks for the reminder and the juxtaposition of Trump's monotonous whining rant at the military threat meeting and Judge Young's pronouncement of the importance of defending our democracy, by all of us.
The Trump and Hegseth performances were loud but hollow, yes. But what fraction of the 77 million Trump voters will take that as a negative. We won’t know the answer until November 2026, but as of now, my guess is a number pretty cloze to zero.
Rex, I must say, that I doubt there are 77 million who supported Trump; that is just not possible since that would be more than had voted in the 2020 election and I don't believe that. There also should be serious recounts from last year's elections because it has been credibly noted by those who deal with data that the stats just make no sense. Claiming such large numbers for Trump is just out there to make people feel helpless in the onslaught of Republican madness, and that is just not the case. Democrats may not be coming to the "fight" with powerful enough weapons, but I don't believe Dems thought they would have to have such hateful "fights" with their Republican neighbors. It is something Dems should have been aware of with Reagan's push for corporate supremacy as well as white supremacy and misogyny which have only increased over time among Republicans, but Dems missed the impacts as they tried to keep up with the increase in donor support by the ever-richer mostly white men. Well, now , it is time to catch up and see what is really going on and how it is directly harming the American people, even those millions of Trumpers and Trumpettes who would prefer to hear and believe lies than the difficult truths that they are supporting a regime that cares nothing for them and their daily troubles, that they are merely there to be used by Trump and his billionaire users for their own wealth gaines. .
77,302,580 people voted for Trump. It is exceedingly unlikely that this certified count is off by more than a tiny fraction of a pwecent. Nobody knows how many of them still support Trump, nor how many who didn’t do now, and nobody knows how it will go with the November 2026 election. Nothing I’ve read convinces me that many of the louts who voted for Trump are sorry about it, but that’s a guess, as will be every prediction until the election,
Yes, the military leaders in the room showed admirable decorum in the face of bufoonish provocation. Good for them. But where were they when people reporting to them were following Trump’s orders to blow boats out of the water in the Caribbean? Do all of them think those were legal orders? If some think they were illegal orders, wasn’t it their duty to disobey those orders? These are questions that put a dent in my perception that the top brass in the military are reliable defenders of the Constitution.
These or those illegal activities should be added to the growing list for investigation once the democrats gain control again — even if it is hopefully just a supermajority position in the House after next November’s midterms!
Seems pretty unlikely, Ally. Who would do it? Apparently, no general is wiling to sacrifice their job to even point out that the legality of the orders is questionable, let alone stir up an investigation. That leaves the Trump regime, which is on the dark side in every dimension, the legislature, which is controlled by Trump sycophants, and the press, which has no power without an electorate united in opposition.
My only hope (feathered or not re: a lot of comments below) is that the military leaders forced to endure this horrific and deranged display are now well aware of their responsibilities to the Constitution and their troops and that they begin planning how to deal with the inevitable demands that they turn their weapons on US residents.
As a young girl, I used to lie on the hill and watch the endless flock of birds heading south. Hours and hours of birds. There were butterflies and humming birds; Although this spring there were a variety of snakes coming out from under my cabin. And a few weeks ago Mama Bear and her cub were sitting on my lawn. A deer and her fawn are in a falling down shed. The critters around me are slowly leaning, I run a peaceful kingdom.
Yes Ellen. Great quote. It's why I get outside my home as often as I can. My appreciation of nature always calms my heart & soul, letting me more clearly about changes I want to help with.
Talk about getting angry: It is so simple, are our democratic leaders afraid to respond to the outrageous and outright lies being spouted out of the mouths of those from the “dark side” of the political aisle. Learn something positive from the other side: speak in unison and sing from the same hymn book — early and often — show the American people and the world, that the Democrats haven’t all lost their backbones…too!!!
And optic to appreciate? This dressing down of the entire leadership of our USMilitary by the Commander in Chief and Secretary of the Department of Defense was broadcast live and in repeated cycle over Fox Networks at every military installation around the world to every active grunt and service family member. Was Hegseth talking to the leaders or delivering the new code directly to their reports and service men and women? Who is going to break things, be tough, get in the face of someone less male or less macho? The generals or the recruits from cracker states and mentalities? No filtering by command as to what the speech means. Right there in our faces. Be the tough son-of-a-buck you were intended to be when you signed on. Punch that meter maid. Out that sissy. The optic: Performative for the troop who will be led and vote for the strong leader. Is this perhaps the real reason to. bring all that leadership home? Made them the prime-time in-studio audience for the greatest undermining of contemporary ethos of Our Great Military force for peace and containment of war and violence. Try as those leaders may when they return to their commands, how shall they deal with the seeds of the cartoon warrior ethos sown on Tuesday? How undermined is their authority?
It's come to This, I can't even imagine what it was like for those professionals to sit there and listen to the heaps of BS pumped out in their direction. the fact that they hardly moved or emoted was a tribute to their training and ability to withstand an onslaught of contempt by two racist, misogynistic men who clearly have no clue what those officers go through on behalf of this nation.
They’re loving it that’s what they’re going through Ruth because now their army a war, not an army of soldiers in dresses which certainly intimidates our enemy
Hey Rick, your Chat GPT isn't working too well right now, better check it out. However it is giving you just the hateful BS you seem to like so much. So, ignorance all-round! Amazing!
Do you know I love getting more fans that you guys just can’t believe reality. These are my only words voice texted from my own mouth without any reference to anything else, except when I send links attached to my posts i’m not hateful I just can’t believe that so many people here are hateful and for no freaking reason at all.
Let’s test you how about that? Send me a list of the five Trump policies that are currently inSPECIFICALLY Negatively affecting your life on a day-to-day basis. Then we can have a conversation about why you hate so much because they don’t exist
Sixty years ago a Marine audience was given a reenlistment speech by a Major to Vietnam Veterans in an auditorium. The Major finished his pitch with the question, “What do you think?”
A voice in the audience said loudly, “I think the Crotch sucks.” The Marines got up and walked out. That’s the difference.
Cindy, but if all of them had stood up and said it at once and walked out, it would be hard to replace 900 officers, even for little Stevie who has so little knowledge of people beyond that he wants to control us all when he can't even control himself, as my sister refers to him "dead eyes."
Sadly Cecelia, we’re just about 9 months into this administration and the November 2026 midterms seem so very far off…but it is important the country as we’ve known it, that the Democrats capture a supermajority control of the U.S. House next November; it not only sends a wake up call to many of those citizens who tend to just sit on the sidelines and get involved in the citizenship process by exercising their right to vote—but it will also send a wake up call to “trumpelthinskin” and his despicables that true blue Americans are not happy with the way or place that those on the “dark side” of our nation’s political aisle are trying to take us!
I hate that you’re up all night working so hard on this letter, which is excellent as always. Thank you for all you do for all of us 🙏🏽. Take care and please rest 💙
I am all for the October 18 No Kings demonstrations that I hope and trust will take place in strength across the nation. But what good is it going to do? What change is it going to effect when Congress appears completely impervious to what the people in the country want? What can we do to force Congress to listen and respond to our demands?
I am doubtful about marches as well, if we fail to construct NOW a vision of a better, more functional system to be established in the wake of Trumpism.
We need to start talking NOW about the consequences for people who defied and mocked our Constitution and the rule of law, lying endlessly, including a lot of Republicans in Congress and SCOTUS Republicans who cynically gave Trump a blank check.
Ford giving a pardon to Nixon was part of our deterioration into lack of accountability and failure to change the system. Reagan got away with Iran Contra as a result. Republicans now think they will get away with playing these games a third time. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. Fool me thrice, not gonna be nice.
Trump enablers not only need to hear about consequences such as losing power, they need to realize their time to play around with our country's safety and Democracy as if it is their little play toy to kick around is limited.
The country as a whole needs to hear what Democrats stand FOR, instead of watching Democrats constantly in shock reaction mode. And Republicans who actually do believe in Democracy need to get on board with the train that is moving out of the station now.
If they continue to bleat on about LGBTQIA and abortion and immigration (anything but the Epstein files)--Democrats need to counter directly with constructive ideas on how to FIX our Democracy, which handles all the above 'problems' (distractions) they like to throw back in our faces.
So let's look forward. It will make us all feel a lot better to know where we want to go.
The goal is to change the country so this type of power grab can never ever happen again, and that includes accountability that needs to happen to people who made that power grab, the wanna be dictators. Without the accountability, they will just scheme and do it again.
So let's riff. Throwing down some ideas to seed a discussion.
What power must be clawed back from the Executive Branch?
What mechanisms can we put in place to generate automatic and instant recall elections for Representatives and Senators who refuse to perform their oversight roles, due to corruption or outright refusal to implement rule of law, people who are undermining Democracy by not showing up or handing off their power to another branch (tariffs are a splendid example)? Perhaps arrange it so the individual voters that that Representative or Senator represents decide their fate within two months--so voters can quickly replace them once a Court trial establishes the basic facts. Trial by voters instead of a 12 person jury. Rerun the election.
How do we restructure SCOTUS so at last the Supreme Court Justices can no longer take money and are under the same strict laws that their lower court brethren carefully adhere to today?
Should we expand SCOTUS? Add additional circuit courts as our founding fathers intended as we grew--then one new Supreme Court Justice for each Circuit Court?
What can we do to extend and improve voting to every citizen, make it easily done via paper ballot through the US Postal Service, perhaps even on phone or computer, with the vote capable of being tracked end to end with perfect anonymity for the voter, so they can see their vote did indeed count? In short, how to we restore trust in the voting process?
As part of improving voting, could we establish an official government communications channel, that elected representatives, the WH, and Congress all must use, so we don't have our government operating through a billionaire's personal portal that skews the algorithms and floods in trolls?
What laws must be put in place for ALL enforcement personnel including soldiers to never mask, never failing to identify their name, rank, and agency to people they arrest or try to control? Perhaps a single identity card that can trace back to the specific transgressor when they abuse their power?
How to punish enforcement personnel when they do disguise themselves? I'm for treating them like vigilantes. Automatic, immediate jailing for a set period each and every time this is violated by an official of the government, whether federal, state, or city level.
How do we heal the Fourth Estate? Block billionaires from buying them lock, stock and barrel for the purposes of running their mouths in their own little playground? Flood the zone with local news that is funded by a pool of funding from the government?
Should we establish UBI for the poorest among us who cannot make ends meet?
Should we have single payer healthcare--across the board, or only at certain levels of poverty?
Should we force pharmaceutical companies into negotiations on pricing and re-establish a better, faster way to fast track ground breaking treatments for desperate patients that have no options left--with some oversight so those vulnerable people are not exploited?
Can we at last establish bodily autonomy as a federal law, so women AND children have the ability to fight back in court without being shamed for the pedophilia, rape, and domestic abuse they so frequently experience--so it is established once and for all children and women have every right to sue in court the adults who violate their bodies, and a reasonable path to getting justice in the courtroom?
Can bodily autonomy include establishing the right to decent healthcare for all?
Can we at last admit female healthcare MUST include access to cheap birth control and proper treatment of miscarriages as well as day after pills? That it isn't healthcare at all if 50% of the population is in constant danger of being permanently pregnant or caught up in a nightmare scenario with a dying fetus causing sepsis inside?
Should we expand our justice system--lawyers, judges, and circuit courts--so cases will move through more quickly?
Can we at last develop a sensible immigration policy for migrant workers instead of leaving it to posturing politicians?
Should it be outlawed for any state to trap pregnant women or outlaw helping pregnant women?
What can we do to transform the US Postal Service from DeJoy's purgatory into a true backbone for neutral, competent deliveries of our mail-in votes and to break the monopolies of delivery channels.
What can we do to bolster Unions so workers can get better working conditions without being forced to battle big money interests endlessly?
I think these ideas fall into four rough categories:
1) Invest in expansion and improvement of our Justice system across the board, so it is able to process and handle cases faster and grow trust in the decisions made. This includes getting SCOTUS under the same strict rules lower court judges face. Courts have been desperately underfunded for decades now; it is a large part of the reason for slow court cases.
2) Establish a sensible, common sense Immigration Policy that will evolve with our country's needs for additional workforce. Unionization to improve working conditions needs to be part of this. Let's start with the most vulnerable workers among us, doing the most difficult work for us.
3) Improve healthcare, including acknowledging bodily autonomy for everyone (man, woman or child) and the right to a basic level of healthcare. I feel UBI is critical for the poorest among us to keep their health up; if you can't pay for a roof over your head and food, your health will certainly suffer.
4) Improve our Voting Systems to make it as simple and easy as possible, and to raise trust in the votes counting, exactly as intended by the individuals casting them. This includes official channels of government communication that are carefully separated from any 1%er influence (or foreign or other influence), and promoting a healthy Fourth Estate that isn't owned by billionaires to report on issues and candidate stances.
If we can agree on some big changes, let's work out the avenues to make them happen as rapidly as possible and drive until the job is done. Our founders deliberately designed the ability to change into the system, realizing their structures would not always hold up as the world itself changes. We've had artificial brakes thrown in throughout the past sixty years, as well as poorly designed Internet technologies managed by monied and racist interests which has brought us to this crisis. So:
How can the necessary changes best be established, as rapidly as possible?
How can we lay the groundwork to get new changes in place in the future, as the need for them evolves?
What amendments must be put in place first for maximum impact?
This is doable, people. This is not a bridge too far. 90% of the problem has been Republicans subjugating themselves to Donald Trump and violating their oath of office, running madly away from their responsibilities.
Keep in mind polls show the vast majority of Americans believe we need to maintain birth control, only slightly fewer are onboard with allowing abortions in the first trimester, and few to no Americans think we should force women into sepsis simply because the far Right doesn't like abortion. Polls also show we want common sense Immigration policy, not masked men running around terrorizing the people who are farming our food for us. And there aren't many beyond the .01% that are delighted with the levels of corruption that Republicans have inserted into all their offices and the ripping away of affordable healthcare.
Let's give the United States of America something to look forward to, a positive step, a real plan for healing.
Protesting DOES make a difference, especially when the crowds are huge and all over the nation. The politicians notice and the image of the crowds will be in their heads for some time. The people still thinking trump is their guy will notice. For a time, especially in so-called red states, they believed most of their neighbors were trumpers, too. They have felt emboldened and righteous for a long time. Not so much anymore. I have lost count of the protests I have been to in rural Georgia. Over the last few months, it has been interesting to see the reaction changes of people who drive by. I am seeing a shift. The people participating in the protests are buoyed as well, (that’s a huge understatement) and that usually leads to them getting more involved. Our non-violent movement may not be as fast as a bloody revolt, but make no mistake, it will be more impactful in the long run. The times are changing.
Our protest will not be huge, maybe 100 if we are lucky, but it will be held by a few chanting sign-holders along the Susquehanna River Bridge in a rural, deeply conservative area of the state. The thing that encourages me is that the honking and thumbs-up from the passers-by in cars and trucks has gotten stronger with each protest. That has given me hope. We are facing our fears and representing the many others who are too afraid to step up themselves. We are mostly older, a few in wheelchairs even. We will be there. Stay strong, everyone!
As someone mentioned, to get a group of people to go along with you, you should be able to at least convince 3.5% to go along with you. I certainly hope that happens.
If they were impervious to our needs, they wouldn't be hiding from the public.
Time and again, people complain here about the Democrats inaction and do nothing attitude. I'm sick and tired of reading this BS. It's the Republicans that refuse to recognize the will and needs of the American people.
Bankrupting Americans that get sick is definitely not the solution. Republicans oppose raising taxes on the oligarchs and major corporations, instead they tax us all with their tariffs and their deficit spending.
Elizabeth Warren is one of the leading experts on bankruptcy and she repeatedly says, "No one should be forced to declare bankruptcy due to an illness."
Sky Blue, it might help to remember that hate is fear that has been allowed to get out of control.
Every human being is subject to some fear. Those of us who are emotionally mature are able to control our fears and respond to them in ways that bring about positive outcomes, or at least hold at bay the causes of our fears.
Donald, Kegsbreath, Miller, Vought and every other member of the MAGA cult are emotionally immature and are overcome with myriad fears. These fears amalgamate to a fear of losing control.
White supremacists fear losing their privilege to people of color. Christofascists fear losing their privilege to "heathens" or followers of other faiths. Oligarchs fear losing the power their wealth buys them. I won't list all the fears, but these are a few examples.
Rather than controlling their fears through maturity, these scared snowflakes adhere to the notion that "the best defense is a good offense."
I cannot explain the "us" in your last paragraph. I can explain the HATE, however: They are hard-wired for processing information through the amygdala in the midbrain; an important survival mechanism for humans that identifies threat and provides the "4 F's" response: Fight, Flight, Freeze, and (the lesser included, which serves to explain some post combat behaviors) Fornicate.
Hate and anger are the easy emotions for them to process, and their hatred of anyone not "like" them is, I suspect, a not uncommon human characteristic.
Holy Shit Sky! I know a few people who are switching to Medicare Original knowing it will be a bigger struggle to get health care but they cannot absorb the $$ increase in Advantage Programs. I'm waiting for my final $ amt. for Aetna Advantage going forward.
I understand you might feel nothing will change, but I KNOW from years as a reporter and through volunteer work in my community, We the People can absolutely count on weak-kneed, gutless politicians changing their tune if enough of us pressure them. Visit their district offices, call or email them, attend a local protest. Don’t feel hopeless. That’s what dictators count on.
People protesting with their dollars made a giant corporation/Disney cave and put Kimmel back on the air within less than a week. More pressure got him back on every affiliate within the next. Protest works. No Kings is different since it is not monetarily hurting anyone that I'm aware of, but I can tell you from experience, attending the last No Kings march sure galvanized me personally!
I sometimes feel like my hands are tied, too. Then I remember a couple things. Show up at rallies every chance I get; donate even small amounts to organizations that I see ARE fighting in courts for us (Common Cause, Democracy Now, etc) and follow their threads to see the results; VOTE! especially in local elections. Voting in 2026 is possibly our biggest chance.
Perhaps we should occupy Congress peacefully. Go in there sit down in massive numbers and obstruct every entry until they tell us that they will start working for us and not for that abomination in the White House.
I’m with you, I don’t see that any of our protest are having the desired effect. Congressmen and our Supreme Court conservatives are owned by the billionaires. They figure that they don’t need us to stay in power.
I had so hoped that our military would be able to arrest both Trump and Hegseth as traitors to our constitution.
Daniel, Ancestry & other DNA tests have shown how very few "pure" white people there are. Wonder if the shitheads will propose a mass DNA testing program?
That is the nighmare scenario. White supremacists would exerminate on that basis. Imagine if the Spanish Inquisition had DNA avaiable. Death to King Ferdinand, Torquemada, Cervantes, Columbus, etc.
Heather addressed that issue (staying up all night working on this newsletter) in a video posting a few weeks ago. She said that she uses the various search engines to not only find the supporting information, but she also searches within the documents so she doesn't need to read an entire article or listen to an entire speech.
She said that she is "very good at research." And we all benefit from her research skills.
Got that right Stacey Murphy, "Take care and please rest".
With regard to on-going attack at Portland, Oregon, one of the many things I admire about Oregon AG, Dan Rayfield's first 100 days in Office is his posted Oregon DOJ Link to "Federal Litigation Cases" including the case against Hegseth/Trump, 3:25-cv-01756.
Quoting Oregon AG Dan Rayfield directly, Oregon's TRO motion set for Friday, 10/3 at 10 am: " ... seeks to block the 9/28of Secretary Hegseth memorandum which federalizes about 200 members of the Oregon National Guard".
I expect Oregon's AG to use some Trump incoherent quotes that HCR just posted.
Sheriff, the case 3:25-cv-01756 is in FEDERAL court. Per Democracy Docket that would be the "Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Court House" at 1000 SW 3rd Avenue, Portland Oregon.
FYI, the OR AG has brought in "Special Counsel" SCOTT KENNEDY to appear at the TRO hearing on Friday, 10/3/25 at 10 am. Contact Scott Kennedy: Scott.Kennedy@doj.oregon.gov
I think Portland Court Rules requires a "government-issued ID"for entry. I am going to different proceeding in another state & taking my U.S. Passport.
Jonathan Last and Bill Kristol analyzed that speech and that of Hegseth. Very sobering to say the least. 💡
In the part I did hear, Trump dishonoured my brothers, sisters, elders in uniform. Three things spooked me, big time. 🥹
1st, and very alarming, was Trump's assertion that certain U.S. cities are conflict-zones against enemies within. 🤬
2nd, Trump's statement that these conflict zones could provide in-field training for the military. ¿Does this sentiment imply rules of engagement that include use of lethal force against American citizens? 🤢
3rd came the long-term threat, pointed out by Messrs Kristol and Last, that the Trump and Hegseth are culling the officer corps, particularly those positioned to succeed the current leadership, to be loyal more to Trump than to the Constitution. 😱
I hesitate to bring up anything that might relate to Trump with family and acquaintances, not for fear of an argument, but for fear that they will reveal continued Trump support. It is inconceivable to me that any person of intellect, honor, and decency can remain Trump person. It is not "hate" but loss of any respect for that person. I could never feel any confidence in any judgement of someone who could be a Trump supporter at this time. Everything about him and what he is doing to the country is so horrible, unwise, and degrading that those committed to him have something truly wrong in their psyche.
20-25% of the population want an authoritarian to tell them what to do. MAGA is a white nationalist Christo fascist cultural movement that is basically a death cult for everyone that doesn't conform to their ideology and dominance.
True. There are always going to be a percentage of people who will consent to do whatever an authority figure tells them to do. I,have heard the percentage vary from about 25 to 30-33 percent of the population.
I think a lot of them actually want an authoritarian to tell other people what to do. These people think that Trump is on their side. It's only when the leopard tries to eat their face do they see that they've been conned.
I agree. I am gobsmacked that anyone could look at Kegseth or Trump and see competent leadership. It makes me wonder what they’re smoking and if they could share it.
I can understand that. What’s evident is that Kegseth and Trump are seriously out of touch with reality and trying to guarantee the military is loyal to Trump instead of to the Constitution.
True. Trump is eager to have his less affluent followers, but the only people he really thinks he represents are himself and the morbidly rich who funded his campaign with dark money. He is eager to have stupid followers, but they don’t understand that he will screw them badly, and they may never be the wiser. The farmers experiencing financial hardship due to Trump’s stupid tariffs are an example of this.
Trump believes he is president only of the people who support him. He thinks anyone who opposes him is not only wrong, but evil. He has never seen himself as president of all Americans, and he is the first American president to openly express such a view. I have been told before by Trump groupies to cry about it (I’ve never done this,) or that Trump is your president now. The whole point is that he thinks he represents only his supporters, and he can do what he wants without restriction. He is less of a wannabe king (European monarchs tend to be ceremonial and national symbols with little real power) and rather a wannabe dictator. He may already have achieved dictator status.
I’m just stunned by the insulting nature of hegseth’s comments-saying they are to kill ppl and break things. The incredible work of our military involves defense, of course, but they also protect, restore, and maintain those more vulnerable. There is force, but there is also integrity, compassion, a faithfulness to freedom. The simplistic, brutish, violent nature of hegseth’s characterization is so incredibly insulting to the fine men and women serving in our military. I’m sickened.
The smoking bit was a sarcastic joke, and probably I would have been better off making that clear with a /s. Like many people, I’m not able to avoid seeing what Trump and his toadies are doing, and the damage they are causing. I can’t unsee it, and neither can many others. It’s like living the real life version of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”
Scott, most of the Trump supporters get their news from radical right media like Fox, OANN, Newsmax, social media or word of mouth. But, perhaps even worse, are the hard working people that don't have time to listen to any of this.
It's shocking that with so much information available that millions of people pay no attention to politics, but it's always been that way.
When I was a single mother and a teacher, I didn’t focus on the news very much. So Incan understand how that happens to many people whose days are filled.
The Brits really aced it when they accurately described trump as "DERANGED!"
Both of these imbeciles are incompetent psychopaths that are endangering all of us and NOBODY seems to want to come out and say it out loud or drag them off to prison for treason, corruption, and murder.
Both Brits and Scots greeted Trump with appropriately insulting gestures. I loved the one where they projected the photo of Trump and Epstein together onto one of the towers of Windsor Castle, where King Charles III was hosting Trump.
Hegseth, the biggest fool ever to draw U.S. public servant salary.
At a cost of millions of dollars this “Fox News” clown calls all the top U.S. military together to watch an in-person ego performance from him. And he demands all personnel at all levels do PT every day? And be weight-tested twice a year?
American late-night comics – all of them – got this exactly. All showed images of the commander-in-chief, a histrionically fatuous, phantom-world-preoccupied, lazy, mega-out-of-shape fatso.
What’s the opposite of phantom, fantasy-obsessed, deluded? It’s a roomful of one-, two-, three-, and four-star generals and admirals. Each has decades of sober experience with the technology, machinery, and personnel of war. How could any of them sit there and be aghast at the sheer amateur-hour platitudes and posturing of the totally undisciplined Donald and years-long drunk Pete?
This all started when Trump complained to Hegseth that too many of those soldiers taking part in his dismal birthday parade were not 'military' enough. Hegseth seems to have taken that chastisement to heart.
If you saw clips of Trump’s military parade, there were very subtle signs of protest by some of the service people marching. They didn’t march in a strict and uniform cadence, and I think it was a very subtle way of demonstrating what they thought of Trump’s egotistical desire for a military parade. I rather suspect it was too subtle for Trump to catch, but it seems Trump had an eagle eye for anyone that didn’t meet his personal standards of physical fitness. If physical fitness is that important to Trump, perhaps he might start with showing a good example and ending his diet of fast food and start some physical exercise so he no longer relies on golf carts to move around on his golf courses.
Trump's loyal lackeys couldn't even get a decent military parade together to honor the orange king. He was embarrassed before the world's dictators and strong men that he so wanted to impress.
Me too. Right wing groups might purchase the book to give away as premiums in return for monetary compensation, but I don’t think Kegseth’s book would sell well.
True. To me, a MAGA cap might as well be the equivalent of a dunce cap, even though some Trump supporters are well aware of what he is doing and they don’t care, as long as they think he will make them even better off.
I’m gonna go get some popcorn when it’s time for the military’s commander in chief to attempt passing his twice-annual fitness test. The cardiac arrest will be beautiful to witness.
So these nincompoops think that a change of the name from Defense to department of War could’ve or would’ve meant a different outcome for the Korean War, the Vietnam War and some other of our declared military actions?
Disgraceful in every way. Stephen Colbert runs through the highlights of Kegsbreath's speech and some of the predator's finer moments - easier to stomach than taking it straight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBXleKD9K4Y
A complete perversion of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. A description of simple banditry, not military service through an oath sworn to defend a Constitution.
He describes conduct worthy of a court martial — a travesty of cruelty and petty megalomania. Words from a preening ham who thinks his own pee etches glass.
And that was just the warm-up act for the waddling moron-in-chief, going through all the "dangers" to American national security -- Portland, "woke", World War II, Memphis, the Federal Reserve, Tylenol, Jimmy Kimmel, Hannibal Lecter, windmills, Democrats, immigrants, Rosie O'Donnell....
Each of those men forced to endure this Dimpleknees and Son performance (are there any women commanders even left?) went to bed tonight with rocks in his stomach knowing the Commander-in-Chief isn't merely a "fucking moron" but a moron with brains past the pile of rancid, melted Stilton cheese stage.
This reminds me of a similar sentence Rush Limbaugh uttered when we were fighting the poorly conceived Iraq war. Their idea of military action seems to come more from Hollywood than reality, despite Hegseth’s own military service. Seeing Hegseth (Kegseth) in action makes me understand why this guy never reached a higher military rank. He is perhaps the most incompetent Secretary of defense since Donald Rumsfeld.
This is a list of all the books written by Heather Cox Richardson that I could find with an internet search - for those who might be interested. I included ISBN # for help finding them at your local library, if it is needed. They are all outstanding, factual, scholarly works imbued with Heather’s knack for story telling that greatly enhance and advance our understanding of American history. Enjoy.
“The Greatest Nation of the Earth: Republican Economic Policies during the Civil War”, 1997, ISBN-10: 0674362136.
“The Death of Reconstruction: Race, Labor and Politics in the Post-Civil War North, 1865-1901”, 2004, ISBN-10: 0674013662.
“West from Appomattox: The Reconstruction of America after the Civil War”, 2008, ISBN-10: 0300136307.
“Wounded Knee: Party Politics and the Road to an American Massacre”, 2010, ISBN-10 : 9780465025114.
“To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party”, 2021, ISBN-10: 1541600622.
How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America”, 2022, ISBN-10: 019758179X
“Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America”, 2023, ISBN-10: 0593652967.
It should be abundantly clear that this is in preparation for a military coup before the midterms and all the wheels of government are controlled by christofascist nationalist freaks.
Yes Mike. According to several reputable sources including Republican Bill Kristol at the Bulwark, they are currently examining all the emails/social media posts/communication records, etc. to see if any of the generals/admirals made any comments that criticize the Trump agenda. If recent behavior is any indication, they would then fire them are replace them with a Trump sycophant. Trump made the threat of firing them during his speech. Reuters and the NYT have reported on the use by Trump of loyalty tests using polygraph examinations of members of DOJ, DOD, DHS and FBI. So he won’t hesitate to do everything he can to ensure that the military follows his orders rather than the US Constitution which he has disavowed. The US military is trained to not use lethal force against nonviolent US citizens and they take an oath to support the US Constitution. But no one knows what will happen because this has never been tested before. Sending the military into US cities normalizes their use for domestic purposes not only for civilians but for the members of the military. This is a dangerous time for democracy. If you agree, tell your elected officials - state and federal representatives and senators and governors.
I have told my Ohio senators and representative (Mike Turner,) but since they are Republican, and Trump endorsed Bernie Moreno, I am not convinced they would pay any attention to anything I have to say.
Keep doing it anyway and get your acquaintances who agree with you to tell them too. They do pay attention to how many of their voters want something. You can also participate in events such as the “NOKINGS” rally on October 18. You can find a rally near you at https://www.nokings.org. Thanks for your comment.
When I received my Turner newsletter (Republican rag) the other day, I responded with a confession that I’m a a proud anti fascist and will fight an authoritarian government every single day.
I sincerely thank you for telling off Turner. The only person who ever responds is Bernie Moreno, who sends a canned response that essentially says nothing at all.
Turner is too chicken to hold a town hall. He thinks organized protesters would show up to any town hall just to verbally attack and boo him. The problem Turner fails to see is that anyone who showed up to call him to account has a right to do so under the rule of citizens being allowed to petition for redress of grievances. The other thing he doesn’t see is that any protest would be from the many citizens who are harmed by inaction by the legislative branch toward the damaging policies Donald Trump has put into effect. Turner doesn’t want to know how this maladministration and the legislative branch’s shameful inaction in the face of Trump’s usurping legislative powers is harming citizens in every possible way.
The Shahnahmeh, Persian Book of Kings, is the national epic. It tells of a king who wanted to send his troops to destroy a city. His vizier advised, if you destroy the city people will hate you. Instead, appoint a loudmouthed ignoramus as governor. And he will destroy the city for you.
Our eastern opponents play a strategic long game. Our American opponents also play a strategic long game. It's taken decades for the heirs of the Confederacy and of the Robber Barons - aggrieved at government enforcing equality before the law, equal representation, equitable taxation, and government regulations - to come together to create a Trump administration. From the Powell Memo to Project 2025.
"Yes, and in hind sight, one can easily see the help from corporate democrats and media. The two-party duopoly has created this reality.
A new paradigm is mandatory, but who and how….?"
Always leery of the reflexive shift away from the right wing extremists who got us here. With the help of leftish purity testers.
We have a paradigm which works. The leftish in their pursuit of pipe dreams and Pied Pipers forgot the message of the civil rights movement - "Unite and Win at the Ballot Box. For and with Democratic candidates." Right wing extremists took up the mantle, took over the GOP, and remade the party in its own image - a Trump administration. There is a lesson here.
Voting is not an individual exercise in self expression. It is a strategic joint exercise in taking power. Vote Blue No Matter Who. Become the Democratic base. Run for office. Reform the party from within. It is happening in the Congressional Progressive Caucus. And in campaigns across the nation.
The Constitution is a bridge built to unite us. Trump would have us isolated on our own isles of individualism so he doesn’t feel so isolated on his own. Reaching out from our self across the emptiness to connect with others is the gulf Trump can not pass.
Each time we connect in peace, goodwill, and harmony strengthens the bond of relationships that is at the core of what Trump seeks to tear asunder.
Compassion is force that unites us and compassion is for all or none like the sun that doesn’t pick and choose who and where to shine.
Like Abu in the Cave of Wonders, we’ve lost our way in the glittering riches the Industrial Revolution bestowed. The material abundance dazzled us, but in chasing it we triggered crises of inequality, climate collapse, and authoritarian drift. In Aladdin’s tale, the boy saves the day—but in ours, it may be women who lead us out.
For too long, power has been defined by conquest and control, a masculine order that brought us to this brink. The way forward lies in a different kind of strength—the uniting power of compassion, which has long been at the heart of women’s self-expression. It’s that capacity to widen the circle of care, to prioritize community and survival over extraction, that points the way out of today’s hellscape.
Yes, that comment along with the polite society nonsense, was revolting. I fantasized the entire audience would stand in unison and march out. There is strength in numbers, can you imagine how differently the day would’ve gone had every person there left together after those repulsive comments?! Someone needed to respond, “ No, we do not kill and break thins for a living. We protect and defend to ensure the most peaceful future for all!”
I am writing from Maine. I generally trusted Independent Sen. Angus King. In March, I was surprised that he voted with the Republicans to keep the government open on their terms. I thought Schumer had twisted King's arm. Yesterday, Schumer held firm. And King voted with the Republicans again. At 81 it is unlikely King will run again. Perhaps he is hoping his vote will buy Republican support for his son who is running for governor . . .
Angus has gotten old and refuses to see what is in front of his face. I sent dozens of emails to his office during the winter about various Trump appointees and the BBB. And I just kept getting responses saying that as he had been a Governor he understood that Trump had the right to choose whomever he wanted to "advise" him.
He continues to believe that everything is perfectly fine and that it's just the Dems and the GOP doing what they have always done.
Even Schumer is starting to recognize that this is not business as usual. But Angus hasn't grasped it yet.
And yes, I wouldn't put it past him to be thinking he might get some GOP votes for his son. But frankly... that's one legacy family I'm not really inclined to vote for. I guess we will see how the primaries shake out.
What 900 of the country’s top military officers saw was a waddling, Adderal-addicted, THC-using, incoherent, incontinent, demented old creep slurring his words, gripping a lectern for support, simultaneously threatening and hoping to impress them — so contemptuous of their time and professionalism he arrived 26 minutes late to his own pep talk, giving ample space for some preening sock puppet flunky to make a complete jackass out of himself first.
To say these generals and admirals were not impressed with two snarling dipwads phonier than proverbial $3 bills, who forced them to sit in stony silence through a tired Las Vegas lounge shtick doesn’t begin to capture it.
SEN. MARK KELLY -- former naval officer--(Lawrence O'Donnell--MSNBC / 09/30/25) ---RE/ MILITARY MEETING
"I hope the American people take some comfort in knowing that most of those people in the room are not signing up for the political nature of the military that both the Secretary of Defense and the Commander-In-Chief want."
HOPE SITS QUIETLY BY HER ROCK AND LOOKS INTO THE DARKNESS...
I HOPE that many - if not all or most of those/our military leaders gleaned from that gathering in Quantico, VA, on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, is how can I or what can I do to generate down through the ranks of the men and women under my command, some sort of positive influence that none of them wind up as pitiful and flawed as these two individuals that had us gather here to listen to their babbling stupidity and idiocy?!?!? What a shameful display—it was seen not just by us—but basically, by the world…our friends, allies and those who might want to be—but also our enemies saw this disgusting display!!!
Is this the America that you want to leave your kids, your children, your grandkids, your grandchildren, your family and your friends to try and live and thrive as best they can in?
Beautifully said... That's why we have to pushback, boycott, protest, call out whatever we see that is going on, and we need to stay connected to each other and to those in our families and communities... We are being tested - we will be tested even more... but one thing we must not do and that is we must not give up, because that is the Regime's biggest goal - our capitulation... I don't think any of us want to give them that satisfaction...
Michele, I see this as standing against EVIL. There is no end game that I can see that will benefit anyone. Even the very rich will suffer when there is nothing left of our planet for them to get money from or stuff to buy. These are just a bunch of scared white men and their allies who want to prove their manhood and ability to control others. It is up to us to not be controlled.!
Clearly there is no better government being built by Trump’s stupid acts. A North Korea might result.
Hitler's Germany is what I see over and over and over in my mind's eye.
This is evil. I don't understand it. They are so stupid with hate revenge and destruction that they are destroying the very ground that they stand on.
CANDIDATE’S VOTER SUPPORT AGREEMENT
I __________________________________________________,
_ A: I am a Candidate seeking your support (funding & votes) for Public Office. The office I seek is; _____________________________________.
_B: I am an Elected Official in the U.S. _House, _Senate. Other; __ __________________.
and I agree and support The principles of this CANDIDATE’S VOTER SUPPORT AGREEMENT for an honest Government, by stopping Elected Official Corruption.
With your financial and voter support that will get me elected, or has gotten me elected, to the position in Government that I wanted, I agree to the following;
I will not support any proposed law, nor will I propose any of the laws that I want enacted without first getting them approved by “We the People’s” Citizen’s Law Review Committee.
All laws must equally benefit everyone, in the United States of America, and I fully support all the proposals In The Mandate by Lucky Lieberman.
If I fail to support this agreement, I will repay three times the amount of money I was given to get elected, I will resign my elected office immediately and I will pay all damages I caused, and my bankruptcy does not absolve me of this obligation. In addition, I will pay all attorney fees and costs.
By; Lucky Lieberman
Butwhatthefukdoiknow.substack.com
Butwhatthefukdoiknow@substack.com
Read my Mandate at butwhatthefukdoiknow.substack.com by; Lucky Lieberman
I’m going to email every member of Congress this Candidate Voter Support Agreement, from my soon to be completed website called; USALAWREVIEWCOMMITTEE.COM along with my explanation of the purpose of the Citizen’s Law Review Committee’s purpose, which is to stop the corruption in congress……
We ARE STRONGER TOGETHER!
From Robert Reich:
"Robert Reich: We are watching what we never thought possible—the apparent transformation of our democracy into a dictatorship (or, as Donald Trump has promoted, a monarchy with him as king).
You may be feeling helpless, powerless, and alone. But you are not. Most Americans are as disgusted by this as you are. Trump and his billionaire friends want us to feel helpless, powerless, and alone—because that's how Trump will take over.
But tyranny cannot prevail over people who refuse to succumb to it.
And something is beginning to happen. We've already seen what's possible when we organize. Boycotts are taking hold. Protests are on the rise.
When Trump attempted to end birthright citizenship, the courts blocked him.
When Harvard refused to follow the White House’s demand to eliminate DEI programs, Trump backed down and claimed the demands were a “mistake.”
And remember, during his first term, MoveOn helped lead the movement that saved the Affordable Care Act and forced Trump to end family separation at the border.
Authoritarians throughout history have understood that their greatest enemy is an organized citizenry.
I've seen the power of organized resistance before. More than 55 years ago, I participated in the movement against the Vietnam War—a movement that ultimately ended the war and caused a once-powerful president to resign.
Today, we will prevail because we are relearning that same basic truth:
We are the leaders we've been waiting for.
AMEN AMEN AMEN
But we are not together. Too many white people are untouched and able to detach from the repercussions of white supremacy and the hitler-redux vision they are spinning us toward. “How bad can it get? Que up another episode of ‘Big Brother’. “
Michelle, Thank you for putting into words exactly what needs to be said after that horrendous performance at Quantico yesterday.
See you at the No King's protest Michele!
Yes....yes... Let's hope there is a gigantic turnout!!!
Michele, yes yes!! Let's be out no matter the weather or which of Trump's sycophants and military forces are out there. There are more of us than of them and we need to try to make more of the thems, us.
Thank You Michele…Steve Bannon said or established back in 2015 or 2016 or possibly even earlier: Democrats bring a pillow to a knife fight or something similar…in essence, democrats seem to not know how to fight anymore — and I’ll add that it seems they have [we have] lost our ability to run a good, sound, solidly effective political campaign(s)!
Our party and leaders — elected and non-elected — have been making too many mistakes!
When Republicans used to be Conservatives, they were never this dishonest. Democrats didn't have to pull a knife to get their point of view heard, and people could vote on those issues. The psychological manipulation of the MAGA Republicans is strong and vicious, but we will need a decade of fact checking to know the truth. They are persuasive, especially if they through in the Christian word. The Democrats need to develop and post their positions, if they want to win a fight.
Again, there will be dues paid- here on this earth & beyond- by people who are misusing christian standards for their own gain.
'They' are not going to be able to cheer my capitulation because it ain't happening!
Jim, I hope what our military leaders got from that gathering is that they have another reason not to carry out the directives Hegseth and Trump outlined. The existing reason is their oath of fealty to the Constitution. The clear reason from yesterday is that neither one of the speakers is mentally competent, disciplined, or operating for the common good of our country's citizens or of the world.
Kem, let’s hope so!!!
Just imagine what went through those generals' veins while listening to this gibberish from this date rapist frat boy. You can't be a fat general but you can be a fat president? Jeez....
IMO it is impossible to imagine. These heroes have devoted their lives to America and our Constitution. And in return American hands them Cadet Bone Spurs and a drunk using them as background extras for a diversion video for not releasing the Epstein files. Maybe they were in agreement that they need to "‘handle" the "enemy from within." They have sworn an oath to protect the Constitution.
The real enemy from within = trump administration.
I wonder what the numbers were for their BP's while being a captive audience for the 2 baboons? No insult to the great animals baboons are.
They were wondering if they would some day have to plea that they were "just following orders" like Hitler's Generals.
But they sat there and listened. They may seeth all they want. But they sat there and listened. Another institution meant to guard us against fascism bending a knee to unconstitutional leadership.
Jim, my answer to that is that I don't want to leave this insanity to anyone. I really value your idea of hoping those officers will help their subordinates to develop a strong positive sense of purpose of working toward peace but having the ability to fight when necessary, but not against American cities that Toddler-Trump does not like.
Turning off Fox and similar garbage channels on TVs in public areas at military sites might help.
There was a time in my old local area the stations were everywhere turned to those channels.
Also one should look up Mark Twain’s work in the last years of his life a short story that has a section called War Prayer. It described a church service. He was reacting to the beginnings of overreach in the Spanish American War and overtaking of lands. He was I think beyond furious. He famiky estate banned this writing for years.
If one wants an interesting take Star Trek the Next Generstion has a two parter with him as a character also Jack London who wrote Call of the Wild.
The late Hal
Holbrook would do his Mark Twain Tonight on albums then on stage. Richards Thomas is supposedly going to try to do that now.
Ken Burns also did a great documentary on him and Toni Morrison had great criticism and analysis of his writings and thinking. Percival Everett also blew my mind with his wonderful novel James based on Huckleberry Finn. A flawed and damaged human who tried to breakthrough the life he was born to. He also with George McDonald of Waterbabies and The Princess.and Currie books for children ( and adults) brought the Fisk College Jubilee Singers to England. They didn’t have to do that. Like any voluntary effort those that are kind and sometimes generous always get my applause for effort and trying to think out of the box.
Thank you for that reference Mar! Here's a link to Twain's War Prayer:
https://www.americanyawp.com/reader/19-american-empire/mark-twain-the-war-prayer-ca-1904-5/
America, is this who we want our sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, granddaughters and grandsons to emulate? Do we want to raise little hegseths and bloviarinh trumpies? Or do we want them to grow into real men and admirable women of honesty, integrity, generosity and achievement?
My vote Donna is for honest and admirable men and women of integrity which begins with exhibiting respect for humankind and nature which should include all animals, plants and our environment!
Amen!
To the voters who didn't give a damn to vote in 2024,
to the voters who voted for Trump and bought his bullshit, we will suffer servere consequences.
Think TWICE BEFORE YOU VOTE during the MIDTERM ELECTIONS in 2026. Nov 4th,
VOTE NO on PROP. 50
We still have a chance to salvage this country. Let's move forward, keep on fighting for Democracy.
Each one a national embarrassment—tough guy personas uniquely different but selected by our broken political systems as our leaders (but not leaders really, intimidators perhaps, bullies and con men beloved by those who recognize their prejudices in them). We failed to guard against their coming.
Failed may just be to polite a term describe how we got ourselves into this predicament!
Jim, HELL NO!
Jim - I would not assume too much here. Or hope too much. I would assume that the large majority of high ranking officers in the armed services are staunch Republicans. Pretty safe to declare that IMO. And they have no special immunity to the disease that has now afflicted almost all staunch Republicans - MAGA. I am not holding my breath for a big outcry from military leadership at large.
However, I was heartened by the lack of applause either for Hegeth or Trump. That said something. At least I hope.
James, I hope that you are partially correct and partially wrong—however, I do know that the answer to all of these shenanigans lies in the hands of the voting electorate—assuming fair and unimpeded elections in 2026 and 2028!!!
The democrats along with allied independents, rhino’s or moderate republicans and those who label themselves as a political need to vote in these next two major elections as if their lives and those of their loved ones depended upon it!!!
It is hopeful. My son is such a man, an officer who stayed on because ‘if we who defend the Constitutional rights all leave, who will be left?’ Yet we have an insidious surveillance culture at play here, with Tech Billionaire proxies in every branch of government— at least. Communications are exposed. There’s the snitch GOP culture. Knowing how hard it is to defy even an illegal order, how will they have any cohesive resistance?
Senator Mark Kelly alluded to the challenges the military might have to face in "pushing back"--- but this meeting might have awakened some creative thinking when the generals, admirals, etc. get back to their bases.
To achieve promotion to Flag Rank takes the knowledge and experience of PhD level training. The people in that room with this lofty level of expertise got a ringside-seat introduction to what it is like to be lead by 2 individuals who know absolutely nothing useful, lack and disparage expertise, and will never figure out how badly they (the 2 speakers) bombed. 5 Will get you 10, that on the way back all of these Flag Officers are rereading the sections of The US Code of Military Justice regarding 'Illegal Orders'.
I'm guessing that the study of the USCMJ occurred prior to and whilst en route to that meeting.
Back in 1965 there was still some "physical enlightenment" that no one would ask charges to be brought forward on as mutual (non-verbal) understanding was achieved in seconds with no outside help. The example I saw was a young NCO that misused his authority over junior troops for his own benefit. As we were extremely busy with higher priorities Major "Flash" Gordon yelled at him to come into his office picked up a copy of the UCMJ and asked him if he knew what it was. When he said he did, the major threw it at him, told him, "Next next time I'll really throw it at you!" (A 5-second solution understood to mean the legal way).
Now it might be their bedtime reading...
I'd like to see a sampling of UCMJ pop quiz results of all or most of the attendees that we could compare to the scores of Pete Hegseth, JDV, and DJT.
I understand that the speakers are referred to in some circles as "Fat Man and Little Boy."
So can we refer to Dear Leader as "Donald "Jelly-belly" T****"? I'm going to think of this when someone uses the "J" in his initials.
I was thinking about “illegal orders” and while it’s the mandated duty to follow orders, orders which seek to controvert the Constitution are a totally different matter. These Flag Rank officers are the best and brightest and hopefully were not lulled into submission by the outright threats to them as officers and citizens.
Michelle2 et al, about
‘Might’, and ‘creative thinking’I deeply hope these military leaders do exactly that.
I’m trying to imagine sitting in that room listening to two people with really bad hair and no courage blathering boasting ordering & threatening.
I immediately thought of
Shakespeare:
‘a poor player / That struts and frets his hour upon the stage / And then is heard no more."
May that last line come to pass as well as
‘My name is Ozymandias king of kings:
Look upon my works, ye mighty
And despair.’
by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
What is old is new again. Very sad that the classics aren't taught much these days. A lot to learn is left on the sidelines. Thanks Samani
l love your references.
Penny, thank you.
Those are exactly what the magas despise. Too ‘woke’
Amen.
There was not a lot of creative thinking during the Vietnam War as much as there was a lot of "fragging," when troops threw grenades into their commanding officers tents, because they had no trust in their leadership. Fragging also referred to shooting the CO in the field during a firefight.
When some soldiers were convinced the CO's aggressiveness and/or incompetence was going to get them killed, as it had already killed their brothers-in-arms, they decided it was either going to be the CO or me that wouldn't make it through that day. Of course Hegseth and Trump don't know or care about history, so . . .
I salute your son service Heather. What he said it's absolutely true. Ask him to be careful please.
I send deep gratitude to your son for his service and deep allegiance to our country. I imagine him as a mighty oak in the midst of a terrible storm, roots deep and unwavering. Thank you.
Our heartfelt thanks to your son and may he be safe, I fear there are those who will report those who don't cave to maga and true patriots will be forced out.
God bless him.
Heather. Good question.
Hope is the thing with feathers.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42889/hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers-314
Despair is the guy wearing that stupid fucking MAGA hat.
Yes... Despair for me as well is the fact that we have not taken care of this planet... Why is it that it is not understood by some that if you destroy part of the chain of life you are ultimately destroying yourself. I think living in nature , you have a better understanding of the deeper connections between humans and their environment... To see the loss of butterflies and bees and birds just to name a few that are endangered is sad... When Australia had that huge wildfire, there was so much loss of animals and habitat, I felt sick for weeks..And now we have Trump who would rather try to con a Heritage site out of its property in order to build yet another "luxury hotel.
I agree, Michele. A report commissioned by the WWF about the 2019-20 bushfires found that some 3 billion animals had been killed or displaced (143 million mammals, 2.46 billion reptiles, 180 million birds, and 51 million frogs).
Humans are part of nature and we're not the only animals engaged in ecosystem engineering but we are by far the most destructive. The planet will take care of itself because it always has, but there may be no place for us on it if we carry on as we are doing at the moment. Trump seems to be hastening the decline of our species by his foolhardly rejection of science.
Your reply made me think of the volcanic eruption of Mt. St. Helens in Washington. I remember reading not too long ago that frogs and salamanders have come back... And there are ponds and some ecosystems I think. And that seems amazing since the volcano erupted in 1980... That's to your point about the planet taking care of itself. But in Oregon they were studying frogs, because they, too, have been disappearing. And that is disturbing because frogs have adapted to many climates and can be found all over the world.
I live in view of the front range of the Rockies in an earth berm home, and while it's no longer in "nature" with the ugly growth Colorado has seen in recent years, it's a joy every morning.
And I let my 3 acres go to high prairie natural plants and what I do plant is for the creature. Deer triplets were born on July 4 in the shelter of the berm.
I too grieve
Jen, I hear you about growing native plants. I live in the Chihuahuan Desert and will plant only things that are native to our area. Even though we live in the city, wildflowers still make it into our yard, with some wonderful surprises. Insects like my cacti, and both hummingbirds and hummingbird moths (in this case white-lined sphinx moths) like my desert willows. The city has give us multiple notices saying they don't like how our yard looks, (it does need trimming more often than my husband does it), but after one of the early notices I explained to the employee who came around what I was doing. The only "gorgeous" yards around here are the ones with astroturf, albeit with the ubiquitous bermuda grass growing around the edges.
Inspirational - thank you for sharing...It is a hard time in so many ways...
Wow! how wonderful.
I feel this deeply, Michele. Living close to nature awakens a sense of how every part of the chain of life is connected, and how much we lose when we treat land and creatures as expendable. The disappearance of bees, butterflies, and birds is not only sad, it is a warning of how fragile our own future is.
What you name, from wildfires to reckless exploitation of land, shows why we need leaders and communities who protect rather than plunder, and who see care for the earth as inseparable from care for ourselves.
Christy, that is exactly why we would be better off if we honored our Indigenous people and learned their ways. I've been reading some Native American authors, and what I pick up from one particular one is that his tribe (Kiowa) had a relationship with the bison herds, and asked permission to kill what they needed, including one bull per year for ceremonies. The bison gave permission. We've been watching a program called The Zoo, about the Bronx zoo since the start of the pandemic (watching it over and over), and have seen that bison have real relationships among the herd members, unlike any other herd animal I've ever encountered. The creatures, the plants, the very foundations of our planet deserve our care and respect.
Christy there is scientific research that tells us that nature heals us.
We said, Michele. Trump's reign of terror extends to all life on the planet. I think we can take the meeting with the generals as Trump's attempt to declare Marshal Law. When Republicans control the White House, the Legislature and the Judiciary, blaming Democrats for the government shutdown is truly idiotic. We all need to join the public rallies and appose the destruction of the country and of life on the planet!
Will the trumpers finally 'get it' when they can't find decent food thanks to their ignorance of how nature works?
Yes we do David.
Coal mines!!!
What century are these wackos living in?
I know! Haven’t they watched John SaylesMantewan? Or read Denise Gridina’s Unquiet Earth? Silas House and his writings? Or Homer Hickman’s works and the films based on them? The level of ignorance is beyond me. I can understand the Kennedy brothers shock at seeing Appalachia in the early sixties or late 1950’s . They should have known but for their background not surprising. But at least they tried to help. It didn’t work but they tried.
The bubbles and silos people live in despite our vast internet is beyond my comprehension.
How things connect, Michele, begs we be willing to see complications.
We could entertain the flux, the serendipity, the odd logic of things if we -- and our schools -- prioritized essay writing, and in essay writing also prioritized citing from a wide variety of humanities.
Schools lost their freedom to center on the human and the natural, however, when agencies of the Powell memo set impersonal corporate agendas instead. Agendas (testing packages them all) fit to the profit-making increases of billionaires, and serf-making poisoned economies for everyone else.
Did you hear Heir Miller in a statement the other day? He was using the language of the Powell Memo verbatim. How the radical left is so organized, so well funded, so deliberate. Every accusation was a confession.
When I was in grade school junior high grade our school parish abd others in the diocese switched to a new textbook and educational philosophy. My one teacher was furious abd for one lesson for one day taught us how to diagram. Otherwise we learned about soothing and gerunds. Though the poetry and accompanying illustrations were lovely. Math was changed as well. Cardinal sets and numbers and Ibwas at a loss and my parents did understand the new math
or new grammar/ English thinking as well.
I think it came from a fear of Russia and Sputnik.
Later on my mother picked up books from much earlier times and noticed Shakespeare full plays so she thought something had changed and no idea of all the textbooks evolved but thought something was going on. My father’s approved Roman Catholic American Lit textbook There is a Latin phrase I cannot pull up. The book highlighted Confederate / Southern poets. John Bannister Tabb, Sidney Lanier and others.
My father loved poetry so he was emerged in a legacy he never would have chosen in his younger days. It helped he had that exposure when Rush Limbaugh came around. He was primed for that in a strange way.
Michele2, What you've said is exactly why I have come to deeply appreciate Native American cultures (and other indigenous cultures). They understand that everything on this planet is inter-related, and that everything from the rocks and plants to animals of every type deserves care and respect. They understand that if they take care of nature, nature will take care of them. Unfortunately their holistic thinking is something most people of European extraction just don't understand.
Yes...so true.. Thank you for sharing... Holistic thinking is very valuable. Why can't we learn from the wisdom of indigenous cultures?
I agree, seeing that is like seeing the words STUPID ASS on the hat. Now, this may sound nitpicking to many but it’s a thing I really don’t like that every President since Reagan. I actually feel despair over it too. Reagan came from Hollywood and if he knew anything it was the importance of image; especially using hokey BS images. What Reagan started was using the military salute to acknowledge being saluted by members of the military. In my opinion it may confuse people, especially children. The military salute is a formal gesture performed by military personal of bringing the right hand to their hat or eyebrow, with the palm down, fingers extended and joined, and arm at a specific angle. A civilian salute shows respect by placing their right hand over their heart. What bothers me is it is a big deal that Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution makes the President the Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military. The big deal is the President is and can only be a civilian! Thus the proper image (lesson) for a President to lead the country by doing is to salute members of the military with a civilian salute. It would remind people that We the People command our military and not the other way around. For Cadet Bone Spurs to be saluting those Generals was just wrong for many reasons.
You meant “Space Cadet Bone Spurs”, correct?
Thank you for using the "f' word
I will try my best to do better, Carolyn.
No seriously, thank you! I am not offended, I applaud your choice of words. I think we need to use stronger language ALWYAS!
I am both hopeful that we will figure out how to save our country, and worried about what we will have to go through to get to that point.
The Republicans continually to tell barefaced lies about the Democrat's motivation for shutting down the government (it was not about padding the profits of insurance companies or funding healthcare for undocumented migrants). They continue to harp on about the 'clean' CR the Democrats voted against without mentioning the Democrat funding bill they voted down in the Senate.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5529740-senate-democrats-spending-bill-shutdown/
And the vindictive retribution has begun. Trump has fired all the members of the National Council on the Humanities save for his four appointees. They've frozen $18bn of infrastructure funding for New York City. Employees in HHS were sent an out-of-office email blaming the Democrats for the shutdown in what appears to be a clear violation of the Hatch Act. Mike Johnson has claimed that the Democrats have handed "the keys of the kingdom" to the executive branch presumably meaning more retribution will follow. It's all a grotesque parody of government and will do nothing to improve the lives of ordinary Americans and that's the message the Democrats should be getting out.
One of my favorites - along with Wendell Berry's Peace of the Wild Things: https://onbeing.org/poetry/the-peace-of-wild-things/
LOVE Wendell Berry. And the one I keep turning to: The Slim Fir Seeds by Robert Bly. The end of this little poem: “We want eternal oceans. But we are perishable; Friends, we are salty, impermanent kingdoms.”
Yes, Jan. Perishable. Vulnerable. Subject to multiples of complications.
We call them artists who see this.
We call them standardized testers who instead neuter all. For the benefit of ruling classes who know only to group, package all.
That one brings tears.
I'm so grateful for the company of wonderful people, like you, who comfort my mornings.
I agree. I draw comfort from the goodness of people who are all over the place.
I am not familiar with the Robert Bly -- but will look it up now - thank you. The line you quoted has given me goosebumps.
He was part of the Iron John movement. Somewhat problematic but very interesting. Michael Meade was part of that and separated himself from that group. Bly also was friends with the poet James Wright. ( many poems to read from him) And Bly’s wife is/ was named Carol and influential in her own way.
Marian Woodman was part of that all somehow. The now defunct magazine Parabola was also somehow involved.
To each of you who are sharing and have shared these beautiful, valuable, and restorative nature poems and sites, thank you! I am saving them to share.
I found the poem here.
https://www.prairiehome.org/story/2008/03/01/robert-blys-poems.html
It is a wonderful poem. I don't know that I agree with the sentiment though in context of Trump. I am not going to be content to just let him do his thing, even though it is in his nature to be the way he is. Or rather, he can do his thing, but not as our president.
The Peace of Wild Things is a beautiful poem, and there couldn't be a better time to read it than now...
Great poems, Michele, resonate, reverberate. Up the living for the living.
Very sad that our school's do not get to spend much time educating using the poems to encourage critical thinking. What a loss.
Thank you for this. I just shared it with our local people who are picking up the pieces from the Grand Blanc shooting/church fire/attempted bombing. My road is still blocked off, but children are back in school.
OMG -- I am so so sorry about what happened. I grew up in South East Michigan, outside Detroit. I love the state and was so saddened by this horrible tragedy. Love and positive thoughts to all in Grand Blanc.
I love that poem also. My favorite refuge is at the seaside—standing at the edge of the world
Thank you, Lauriemcf! Ah yes, Wendlell Berry...it is perfect timing for you to remind us all of his wise words in this one succinct, profound poem.
Both are favorites of mine also❤️
One more poetry recommendation: Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye, the daughter of an American mother and a Palestinian father. You can hear her read it on You Tube, and I just did.
I can feel the peace when reading Berry's poem. Wishing for peace is not an idle process.
Thank you, lauriemcf.
Laurie, I did not know Wendell Berry. This poem is perfect. Thank you for introducing me to his writing.
I love that. I have a necklace with that inscribed on it. That made me forget, just for a minute, about the horrid condition of the country.
Emily Dickinson...nice...
Thank you, Linda. I needed to read that this morning. I think I'll add a feather to my protest sign.
What a great idea Ally!. I've collected Steller jay & flicker feathers that fell in my yard. Wonder how many people will get the connection?
Interesting question.
I love that Idea Ally. I will do the same.
Our Hope better be ready to fight.
Thanks, I needed that
I want to share a paragraph from the book I'm reading now, The Place of Tides by James Rebanks:
Anna’s example was simple: if we are to save the world, we have to start somewhere. We just have to do one damn thing after another. Hers was a small kind of heroism, but it was the most powerful kind. The kind that saves us. We all have to go to work in our own communities, in our own landscapes. We have to show up day in, day out, for years and years, doing the work. There will be no brass band, no parade. And we have to accept and keep the faith in each other, and somehow work together. It is the only way we can make our own tiny deeds add up to become the change we all need.
No brass band, no parade. Only your heart feeling good that you have helped, in your own way, to better life.
Do you have a good translation of this poem by Wilhelm Busch? "Es sitzt ein Vogel auf dem Leim.........." Certainly seems applicable right now.
Here is the poem in German and an English translation.
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/wilhelm-busch-der-vogel-english
Thanks, For me, it just doesn't make as much sense in English, but I can certainly identify with that bird's situation
Wow Linda. Another old- time writing that has been roaming around way back in my memory. Hoping all of us can gain something from Emily's poem.
My daughter wrote a paper on the poem in tenth grade in high school, but I discussed it with my fourth graders during a poetry unit. In fourth grade we just talked about the meaning. I love that poem. Dickinson is brilliant.
“Hope” is the thing with feathers
By Emily Dickinson
“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.
I need to watch the speeches of thes two insipid little pieces of human filth.
Does anyone know where to find the full recorded meeting?
I found the speeches to be highly entertaining.🙂
Then it dawned on me that these two were serious.😳
So, I hid under the couch with ear-muffs on to sob in silence.😢
https://www.c-span.org/program/public-affairs-event/president-trump-addresses-senior-military-leaders/666467 (Drumpf-o-mania; 74 minutes).🤢
https://www.c-span.org/program/public-affairs-event/defense-secretary-hegseth-addresses-senior-military-leaders/666410 (bam-bam bombast; 45 minutes).🙄
When Trump was asked why all the top brass were summoned at the same time, he told reporters that it was an exercise in 'esprit de corp' - he called it 'spiritizing'(!!). Well, they didn't look particularly 'spiritized' to me, dragged halfway across the world to be told they were fat by a power-drunk war secretary.
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/09/30/multimedia/30DC-TRUMP-PENTAGON-top-jhgl/30DC-TRUMP-PENTAGON-top-jhgl-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp
Yeah, spiritized. Golly. Holy mangle the English language, Batman!
EDIT P.S., here comes the ouija board foreign policy.
A few days ago, press secretary Karoline Leavitt at a press conference told the White House press pool that it would be impossible for Gazans to continue to occupy Gaza during rebuilding because it was 'uninhabiddabidable'. She declined to explain how Gaza had become uninhabiddabidable.
Has Pete reviewed the porcine ICE crew? Yikes.
Has he looked at the President?!
Had to refresh my memory on porcine. Good one, Grace!
Like those fatties that chased Sean Dunn, the Sandwich Guy. The $50k signing-up bonus (and $60k student loan forgiveness) has attracted all sorts of unsuitable people.
A power-drunk former Fox weekend presenter.
Great picture you shared Russell. They all look thrilled to be there- about as thrilled as ones waiting for their massive inoculations military folks get. Wish T would stop trying to use fancy words & phrases- sure shows how uneducated he is.
I saw it in the Washington Post and it spoke volumes to me about the mood of those gathered in Quantico to hear those two megalomaniacs. Naturally, there has already been some blowback from veterans.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/01/pete-hegseth-generals-speech-veterans-react
Here is what a veteran commander had to say. Funny, as I watched the hegseth fanstasy hour, I thought that this guy missed his calling: a junior high soccer coach. https://youtu.be/egJCtc9iPOY
The caption for that pic.? W.T.flamin'F. are we doing here?
Would to love to see the pip-squeak walk up to a flag officer of color or a female flag officer and say, "Umm. Not sure you belong here." That would, in a hurry, make for one less blow-hard to worry about.
The New Yorker published this cartoon.
https://media.newyorker.com/photos/68dd8334cfec193faacec547/master/w_1200%2Cc_limit/cartoon%20newsletter%20100125.jpg
The caption reads: “. . . and then Randy Quaid yells, ‘Hello, boys, I’m back!,’ and flies his jet right into the alien ship, blowing it up, and I think you all just need to be more like that.”
All I can say is — glad you did so I didn’t have to. The 15-second clips shown on Lawrence O’Donnell were more than enough for me. I literally cannot stand more than about 4 seconds of that exhausted, sing-song, Baby Huey, whiny-bitchy voice or look at those deranged, lifeless, demented eyes poking out from under that dead marmoset on his head, let alone be in the same room to get a whiff of butt seeping out from under those Depends.
Pete Hegseth is a disgusting POS... to put it mildly. "Warrior ethos"?! Give me a break.
When watching the rogue Trumpanzee out of control on tape-delay through C-span, l set the speed set at 2x 🫨-- to get it over with. 🙄When I watch Hegseth, I am driven to the shower afterwards; 🤢 at 1x or 2x speed, the macho mouth slimes me every time. 😱
It's amazing what you can hear/ read on C- Span Ned.
Absolutely. 💡 Nice to hear from you, Cindy. 🫱🏻🫲🏼 As I listened to Trump's speech, even a 2x speed (which loses a lot of the effect of what he is doing and saying😳), I could not help but wonder whether some of these officers speculated that they were really at a bio-weapons testing facility, the flatulence was so thick and unrelenting.😉🤭🤢
The DSM-5-TR has a lot to categorize such people, the dark practical summations apply to every one of our current administration . It is both frighteningly deplorable and precursor warnings ..serious trouble ahead , folks. Vote them out. Put them away. There are safe places for such deviants .
American Public …take note ..you have one choice left.
To allow lying ,fear ,intimidation , violence and bullying to define a regime leads only to more..and it garners the like …BEWARE.
NEVER EVER BACK DOWN TO A BULLY or they will continue to chase you FOREVER!
But that’s the problem. So many DO back down to bullies, whether it’s in the schoolyard or the government. There’s often a carrot and stick applied where they get some benefit (for a while at least) from going along. It takes genuine courage to stand up to bullies. Time for spines of steel.
The four most effective words to say to a BULLY??
“FUCK YOU! MAKE ME!”
Very concerning that….so many have …
SO, we Americans just spent MILLIONS to fly all of the top brass of our military into Quantico to be told the you can’t be fat or where a beard? The wild meanderings of the fat orange blob and the game show host strutting his plastic body and face across a stage must have been excruciating for these career public servants to endure! I say WTAF! We can’t afford healthcare, school lunches, schools, SNAP for poor people, Medicaid, cancer research, etc., etc. But we can sure let billionaires have tax breaks and these goons playing with lives on our dime. I DON’T want my tax dollars paying for these idiots to strut their stuff!
No, they flew the top brass of our military to Quantico to tell them that they no longer want black, brown, female, or democratic soldiers, and to tell them that they will be called upon to attack American citizens on the orders of a Russian asset, draft doging, child molester. As if they didnt already know that, but more importantly the militias and Trumps other terrorist organizations will see that and know the military is on thier side.
That is true Clayton. I don’t want my tax dollars to pay for that either!
Bill, "need" is a funny word. I'm not going to judge you for that comment, but I never took you for a masochist. /s
When you want to fix a bowel problem, you sometimes have to look at the shit.
Holy Shit, Lady. You do have a way with words.
That's why the Lady is a tramp! (like the one in the song).
Thank you, Mr.Katz. I believe it is the result of being brought up around Irish stable hands. . .
Ha ha! Lady
I get my inspiration to write by watching and reading I don’t know about you.
Bill, I was teasing you. I admire your ability to watch and listen to any Republican politician because they all just piss me off.
I couldn’t handle one so far.
All I can say is - who am I fooling—I am speechless
You are a glutton for punishment.
What is up with the 'Warrior' shit?
Just read about it, Bill. Just the brief clips that I've seen are stupifying.
Just Google "Trump at Quantico".
"Trump and Generals" works well too. His final exit stage left was memorable - he did the whole handclapping, finger- pointing rally thing, and not one soul applauded.
Keep a barf bag nearby Bill.
My evening meal came up but the good news is I had another meal.
Google it.
Bill Katz, you can go on YouTube and get the speech. There are a couple that give news commentaries but keep scrolling and you’ll find the full speech.
"Do not be discouraged. the Holy Spirit is not asleep." Thomas Merton in a letter to Daniel Berrigan.
Thank you for that.
Merton was so and should be still interesting. He really struggled and sought solace from all spiritualities. One of my motivations come from a title of his. Somethig about being a guilty bystander. I never want to be that bystander just looking at not trying to stop.
The felon child rapist and the drunk rapist are fools, they are mad, they are full of hate for any except white guys. They would destroy this country to rule over the ashes. They have no morals, no ethics, no care for any of the people or our traditions or the Constitution.
The military leaders however see exactly what these ghouls are and are filled with distain. No way would they ever follow illegal orders - I am confident of this...
The silence Trump met that so rattled him is called discipline. Discipline makes decisions via rules. Rules are established via law. Law is determined via agreement.
Trump is attempting to rewrite law unilaterally and wants to short circuit the connection to discipline by dint of personality. That brings us back to the silence that so disarmed him. It is unlikely that a disciplined group will march behind a rule breaker. It is also unlikely that the message they are out of condition mentally and physically will help in their transition to a praetorian guard.
Is this the same Mark Kelly who voted for Rubio (State), Ratcliffe (CIA), Bessent (Treasury), Duffy (Transportation), Zeldin (EPA), COLLINS (VETERANS AFFAIRS), Burgum (Interior), Driscoll (Dept of Defense "WAR") and Chaves-DeRemer (Labor)? That Mark Kelly approved the above for Trump's Cabinet. He likes to be interviewed in front of cameras, but when voting, he votes for Trump.
Yes it is one and the same. But alot has happened since then... There may be many Republicans who see the changes but remain silent. Kelly did speak out and did say Trump was incoherent. And he did say that if we wanted a strong military we should not be putting them in parades or in cities collecting garbage.. If he has a change of heart, I'll take it at this point. The more dissent the better...
Michele2, hope might not be enough in the near future.
Well, to follow hope's journey... A week or two ago, Hope crawled out from under a rock. Today she is sitting by the rock looking reflectively into the darkness... I can't yet predict what she will do next... But she is instinctively following some hopeful signs...
Without you there is no Government, Without you no business makes money. You are the power of America........
UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE FAIL
Michele2, however, here is Ruth Ben-Ghiat's take on the situation. She has been right so far with explaining Trump and predicting his actions. There is no comfort to be taken.
https://open.substack.com/pub/lucid/p/a-holistic-plan-for-an-authoritarian?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Linda ---Gov. Moore was just on Jenn Psaki. Gov. Moore said that the military will follow the commands of their Chief IF they are lawful. They do not have to follow orders if they are unlawful. Using American cities as "training grounds" for the military forces is not only " nonsensical but also unlawful" according to Gov. Moore.
Meanwhile, Pritzker said today that the 25th amendment should be invoked re/ Trump... I am sure there will be more... So much going on...
Linda... I skimmed through the article. I have read articles by Ruth Ben-Ghiat.She is good. It could be their plan( they are attempting to follow the authoritarian handbook), but there are many variables. Sen Kelly was a former naval officer. He said he knew many of the officers in the room. After the meeting he was with one group. He gives his opinion. Trump's mental health is deteriorating at warp speed. He is not respected. And most of them I'm sure think Pete Hegseth is in no way qualified for the job. Sen Kelly certainly thinks that. As Heather and Rachel Maddow have both pointed out, Trump and the Regime make mistakes. Trump is weak and trying to give the image of strength. They are rushing. We are onto their plan.
Heather had to postpone her Politics Chat, so that should be available soon. She's a calm voice and let's hear what she has to say about the meeting, etc. I thought the meeting was good, in that it showed both Hegseth's arrogance and ineptitude while also highlighting the degree to which Trump's mental state had deteriorated.These are highly trained professionals. These aren't "Proud Boys" just released from prison and who attacked the Capitol. Trump tried to get these soldiers to laugh with him, but it didn't work. Sen Kelly said they laughed a couple of times but was it with him or against him? -implying the latter. I think we wait and see. Nothing is set in stone... If I hear anything else, I will let you know...
Most of those generals and admirals came up in rank seeing less competent and talented yet less able contenders fail. Much of what their experience consists of is a mixture of being placed in increasingly demanding situations. Not failing is rewarded by being handed another more demanding assignment - repeatedly -until you reach the limits of your ability. Or not.
These guys weren't teevee personalities. They're the real thing. And by the time those senior officers became Generals and Admirals their tolerance for having their time wasted over chickenshit was all used up, so I can only imagine how unimpressed this meeting must have left them.
These military leaders have now seen firsthand how alarmingly damaged and demented Trump has become. If this was a "pep rally" to gain the military's support for his authoritarian plans, Trump failed miserably. These leaders may be what saves our nation. The scared and compromised GOP House and Senate have tucked their tails between their legs and are hiding from the storm. The Democrats, with their geriatric leaders, are clearly not up to the task of countering Trump's assaults on the Constitution. These men, who Trump stood on the stage and mumbled and rambled at for over an hour, will in the end be his downfall. Trump may have all three branches of the government at his beck and call, but the looks on those men's faces and their silence show they aren't in his corner. Trump is obviously losing his edge. His bullying days will soon be behind him.
And women's faces, too. Don't erase them prematurely.
And women's faces. There were women there also and there are still women all through the branches of our military.
I suspect at least some of these military leaders support trump to some degree. I hope seeing him in the flesh and being confronted with just how demented he is will wake them up. Hegseth? I doubt any of them have EVER had any respect for this fool, and being insulted by him can not make them any more interested in obeying him. And the younger members who are anticipating a military career and hoping to rise to the level of those who were ordered to such a demoralizing talking-to, as if they were little kids? What must they be thinking? Early out?
Our CIC is overweight, unexercised with symptoms of heart failure & early cognitive impairment. His speech sure emphasized that. He couldn't make it out of a burning building on his own.
Well said
Yes, no matter how often they see on television, or read a transcript, actually seeing, in person, the man who is supposed to be your leader, must have been a shocking experience...
From your lips...
Huge "think" balloon over all their heads: "This is why I had to clear my diary, miss my son's birthday, lose two nights' sleep to get three long-distance flights here with two top staffers?"
Well, let me know when you get to be one of those people and see how you take what he said a lot more seriously than you imagine
Trump was expecting the military audience to clap like trained seals, just as they do at his MAGA rallies. He forgot these military officers are professionals and are going to hear and understand that what he wants them to do is in conflict with their duties under the Constitution. Although I don’t think the audience would have said anything publicly, I’m sure they were wondering. “Just what is wrong with these guys?”
All of those high ranking officers and NCOs have served in the military for decades to attain that rank. Most have been serving for over 30 years under numerous presidencies, geopolitical situations and so many different events, crises and scenarios, but none of them probably ever thought an administration could be this treacherous and unbelievably insane.
Those officers also surely saw Trump clapping like a trained seal for Putin at another military base in Alaska only 6 weeks ago.
How many of those generals voted for Kamala Harris, do you imagine? I hope I’m wrong but I think ten percent would be generous. We can try to reassure each other that these generals will stick their necks out and refuse orders they don’t like but do we really believe that?
It feels like we’ve been whistling past the graveyard for quite a while now and we’re determined to just keep whistling louder.
I’m not at all certain you’re correct. Remember these are service academy graduates and those that have risen to their posts by being highly educated and trained. Out of the 1.3 million troops these are the best of the best. Refuse orders, maybe not. Refuse illegal orders? After the nonsense of yesterday’s speeches I’m more of the opinion their backbones are stiffened and that “esprit de corps” may be in a direction not anticipated by the clown show.
After reading most of the comments this morning...I HOPE you are correct. Whether they voted for Kamala or not, they didn't vote for this. Kamala's biggest "mistake" is that she was a woman. What a different world we would be living in. Remember JOY? Laughter and kindness?
Take Musk out of the equation and Kamala was the winner. Strength, sanity, humour, courage, with no time to prepare.
Don’t forget the email lady. What a different world we’d live in.
If these officers accept what was said to them, we are in serious trouble.
Yes Gail, I welcomed a combat infantry general to my helicopter nearly every single morning of my tour of duty. That is why I say they didn’t fall off the turnip truck last night. During the Nixon administration we simply swallowed his lies and bent our intentions to bring as many soldiers home from battle as we could. General Louisell had a price on his head, came from a military family, was successful in multiple battles on any given day and led soldiers in their darkest days. The politicians had control but I never saw one, not one, on the combat assaults that General led. There was a genius even an elegance and certainly a historical familiarity about how he conducted his affairs. My memory fades now but he passed in his 90’s about two Januaries ago. Having seen my flight logs we had amassed 266 combat assault flights up to that point in time. This was not a sit on your ass General. I was proud for him when he got his Brigadier’s star the old fashioned hard way.
They probably sat there thinking, "Who can I talk to? We've got to do something."
That’s probably true, but it’s hard to say for sure what percentage voted for Kamala. At any rate, they’ve now seen first hand just how incompetent, amateurish and treasonous Trump and Hegseth are.
It’s not refusing orders they don’t like, it’s disobeying an unlawful order and to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
A couple more meetings like this and I am wondering when a military coup takes place. Is it when Trump orders the troops to fire on peaceful protesters? Or is it when Trump orders the Midterms Cancelled?
Best Q, Louise, I've heard in a long time.
Remember "...all enemies...and domestic."
I hoped someone else would note both speaker's seeming unpreparedness for an event of such apparent importance. I in my working press years covered I've no idea how many political speeches -- the first was by Sen. Estes Kefauver in 1958 -- and those scheduled in advance were obviously well polished. But lack of preparation was uncomfortably apparent in the verbosity and repetitiousness of Hegseth's speech and in the conceptual hopscotch of Trump's presentation, its disorganization further underscored by his tardiness. It seemed to me both addresses felt like cobbled-together panegyrics of the sort spawned by last-minute changes of plans. That said, I wonder if widespread speculation the event might be the onset of a military coup may have delayed the coup's execution; if this is indeed what happened, it would not be the first time discussion of a possible enemy action resulted in its postponement or cancellation.
Meanwhile the answer to gwHornPlayer's excellent will-they-or-won't-they question remains unknown; it is a subset of another question we cannot answer: how thoroughly is the military subverted by Christonazism? But we know from the work of Michael Weinstein's Military Religious Freedom Foundation there are enough Christonazis in the officer corps to be a constant threat to personnel who are atheists, agnostics or believers in non-Christian faiths or spiritual practices. We also know there seems to have been no hesitation in obeying clearly illegal orders to murder Venezuelan boaters. Whatever the magnitude of Christonazi subversion, we can be certain that its followers are (1)-murder-minded theocrats who (2)-will obey the president without question because they believe that despite his flaws, he is their sadistic deity's chosen enforcer -- that is, the 21st Century equivalent of a divine-right tyrant. And the speakers' repeated references to fighting for "god and country" deliberately encourage such fanaticism.
You are likely correct that most of those leaders did not vote for a "Woke" black woman. The military is a bastion of conservatism. Conserving our country is what they do. But, they didn't sign on to support this raving orange sociopath's plans to install himself as President-for-Life. Trump is like the wicked witch when she was doused with water; he is melting and receding before our eyes.
Yeah, what do you imagine these generals will do to resist? Or choose not to do? With the extremely rare exception, they will follow orders.
Pathetic potus has never worked a day in his life unlike the generals, admirals and immigrants who have to listen to the dreck he throws up. Anyone with common sense can see what a clown show that was. A waste of time and money that a serious presidential administration would never consider. Two vain bozos were probably congratulating themselves while generals and admirals were shuttled around on busses!!🤮
Seeing these two clowns performing "live" drove the point home to these top-tier military leaders just how serious and dangerous the situation is for our nation. There will be many quiet, discreet discussions among these leaders about the need to be prepared, when the time comes, to tell the orange sociopath, no.
He always claps. I think it was originally a cue, but now he just does it in self-congratulation.
I don’t doubt it.
The military personnel are far more competent and knowledgeable about doing their jobs than Trump will ever be about his.
About his what? What job does he do?
That is the question. I think he spends too much time imposing financial ruin, bad economic policies, corruption, self-enrichment, obstructing justice and other bad acts. Under the Constitution, the President as head of the executive branch is supposed to take care that the laws are faithfully executed. Trump isn’t doing that. He’s imposing laws and policies that under the Constitution belong only,to the legislative branch. Congress and the Senate do nothing to call him out on his openly unconstitutional behavior, and then the six Federalist Society justices approve his behavior while making sure their opinions stay on the shadow docket, because the Republicans fully intend to govern in perpetuity. Our Constitution is broken, as are the mechanisms for enforcing it.
Interesting, horhai. You made me think of two of my former work cohort (it is too hard for me to use the word "friends" with these two men (and that pains me deeply with one of them) whose sons attained the Master Chief Petty Officer rank, one of whom left the Navy shortly after hitting his 20 year mark (don't know about the other). I suspect that the son of the guy that I served with on both regular and special duty assignments left because he hated Biden...
I wonder if this was supposed to be a fealty test to see whether they top brass would support him and his Fascist administration in a coup.
Who among our 17 - 25 year olds was inspired by that speech to run down to their recruiting station and beg to join any of the branches of service.
The only reason ICE is able to recruit is they are bribing their little army of thugs. I suspect most of them will blow through their signing bonus and then try to quit.
It's going to get ugly when the administration tries to recover their bonuses.
If the ICE agents are deemed “essential personnel” they will be required to continue working, without pay, during the shutdown. It will be interesting to see what will happen if they just don’t show up for work, like some TSA folks did during the last one. Will the signing bonuses be clawed back? Will the student loan forgiveness be rescinded? I doubt it, but at least they might be fewer masked, pardoned insurrectionists roaming the streets.
It certainly wouldn’t surprise me if Trump and Kegseth saw it as a chance to evaluate the loyalty of officers still serving, and to purge other officers they thought would refuse to violate the Constitution. I have never been in the service, but I do know military branches take seriously their commitments to follow proper laws, treaties and rules governing warfare, and officers as well as enlisted personnel are intensively educated on what they can and cannot do.
Arguably, the two dumbest people in the room were Trump and Hogsbreath.
No argument at all. They were.
They forgot to organise those "applause" card people you can't see at the rallies because they're off camera.
Haha true
Yes!
Trump has been waiting 55 years for today to happen. That Reality TV show today, “Commander Apprentice” was clearly inspired by “Patton” (1970) staring George C. Scott. That epic film begins with a speech by General Patton played by Scott, standing in front of a giant American flag. “Now, I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.” Read more with the link below and see where Trump and Hegseth pumped-up to be ready for the lights, camera, action today after blowing millions of dollars flying real heroes from all over the world to be a their background extras as they stood in front of a giant American flag prop and ... act. IMO they both ignore how obnoxious and insulting they both are. I am honestly surprised they are both still alive. Although I feel America would be better off with both of them gone I am also aware that such absence in the eyes of our powerful enemies in this world would signal a dangerous instability. This makes me even more angry with both of these two jackasses. I know I am not the only one.
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechpatton3rdarmyaddress.html
Donnie Fake Bonespurs playing at being a fake CINC for TeeVee in front of real commanders who know the difference between shit and shinola.
Bonespurs should play the "Jerk." He is a natural for the part.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fw4K4k31Rc
You’re absolute right. Donald Trump is nothing like General Patton. But to be fair, I do see similarity to Payton’s dim witted, cowardly bull dog.
Patton was an excellent, hard-driving general, but let’s not forget, he could also be a heartless jerk. He did not believe soldiers could suffer from “battle fatigue” or what is now known as PTSD. He was disciplined for slapping two soldiers who were hospitalized for “battle fatigue.” The directive below seems to line up perfectly with Hegseth’s “warrior ethos.”
“It has come to my attention that a very small number of soldiers are going to the hospital on the pretext that they are nervously incapable of combat. Such men are cowards and bring discredit on the army and disgrace to their comrades, whom they heartlessly leave to endure the dangers of battle while they, themselves, use the hospital as a means of escape. You will take measures to see that such cases are not sent to the hospital but dealt with in their units. Those who are not willing to fight will be tried by court-martial for cowardice in the face of the enemy.—Patton directive to the Seventh Army, August 5, 1943
Let us all never forget that Trump was a coward who used his wealth and influence to avoid serving in Vietnam and then went on the criticize John McCain for being captured when his plane was shot down over Vietnam.
None of those officers and NCO’s will have any respect for either man.
Unfortunately BJ, even though I wish that I can feel confident and say that I agree with you—I cannot honestly say that I do, with human nature being what it is! Consider that there are very likely more that are of a similar nature to former General Mike Flynn.
I sadly hold your opinion, Jim Riley. The ones who do not have similar nature to the traitor Michael Flynn, are being put on notice that they are unprotected. The gathering was a most likely meant to fracture cohesiveness. Many in the military support white supremacy. Not the US Constitution.
MLRGRMI, well…I’m hoping that those individuals of color and several others do not harbor those same sentiments…I just couldn’t resist that thought—but I am thinking and hoping — that your assessment of those in the likely class of who might be classified as such could more realistically be identified as some are supporting white supremacy — as opposed to many?
" . . . and . . . act," Albert?
No, rather: posture, pose, grandstand, patronize, insult, preach division, demonize, stereotype, stir more hatred, invoke stochastic violence, fascism-laurel.
Albert, I estimate that our current state of instability is just as dangerous now as it would be without the two TV performers who occupy the highest positions in the U.S. military.
Good God. You are correct. In fact we are even a bigger target with them than without.
Albert, you definitely are NOT alone. Many of us are on the same page. October 18 will tell you in spades just how many!
Hope Rises in the Silence
Trump’s stagecraft is faltering, and Judge William G. Young’s words in Boston prove why. Against a president who struts with “pardons and tanks,” the judge reminded America that TRUE POWER lies in the Constitution and in a people willing to defend it. That postcard troll asked what one man has. Young answered: duty, and when joined with millions of others, an unbreakable democracy.
His ruling, striking down Trump’s attempt to deport people for their speech, was not only a legal rebuke. It was a moral declaration. Fear and spectacle cannot outlast the daily courage of ordinary Americans who still reach out in disasters, still stand for neighbors they do not know, still rush toward danger to save others. That tradition—Lincoln’s “better angels”—has not vanished.
Trump and his allies count on apathy, on division, on the silence of citizens lulled into thinking tyranny will not touch them. But as Judge Young reminded us, our freedom survives only when we extend it to the weakest among us. That principle is alive.
Trump’s performance at Quantico may have been loud, but it was hollow. Young’s ruling was quiet, but it rang with authority. The balance is shifting. The Constitution is not a relic—it is still a living shield, and the people are beginning to lift it high. https://essayx.substack.com/p/duty-over-tanks-why-judge-youngs
Michael, what a perfect summary of what HCR was offering us today. Juxtaposing Judge Young's quiet, profound words to Trump's loud, hollow rantings is exactly what what we needed to be reminded of, along with the poetry of Dickinson and Berry. YES! Hope does rise in silence. And we cannot lose hope at this crucial moment in our history.
I am eager to see how the Judge's 167 pages will play out. "our freedom survives only when we extend it to the weakest among us. that principle is alive."
From your keyboard to God’s ears.
Thank you Michael. The way forward.
I will continue to repeat this as often as possible: The words of Mitt Romney to his biographer: “A very large portion of my party really doesn’t believe in the [U.S.] Constitution”!
My sadness is that the democrats seem to be afraid or shameful of its legitimacy and history. Our leaders — elected and non-elected democrats — are letting down those stalwarts of our Party who have gone before!
Michael, thanks for the reminder and the juxtaposition of Trump's monotonous whining rant at the military threat meeting and Judge Young's pronouncement of the importance of defending our democracy, by all of us.
The Trump and Hegseth performances were loud but hollow, yes. But what fraction of the 77 million Trump voters will take that as a negative. We won’t know the answer until November 2026, but as of now, my guess is a number pretty cloze to zero.
Rex, I must say, that I doubt there are 77 million who supported Trump; that is just not possible since that would be more than had voted in the 2020 election and I don't believe that. There also should be serious recounts from last year's elections because it has been credibly noted by those who deal with data that the stats just make no sense. Claiming such large numbers for Trump is just out there to make people feel helpless in the onslaught of Republican madness, and that is just not the case. Democrats may not be coming to the "fight" with powerful enough weapons, but I don't believe Dems thought they would have to have such hateful "fights" with their Republican neighbors. It is something Dems should have been aware of with Reagan's push for corporate supremacy as well as white supremacy and misogyny which have only increased over time among Republicans, but Dems missed the impacts as they tried to keep up with the increase in donor support by the ever-richer mostly white men. Well, now , it is time to catch up and see what is really going on and how it is directly harming the American people, even those millions of Trumpers and Trumpettes who would prefer to hear and believe lies than the difficult truths that they are supporting a regime that cares nothing for them and their daily troubles, that they are merely there to be used by Trump and his billionaire users for their own wealth gaines. .
77,302,580 people voted for Trump. It is exceedingly unlikely that this certified count is off by more than a tiny fraction of a pwecent. Nobody knows how many of them still support Trump, nor how many who didn’t do now, and nobody knows how it will go with the November 2026 election. Nothing I’ve read convinces me that many of the louts who voted for Trump are sorry about it, but that’s a guess, as will be every prediction until the election,
Yes, the military leaders in the room showed admirable decorum in the face of bufoonish provocation. Good for them. But where were they when people reporting to them were following Trump’s orders to blow boats out of the water in the Caribbean? Do all of them think those were legal orders? If some think they were illegal orders, wasn’t it their duty to disobey those orders? These are questions that put a dent in my perception that the top brass in the military are reliable defenders of the Constitution.
These or those illegal activities should be added to the growing list for investigation once the democrats gain control again — even if it is hopefully just a supermajority position in the House after next November’s midterms!
Excellent question, Rex. I can only hope that there is an investigation that is taking place.
Seems pretty unlikely, Ally. Who would do it? Apparently, no general is wiling to sacrifice their job to even point out that the legality of the orders is questionable, let alone stir up an investigation. That leaves the Trump regime, which is on the dark side in every dimension, the legislature, which is controlled by Trump sycophants, and the press, which has no power without an electorate united in opposition.
Now all we need is for someone to say all that to his face on live TV and see how he reacts. Nice comment ICTT.
My only hope (feathered or not re: a lot of comments below) is that the military leaders forced to endure this horrific and deranged display are now well aware of their responsibilities to the Constitution and their troops and that they begin planning how to deal with the inevitable demands that they turn their weapons on US residents.
As a young girl, I used to lie on the hill and watch the endless flock of birds heading south. Hours and hours of birds. There were butterflies and humming birds; Although this spring there were a variety of snakes coming out from under my cabin. And a few weeks ago Mama Bear and her cub were sitting on my lawn. A deer and her fawn are in a falling down shed. The critters around me are slowly leaning, I run a peaceful kingdom.
"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts." - Rachel Carson
Yes Ellen. Great quote. It's why I get outside my home as often as I can. My appreciation of nature always calms my heart & soul, letting me more clearly about changes I want to help with.
An awful display of incompetence and stupidity.
Talk about getting angry: It is so simple, are our democratic leaders afraid to respond to the outrageous and outright lies being spouted out of the mouths of those from the “dark side” of the political aisle. Learn something positive from the other side: speak in unison and sing from the same hymn book — early and often — show the American people and the world, that the Democrats haven’t all lost their backbones…too!!!
And optic to appreciate? This dressing down of the entire leadership of our USMilitary by the Commander in Chief and Secretary of the Department of Defense was broadcast live and in repeated cycle over Fox Networks at every military installation around the world to every active grunt and service family member. Was Hegseth talking to the leaders or delivering the new code directly to their reports and service men and women? Who is going to break things, be tough, get in the face of someone less male or less macho? The generals or the recruits from cracker states and mentalities? No filtering by command as to what the speech means. Right there in our faces. Be the tough son-of-a-buck you were intended to be when you signed on. Punch that meter maid. Out that sissy. The optic: Performative for the troop who will be led and vote for the strong leader. Is this perhaps the real reason to. bring all that leadership home? Made them the prime-time in-studio audience for the greatest undermining of contemporary ethos of Our Great Military force for peace and containment of war and violence. Try as those leaders may when they return to their commands, how shall they deal with the seeds of the cartoon warrior ethos sown on Tuesday? How undermined is their authority?
It's come to This, I can't even imagine what it was like for those professionals to sit there and listen to the heaps of BS pumped out in their direction. the fact that they hardly moved or emoted was a tribute to their training and ability to withstand an onslaught of contempt by two racist, misogynistic men who clearly have no clue what those officers go through on behalf of this nation.
They’re loving it that’s what they’re going through Ruth because now their army a war, not an army of soldiers in dresses which certainly intimidates our enemy
Hey Rick, your Chat GPT isn't working too well right now, better check it out. However it is giving you just the hateful BS you seem to like so much. So, ignorance all-round! Amazing!
Do you know I love getting more fans that you guys just can’t believe reality. These are my only words voice texted from my own mouth without any reference to anything else, except when I send links attached to my posts i’m not hateful I just can’t believe that so many people here are hateful and for no freaking reason at all.
Let’s test you how about that? Send me a list of the five Trump policies that are currently inSPECIFICALLY Negatively affecting your life on a day-to-day basis. Then we can have a conversation about why you hate so much because they don’t exist
“”And if you want to do anything you want, you can do anything you want. And if you don’t like what I’m saying, you can leave the room.”””
Ugh. Didn’t one of them not want to…? Why???! They had permission!!!!
Sixty years ago a Marine audience was given a reenlistment speech by a Major to Vietnam Veterans in an auditorium. The Major finished his pitch with the question, “What do you think?”
A voice in the audience said loudly, “I think the Crotch sucks.” The Marines got up and walked out. That’s the difference.
Lisa, I fear that person would have been taken into custody & relieved of his/ her command. Miller would be there with his black rubber coat on!
Cindy, but if all of them had stood up and said it at once and walked out, it would be hard to replace 900 officers, even for little Stevie who has so little knowledge of people beyond that he wants to control us all when he can't even control himself, as my sister refers to him "dead eyes."
Good response! Agree, it was sickening.
Sadly Cecelia, we’re just about 9 months into this administration and the November 2026 midterms seem so very far off…but it is important the country as we’ve known it, that the Democrats capture a supermajority control of the U.S. House next November; it not only sends a wake up call to many of those citizens who tend to just sit on the sidelines and get involved in the citizenship process by exercising their right to vote—but it will also send a wake up call to “trumpelthinskin” and his despicables that true blue Americans are not happy with the way or place that those on the “dark side” of our nation’s political aisle are trying to take us!
I hate that you’re up all night working so hard on this letter, which is excellent as always. Thank you for all you do for all of us 🙏🏽. Take care and please rest 💙
Time for we the people to make our voices heard.
JOIN THE ROAR!!!
There will be a No Kings demonstration on October 18. Spread the word! 👑👑👑👑👑
To find a location, follow this link--
https://www.nokings.org/
I am all for the October 18 No Kings demonstrations that I hope and trust will take place in strength across the nation. But what good is it going to do? What change is it going to effect when Congress appears completely impervious to what the people in the country want? What can we do to force Congress to listen and respond to our demands?
Constance, every action any of us does counts. When you have enough grains of sand, you get a beach. So let’s keep at it.
Thanks for that. I know you’re right.
I am doubtful about marches as well, if we fail to construct NOW a vision of a better, more functional system to be established in the wake of Trumpism.
What exactly are we marching for?
Buttigieg is spot on in this clip: https://x.com/capaction/status/1971632600721592778 and sorry about pointing to X, couldn't find the equivalent on their site.
We need to start talking NOW about the consequences for people who defied and mocked our Constitution and the rule of law, lying endlessly, including a lot of Republicans in Congress and SCOTUS Republicans who cynically gave Trump a blank check.
Ford giving a pardon to Nixon was part of our deterioration into lack of accountability and failure to change the system. Reagan got away with Iran Contra as a result. Republicans now think they will get away with playing these games a third time. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. Fool me thrice, not gonna be nice.
Trump enablers not only need to hear about consequences such as losing power, they need to realize their time to play around with our country's safety and Democracy as if it is their little play toy to kick around is limited.
The country as a whole needs to hear what Democrats stand FOR, instead of watching Democrats constantly in shock reaction mode. And Republicans who actually do believe in Democracy need to get on board with the train that is moving out of the station now.
If they continue to bleat on about LGBTQIA and abortion and immigration (anything but the Epstein files)--Democrats need to counter directly with constructive ideas on how to FIX our Democracy, which handles all the above 'problems' (distractions) they like to throw back in our faces.
So let's look forward. It will make us all feel a lot better to know where we want to go.
The goal is to change the country so this type of power grab can never ever happen again, and that includes accountability that needs to happen to people who made that power grab, the wanna be dictators. Without the accountability, they will just scheme and do it again.
So let's riff. Throwing down some ideas to seed a discussion.
What power must be clawed back from the Executive Branch?
What mechanisms can we put in place to generate automatic and instant recall elections for Representatives and Senators who refuse to perform their oversight roles, due to corruption or outright refusal to implement rule of law, people who are undermining Democracy by not showing up or handing off their power to another branch (tariffs are a splendid example)? Perhaps arrange it so the individual voters that that Representative or Senator represents decide their fate within two months--so voters can quickly replace them once a Court trial establishes the basic facts. Trial by voters instead of a 12 person jury. Rerun the election.
How do we restructure SCOTUS so at last the Supreme Court Justices can no longer take money and are under the same strict laws that their lower court brethren carefully adhere to today?
Should we expand SCOTUS? Add additional circuit courts as our founding fathers intended as we grew--then one new Supreme Court Justice for each Circuit Court?
What can we do to extend and improve voting to every citizen, make it easily done via paper ballot through the US Postal Service, perhaps even on phone or computer, with the vote capable of being tracked end to end with perfect anonymity for the voter, so they can see their vote did indeed count? In short, how to we restore trust in the voting process?
As part of improving voting, could we establish an official government communications channel, that elected representatives, the WH, and Congress all must use, so we don't have our government operating through a billionaire's personal portal that skews the algorithms and floods in trolls?
What laws must be put in place for ALL enforcement personnel including soldiers to never mask, never failing to identify their name, rank, and agency to people they arrest or try to control? Perhaps a single identity card that can trace back to the specific transgressor when they abuse their power?
How to punish enforcement personnel when they do disguise themselves? I'm for treating them like vigilantes. Automatic, immediate jailing for a set period each and every time this is violated by an official of the government, whether federal, state, or city level.
How do we heal the Fourth Estate? Block billionaires from buying them lock, stock and barrel for the purposes of running their mouths in their own little playground? Flood the zone with local news that is funded by a pool of funding from the government?
Should we establish UBI for the poorest among us who cannot make ends meet?
Should we have single payer healthcare--across the board, or only at certain levels of poverty?
Should we force pharmaceutical companies into negotiations on pricing and re-establish a better, faster way to fast track ground breaking treatments for desperate patients that have no options left--with some oversight so those vulnerable people are not exploited?
Can we at last establish bodily autonomy as a federal law, so women AND children have the ability to fight back in court without being shamed for the pedophilia, rape, and domestic abuse they so frequently experience--so it is established once and for all children and women have every right to sue in court the adults who violate their bodies, and a reasonable path to getting justice in the courtroom?
Can bodily autonomy include establishing the right to decent healthcare for all?
Can we at last admit female healthcare MUST include access to cheap birth control and proper treatment of miscarriages as well as day after pills? That it isn't healthcare at all if 50% of the population is in constant danger of being permanently pregnant or caught up in a nightmare scenario with a dying fetus causing sepsis inside?
Should we expand our justice system--lawyers, judges, and circuit courts--so cases will move through more quickly?
Can we at last develop a sensible immigration policy for migrant workers instead of leaving it to posturing politicians?
Should it be outlawed for any state to trap pregnant women or outlaw helping pregnant women?
What can we do to transform the US Postal Service from DeJoy's purgatory into a true backbone for neutral, competent deliveries of our mail-in votes and to break the monopolies of delivery channels.
What can we do to bolster Unions so workers can get better working conditions without being forced to battle big money interests endlessly?
I think these ideas fall into four rough categories:
1) Invest in expansion and improvement of our Justice system across the board, so it is able to process and handle cases faster and grow trust in the decisions made. This includes getting SCOTUS under the same strict rules lower court judges face. Courts have been desperately underfunded for decades now; it is a large part of the reason for slow court cases.
2) Establish a sensible, common sense Immigration Policy that will evolve with our country's needs for additional workforce. Unionization to improve working conditions needs to be part of this. Let's start with the most vulnerable workers among us, doing the most difficult work for us.
3) Improve healthcare, including acknowledging bodily autonomy for everyone (man, woman or child) and the right to a basic level of healthcare. I feel UBI is critical for the poorest among us to keep their health up; if you can't pay for a roof over your head and food, your health will certainly suffer.
4) Improve our Voting Systems to make it as simple and easy as possible, and to raise trust in the votes counting, exactly as intended by the individuals casting them. This includes official channels of government communication that are carefully separated from any 1%er influence (or foreign or other influence), and promoting a healthy Fourth Estate that isn't owned by billionaires to report on issues and candidate stances.
If we can agree on some big changes, let's work out the avenues to make them happen as rapidly as possible and drive until the job is done. Our founders deliberately designed the ability to change into the system, realizing their structures would not always hold up as the world itself changes. We've had artificial brakes thrown in throughout the past sixty years, as well as poorly designed Internet technologies managed by monied and racist interests which has brought us to this crisis. So:
How can the necessary changes best be established, as rapidly as possible?
How can we lay the groundwork to get new changes in place in the future, as the need for them evolves?
What amendments must be put in place first for maximum impact?
This is doable, people. This is not a bridge too far. 90% of the problem has been Republicans subjugating themselves to Donald Trump and violating their oath of office, running madly away from their responsibilities.
Keep in mind polls show the vast majority of Americans believe we need to maintain birth control, only slightly fewer are onboard with allowing abortions in the first trimester, and few to no Americans think we should force women into sepsis simply because the far Right doesn't like abortion. Polls also show we want common sense Immigration policy, not masked men running around terrorizing the people who are farming our food for us. And there aren't many beyond the .01% that are delighted with the levels of corruption that Republicans have inserted into all their offices and the ripping away of affordable healthcare.
Let's give the United States of America something to look forward to, a positive step, a real plan for healing.
Protesting DOES make a difference, especially when the crowds are huge and all over the nation. The politicians notice and the image of the crowds will be in their heads for some time. The people still thinking trump is their guy will notice. For a time, especially in so-called red states, they believed most of their neighbors were trumpers, too. They have felt emboldened and righteous for a long time. Not so much anymore. I have lost count of the protests I have been to in rural Georgia. Over the last few months, it has been interesting to see the reaction changes of people who drive by. I am seeing a shift. The people participating in the protests are buoyed as well, (that’s a huge understatement) and that usually leads to them getting more involved. Our non-violent movement may not be as fast as a bloody revolt, but make no mistake, it will be more impactful in the long run. The times are changing.
Our protest will not be huge, maybe 100 if we are lucky, but it will be held by a few chanting sign-holders along the Susquehanna River Bridge in a rural, deeply conservative area of the state. The thing that encourages me is that the honking and thumbs-up from the passers-by in cars and trucks has gotten stronger with each protest. That has given me hope. We are facing our fears and representing the many others who are too afraid to step up themselves. We are mostly older, a few in wheelchairs even. We will be there. Stay strong, everyone!
As someone mentioned, to get a group of people to go along with you, you should be able to at least convince 3.5% to go along with you. I certainly hope that happens.
YES! These protests ARE for the PEOPLE of America!
If they were impervious to our needs, they wouldn't be hiding from the public.
Time and again, people complain here about the Democrats inaction and do nothing attitude. I'm sick and tired of reading this BS. It's the Republicans that refuse to recognize the will and needs of the American people.
Bankrupting Americans that get sick is definitely not the solution. Republicans oppose raising taxes on the oligarchs and major corporations, instead they tax us all with their tariffs and their deficit spending.
Elizabeth Warren is one of the leading experts on bankruptcy and she repeatedly says, "No one should be forced to declare bankruptcy due to an illness."
On bankrupting Americans...got a letter this morning from Aetna. My insurance payments are QUADRUPLING...yes QUADRUPLING...come January 1st 2026.
I can't understand why they HATE us so much! Does anyone understand?
Sky Blue, it might help to remember that hate is fear that has been allowed to get out of control.
Every human being is subject to some fear. Those of us who are emotionally mature are able to control our fears and respond to them in ways that bring about positive outcomes, or at least hold at bay the causes of our fears.
Donald, Kegsbreath, Miller, Vought and every other member of the MAGA cult are emotionally immature and are overcome with myriad fears. These fears amalgamate to a fear of losing control.
White supremacists fear losing their privilege to people of color. Christofascists fear losing their privilege to "heathens" or followers of other faiths. Oligarchs fear losing the power their wealth buys them. I won't list all the fears, but these are a few examples.
Rather than controlling their fears through maturity, these scared snowflakes adhere to the notion that "the best defense is a good offense."
I cannot explain the "us" in your last paragraph. I can explain the HATE, however: They are hard-wired for processing information through the amygdala in the midbrain; an important survival mechanism for humans that identifies threat and provides the "4 F's" response: Fight, Flight, Freeze, and (the lesser included, which serves to explain some post combat behaviors) Fornicate.
Hate and anger are the easy emotions for them to process, and their hatred of anyone not "like" them is, I suspect, a not uncommon human characteristic.
Holy Shit Sky! I know a few people who are switching to Medicare Original knowing it will be a bigger struggle to get health care but they cannot absorb the $$ increase in Advantage Programs. I'm waiting for my final $ amt. for Aetna Advantage going forward.
🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞
😲😳
I understand you might feel nothing will change, but I KNOW from years as a reporter and through volunteer work in my community, We the People can absolutely count on weak-kneed, gutless politicians changing their tune if enough of us pressure them. Visit their district offices, call or email them, attend a local protest. Don’t feel hopeless. That’s what dictators count on.
True... when you give up HOPE you quit fighting back.
And that is EXACTLY what trump and the maga cult regime want us ALL to do!
THAT IS HOW THEY DEFEAT US!
So we MUST STAY STRONG UNAFRAID and BRAVE TOGETHER FOREVER...NOW MORE THAN EVER BEFORE!
WE ALL owe it to America's FUTURE for our families, too!
People protesting with their dollars made a giant corporation/Disney cave and put Kimmel back on the air within less than a week. More pressure got him back on every affiliate within the next. Protest works. No Kings is different since it is not monetarily hurting anyone that I'm aware of, but I can tell you from experience, attending the last No Kings march sure galvanized me personally!
I sometimes feel like my hands are tied, too. Then I remember a couple things. Show up at rallies every chance I get; donate even small amounts to organizations that I see ARE fighting in courts for us (Common Cause, Democracy Now, etc) and follow their threads to see the results; VOTE! especially in local elections. Voting in 2026 is possibly our biggest chance.
Perhaps we should occupy Congress peacefully. Go in there sit down in massive numbers and obstruct every entry until they tell us that they will start working for us and not for that abomination in the White House.
I’m with you, I don’t see that any of our protest are having the desired effect. Congressmen and our Supreme Court conservatives are owned by the billionaires. They figure that they don’t need us to stay in power.
I had so hoped that our military would be able to arrest both Trump and Hegseth as traitors to our constitution.
Obvious that they want an all male, all white military.
Call out all the Repuplican female veteran officeholders -- especially his toady Joni Ernst. https://www.ernst.senate.gov/news/press-releases/ernst-statement-after-hegseth-hearing
Ernst (R-IA): retired Iowa Army National Guard lieutenant colonel who commanded a company during the Iraq War.
Representatives
Sheri Biggs (R-SC): A retired lieutenant colonel from the Mississippi Air National Guard.
Jennifer Kiggans (R-VA): A former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot.
Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL): An Air Force veteran who served in the Air National Guard.
Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA): A 24-year Army veteran.
Daniel, Ancestry & other DNA tests have shown how very few "pure" white people there are. Wonder if the shitheads will propose a mass DNA testing program?
That is the nighmare scenario. White supremacists would exerminate on that basis. Imagine if the Spanish Inquisition had DNA avaiable. Death to King Ferdinand, Torquemada, Cervantes, Columbus, etc.
Check out my novel, Miami '90.
Heather addressed that issue (staying up all night working on this newsletter) in a video posting a few weeks ago. She said that she uses the various search engines to not only find the supporting information, but she also searches within the documents so she doesn't need to read an entire article or listen to an entire speech.
She said that she is "very good at research." And we all benefit from her research skills.
Got that right Stacey Murphy, "Take care and please rest".
With regard to on-going attack at Portland, Oregon, one of the many things I admire about Oregon AG, Dan Rayfield's first 100 days in Office is his posted Oregon DOJ Link to "Federal Litigation Cases" including the case against Hegseth/Trump, 3:25-cv-01756.
Quoting Oregon AG Dan Rayfield directly, Oregon's TRO motion set for Friday, 10/3 at 10 am: " ... seeks to block the 9/28of Secretary Hegseth memorandum which federalizes about 200 members of the Oregon National Guard".
I expect Oregon's AG to use some Trump incoherent quotes that HCR just posted.
Everyone Be Safe.
Thank you! 🙏🏽
Counsellor, where is the TRO Motion scheduled to be heard? I might need to drive to Salem on Friday...
Sheriff, the case 3:25-cv-01756 is in FEDERAL court. Per Democracy Docket that would be the "Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Court House" at 1000 SW 3rd Avenue, Portland Oregon.
FYI, the OR AG has brought in "Special Counsel" SCOTT KENNEDY to appear at the TRO hearing on Friday, 10/3/25 at 10 am. Contact Scott Kennedy: Scott.Kennedy@doj.oregon.gov
I think Portland Court Rules requires a "government-issued ID"for entry. I am going to different proceeding in another state & taking my U.S. Passport.
Thanks!!!
l heard part of Trump's oratory ordeal in Quantico, Virginia. 🙄
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/jvl-and-kristol-react-to-hegseth
Jonathan Last and Bill Kristol analyzed that speech and that of Hegseth. Very sobering to say the least. 💡
In the part I did hear, Trump dishonoured my brothers, sisters, elders in uniform. Three things spooked me, big time. 🥹
1st, and very alarming, was Trump's assertion that certain U.S. cities are conflict-zones against enemies within. 🤬
2nd, Trump's statement that these conflict zones could provide in-field training for the military. ¿Does this sentiment imply rules of engagement that include use of lethal force against American citizens? 🤢
3rd came the long-term threat, pointed out by Messrs Kristol and Last, that the Trump and Hegseth are culling the officer corps, particularly those positioned to succeed the current leadership, to be loyal more to Trump than to the Constitution. 😱
At least, for now, there were no loyalty oaths. 🤫
That's what he is aiming for a loyalty oath but all Americans want our constitution upheld. Trump needs to find a new job.
trump wants those troops ready to be stationed at Voting Booths!
Remember... whenever trump speaks..
it's ALWAYS only about him!
That is a really insightful comment, S. B. Normalize presence now to gang up on polling stations later.
I hesitate to bring up anything that might relate to Trump with family and acquaintances, not for fear of an argument, but for fear that they will reveal continued Trump support. It is inconceivable to me that any person of intellect, honor, and decency can remain Trump person. It is not "hate" but loss of any respect for that person. I could never feel any confidence in any judgement of someone who could be a Trump supporter at this time. Everything about him and what he is doing to the country is so horrible, unwise, and degrading that those committed to him have something truly wrong in their psyche.
20-25% of the population want an authoritarian to tell them what to do. MAGA is a white nationalist Christo fascist cultural movement that is basically a death cult for everyone that doesn't conform to their ideology and dominance.
True. There are always going to be a percentage of people who will consent to do whatever an authority figure tells them to do. I,have heard the percentage vary from about 25 to 30-33 percent of the population.
In my view, 100% of that 25 to 33% are racists - the true Republican/Tump base.
And misogynists.
Definitely!
MAGA American's definitely prove your higher percentage over the earlier University of Toronto studies
I think a lot of them actually want an authoritarian to tell other people what to do. These people think that Trump is on their side. It's only when the leopard tries to eat their face do they see that they've been conned.
Blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah. Ba blah. It’s called an election Bob. You should check it out.
I agree. I am gobsmacked that anyone could look at Kegseth or Trump and see competent leadership. It makes me wonder what they’re smoking and if they could share it.
I don’t want whatever it is they’re smoking.
I can understand that. What’s evident is that Kegseth and Trump are seriously out of touch with reality and trying to guarantee the military is loyal to Trump instead of to the Constitution.
Making a New Hitler reality.
It's ALL a show!
Meant only to impress themselves.
Because THAT is ALL the think about... THEMSELVES.
True. Trump is eager to have his less affluent followers, but the only people he really thinks he represents are himself and the morbidly rich who funded his campaign with dark money. He is eager to have stupid followers, but they don’t understand that he will screw them badly, and they may never be the wiser. The farmers experiencing financial hardship due to Trump’s stupid tariffs are an example of this.
Trump believes he is president only of the people who support him. He thinks anyone who opposes him is not only wrong, but evil. He has never seen himself as president of all Americans, and he is the first American president to openly express such a view. I have been told before by Trump groupies to cry about it (I’ve never done this,) or that Trump is your president now. The whole point is that he thinks he represents only his supporters, and he can do what he wants without restriction. He is less of a wannabe king (European monarchs tend to be ceremonial and national symbols with little real power) and rather a wannabe dictator. He may already have achieved dictator status.
I’m just stunned by the insulting nature of hegseth’s comments-saying they are to kill ppl and break things. The incredible work of our military involves defense, of course, but they also protect, restore, and maintain those more vulnerable. There is force, but there is also integrity, compassion, a faithfulness to freedom. The simplistic, brutish, violent nature of hegseth’s characterization is so incredibly insulting to the fine men and women serving in our military. I’m sickened.
Fox News in that pipe.
Yes, definitely.
No Kathy, I would like to keep reading your smart comments. You don't want to know what they are smoking. Please.
The smoking bit was a sarcastic joke, and probably I would have been better off making that clear with a /s. Like many people, I’m not able to avoid seeing what Trump and his toadies are doing, and the damage they are causing. I can’t unsee it, and neither can many others. It’s like living the real life version of “The Emperor’s New Clothes.”
Yes Kathy! I can only imagine that RFK made the mix they are smoking. God knows what's in it. I love the story Of The Emperor's New Clothes.
Don't bogart that joint my friend!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Scott, most of the Trump supporters get their news from radical right media like Fox, OANN, Newsmax, social media or word of mouth. But, perhaps even worse, are the hard working people that don't have time to listen to any of this.
It's shocking that with so much information available that millions of people pay no attention to politics, but it's always been that way.
When I was a single mother and a teacher, I didn’t focus on the news very much. So Incan understand how that happens to many people whose days are filled.
The Brits really aced it when they accurately described trump as "DERANGED!"
Both of these imbeciles are incompetent psychopaths that are endangering all of us and NOBODY seems to want to come out and say it out loud or drag them off to prison for treason, corruption, and murder.
Both Brits and Scots greeted Trump with appropriately insulting gestures. I loved the one where they projected the photo of Trump and Epstein together onto one of the towers of Windsor Castle, where King Charles III was hosting Trump.
I am in the same boat.
I could NEVER EVER TRUST such a person.
To be as insensitive insecure and paranoid as that narcissistic sociopathic has a ton to say about character...or lack of character.
Hegseth, the biggest fool ever to draw U.S. public servant salary.
At a cost of millions of dollars this “Fox News” clown calls all the top U.S. military together to watch an in-person ego performance from him. And he demands all personnel at all levels do PT every day? And be weight-tested twice a year?
American late-night comics – all of them – got this exactly. All showed images of the commander-in-chief, a histrionically fatuous, phantom-world-preoccupied, lazy, mega-out-of-shape fatso.
What’s the opposite of phantom, fantasy-obsessed, deluded? It’s a roomful of one-, two-, three-, and four-star generals and admirals. Each has decades of sober experience with the technology, machinery, and personnel of war. How could any of them sit there and be aghast at the sheer amateur-hour platitudes and posturing of the totally undisciplined Donald and years-long drunk Pete?
Annual weigh ins?
Are our military top officers now reduced to the status of ‘air hostesses in the 1960s when they were subjected to mandatory weight checks?
Has Whisky Pete taken a good look at his boss?
This all started when Trump complained to Hegseth that too many of those soldiers taking part in his dismal birthday parade were not 'military' enough. Hegseth seems to have taken that chastisement to heart.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-hegseth-military-parade-birthday-b2771585.html
If you saw clips of Trump’s military parade, there were very subtle signs of protest by some of the service people marching. They didn’t march in a strict and uniform cadence, and I think it was a very subtle way of demonstrating what they thought of Trump’s egotistical desire for a military parade. I rather suspect it was too subtle for Trump to catch, but it seems Trump had an eagle eye for anyone that didn’t meet his personal standards of physical fitness. If physical fitness is that important to Trump, perhaps he might start with showing a good example and ending his diet of fast food and start some physical exercise so he no longer relies on golf carts to move around on his golf courses.
I agree, Kathy. I personally liked the soldier carrying the small drone in his hand. Trump was probably snoozing when he went by.
True. Trump seemed to be dozing off during various parts of his military parade.
Trump's loyal lackeys couldn't even get a decent military parade together to honor the orange king. He was embarrassed before the world's dictators and strong men that he so wanted to impress.
He deserved the embarrassment as a payback for his incurable elephantiasis of the ego.
Or ... with trump's experience... Beauty Pageants... where everyone struts before him to be judged.
He would like it best if the contestants were young, female, shapely, and with revealing attire.
Well, Hegseth got to plug his book which is probably as worthless as he is..
Soon to be found at thrift stores everywhere.
More like book burnings or MAGA using them for heat this winter.
Or holding up the 4th leg of a lopsided table.
I will laugh heartily when I see it in the remainders bin!
Me too. Right wing groups might purchase the book to give away as premiums in return for monetary compensation, but I don’t think Kegseth’s book would sell well.
Along with red maga caps.
True. To me, a MAGA cap might as well be the equivalent of a dunce cap, even though some Trump supporters are well aware of what he is doing and they don’t care, as long as they think he will make them even better off.
I don't need another doorstop.
I’m gonna go get some popcorn when it’s time for the military’s commander in chief to attempt passing his twice-annual fitness test. The cardiac arrest will be beautiful to witness.
So these nincompoops think that a change of the name from Defense to department of War could’ve or would’ve meant a different outcome for the Korean War, the Vietnam War and some other of our declared military actions?
Disgraceful in every way. Stephen Colbert runs through the highlights of Kegsbreath's speech and some of the predator's finer moments - easier to stomach than taking it straight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBXleKD9K4Y
Thank you for the link! The video clip at the end of the monologue is spot on!
Thanks, Alexandra!
“You kill people and break things for a living."
A complete perversion of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. A description of simple banditry, not military service through an oath sworn to defend a Constitution.
He describes conduct worthy of a court martial — a travesty of cruelty and petty megalomania. Words from a preening ham who thinks his own pee etches glass.
And that was just the warm-up act for the waddling moron-in-chief, going through all the "dangers" to American national security -- Portland, "woke", World War II, Memphis, the Federal Reserve, Tylenol, Jimmy Kimmel, Hannibal Lecter, windmills, Democrats, immigrants, Rosie O'Donnell....
Each of those men forced to endure this Dimpleknees and Son performance (are there any women commanders even left?) went to bed tonight with rocks in his stomach knowing the Commander-in-Chief isn't merely a "fucking moron" but a moron with brains past the pile of rancid, melted Stilton cheese stage.
This reminds me of a similar sentence Rush Limbaugh uttered when we were fighting the poorly conceived Iraq war. Their idea of military action seems to come more from Hollywood than reality, despite Hegseth’s own military service. Seeing Hegseth (Kegseth) in action makes me understand why this guy never reached a higher military rank. He is perhaps the most incompetent Secretary of defense since Donald Rumsfeld.
It is truly gobsmacking that Republicans can just sit back and allow this sh**show to go on and on and on.
Have they no decency? No integrity? No sense at all?
It certainly appears so.
In 1789 the French citizenry had enough. The tyrannical monarchy went too far. Heads rolled (literally).
There is a tipping point somewhere in our future where Trump, Hegseth, RFKjr, Miller and Vought will have unwittingly crossed over.
I only hope it comes sooner than later. We need this madness to end.
It’s in our hands now.
When trump is gone...they WILL destroy each other in their race to the top.
“Everyone loves my signature” - We sure do love the one on the bottom of the birthday card to Jeffery Epstein.
https://youtu.be/XBXleKD9K4Y?si=ZMHV4j9brEqlgVFv
This is a list of all the books written by Heather Cox Richardson that I could find with an internet search - for those who might be interested. I included ISBN # for help finding them at your local library, if it is needed. They are all outstanding, factual, scholarly works imbued with Heather’s knack for story telling that greatly enhance and advance our understanding of American history. Enjoy.
“The Greatest Nation of the Earth: Republican Economic Policies during the Civil War”, 1997, ISBN-10: 0674362136.
“The Death of Reconstruction: Race, Labor and Politics in the Post-Civil War North, 1865-1901”, 2004, ISBN-10: 0674013662.
“West from Appomattox: The Reconstruction of America after the Civil War”, 2008, ISBN-10: 0300136307.
“Wounded Knee: Party Politics and the Road to an American Massacre”, 2010, ISBN-10 : 9780465025114.
“To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party”, 2021, ISBN-10: 1541600622.
How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America”, 2022, ISBN-10: 019758179X
“Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America”, 2023, ISBN-10: 0593652967.
Thank you, Fred!
Time for we the people to make our voices heard.
JOIN THE ROAR!!!
There will be a No Kings demonstration on October 18. Spread the word! 👑👑👑👑👑
To find a location, follow this link--
https://www.nokings.org/
It should be abundantly clear that this is in preparation for a military coup before the midterms and all the wheels of government are controlled by christofascist nationalist freaks.
Yes Mike. According to several reputable sources including Republican Bill Kristol at the Bulwark, they are currently examining all the emails/social media posts/communication records, etc. to see if any of the generals/admirals made any comments that criticize the Trump agenda. If recent behavior is any indication, they would then fire them are replace them with a Trump sycophant. Trump made the threat of firing them during his speech. Reuters and the NYT have reported on the use by Trump of loyalty tests using polygraph examinations of members of DOJ, DOD, DHS and FBI. So he won’t hesitate to do everything he can to ensure that the military follows his orders rather than the US Constitution which he has disavowed. The US military is trained to not use lethal force against nonviolent US citizens and they take an oath to support the US Constitution. But no one knows what will happen because this has never been tested before. Sending the military into US cities normalizes their use for domestic purposes not only for civilians but for the members of the military. This is a dangerous time for democracy. If you agree, tell your elected officials - state and federal representatives and senators and governors.
I have told my Ohio senators and representative (Mike Turner,) but since they are Republican, and Trump endorsed Bernie Moreno, I am not convinced they would pay any attention to anything I have to say.
Keep doing it anyway and get your acquaintances who agree with you to tell them too. They do pay attention to how many of their voters want something. You can also participate in events such as the “NOKINGS” rally on October 18. You can find a rally near you at https://www.nokings.org. Thanks for your comment.
I do, for what it’s worth.
When I received my Turner newsletter (Republican rag) the other day, I responded with a confession that I’m a a proud anti fascist and will fight an authoritarian government every single day.
I sincerely thank you for telling off Turner. The only person who ever responds is Bernie Moreno, who sends a canned response that essentially says nothing at all.
Turner is too chicken to hold a town hall. He thinks organized protesters would show up to any town hall just to verbally attack and boo him. The problem Turner fails to see is that anyone who showed up to call him to account has a right to do so under the rule of citizens being allowed to petition for redress of grievances. The other thing he doesn’t see is that any protest would be from the many citizens who are harmed by inaction by the legislative branch toward the damaging policies Donald Trump has put into effect. Turner doesn’t want to know how this maladministration and the legislative branch’s shameful inaction in the face of Trump’s usurping legislative powers is harming citizens in every possible way.
I did the same with our eunuch, Dave Joyce. Can't wait to vote him out!
EUNUCHS. ALL of the maga cult regime!
GREEDY COWARDS!
May they ALL rot in hell one day!
If that was the Henry V ‘Band of Brothers’ pep talk right before Agincourt, we don’t have to worry much about a coup.
Truer words...
Today was an utter nightmare. Unbelievable on all fronts: Trump, Hegseth, Congress!
The Shahnahmeh, Persian Book of Kings, is the national epic. It tells of a king who wanted to send his troops to destroy a city. His vizier advised, if you destroy the city people will hate you. Instead, appoint a loudmouthed ignoramus as governor. And he will destroy the city for you.
Our eastern opponents play a strategic long game. Our American opponents also play a strategic long game. It's taken decades for the heirs of the Confederacy and of the Robber Barons - aggrieved at government enforcing equality before the law, equal representation, equitable taxation, and government regulations - to come together to create a Trump administration. From the Powell Memo to Project 2025.
Yes, and in hind sight, one can easily see the help from corporate democrats and media.
The two-party duopoly has created this reality.
A new paradigm is mandatory, but who and how….?
"Yes, and in hind sight, one can easily see the help from corporate democrats and media. The two-party duopoly has created this reality.
A new paradigm is mandatory, but who and how….?"
Always leery of the reflexive shift away from the right wing extremists who got us here. With the help of leftish purity testers.
We have a paradigm which works. The leftish in their pursuit of pipe dreams and Pied Pipers forgot the message of the civil rights movement - "Unite and Win at the Ballot Box. For and with Democratic candidates." Right wing extremists took up the mantle, took over the GOP, and remade the party in its own image - a Trump administration. There is a lesson here.
Voting is not an individual exercise in self expression. It is a strategic joint exercise in taking power. Vote Blue No Matter Who. Become the Democratic base. Run for office. Reform the party from within. It is happening in the Congressional Progressive Caucus. And in campaigns across the nation.
The Constitution is a bridge built to unite us. Trump would have us isolated on our own isles of individualism so he doesn’t feel so isolated on his own. Reaching out from our self across the emptiness to connect with others is the gulf Trump can not pass.
Each time we connect in peace, goodwill, and harmony strengthens the bond of relationships that is at the core of what Trump seeks to tear asunder.
Compassion is force that unites us and compassion is for all or none like the sun that doesn’t pick and choose who and where to shine.
Like Abu in the Cave of Wonders, we’ve lost our way in the glittering riches the Industrial Revolution bestowed. The material abundance dazzled us, but in chasing it we triggered crises of inequality, climate collapse, and authoritarian drift. In Aladdin’s tale, the boy saves the day—but in ours, it may be women who lead us out.
For too long, power has been defined by conquest and control, a masculine order that brought us to this brink. The way forward lies in a different kind of strength—the uniting power of compassion, which has long been at the heart of women’s self-expression. It’s that capacity to widen the circle of care, to prioritize community and survival over extraction, that points the way out of today’s hellscape.
You are talking about the power of compassion and care for others, that’s what I meant to thank you for saying
To Bern. Thank you so much for these words of wisdom.
Hard to believe that the Secretary of defense actually said this:
You kill people and break things for a living.
Whatever happened to the idea that the job of the military was defending America and freedom?
Very sad.
Also hard to believe he told them they don’t belong in polite society. What’s he shooting for here, an army of barbarians, Visigoths, Huns?
He’s trying to appeal to the manosphere derps.
I had not heard he said that before reading it here. I am truly shocked at this kind of ridiculous talk!
Yes, that comment along with the polite society nonsense, was revolting. I fantasized the entire audience would stand in unison and march out. There is strength in numbers, can you imagine how differently the day would’ve gone had every person there left together after those repulsive comments?! Someone needed to respond, “ No, we do not kill and break thins for a living. We protect and defend to ensure the most peaceful future for all!”
I am writing from Maine. I generally trusted Independent Sen. Angus King. In March, I was surprised that he voted with the Republicans to keep the government open on their terms. I thought Schumer had twisted King's arm. Yesterday, Schumer held firm. And King voted with the Republicans again. At 81 it is unlikely King will run again. Perhaps he is hoping his vote will buy Republican support for his son who is running for governor . . .
That one was a mystery indeed.
Yes, it was easier to explain Sinema and Manchin.
Wow, what a disappointment.
I was, unfortunately, not surprised.
Angus has gotten old and refuses to see what is in front of his face. I sent dozens of emails to his office during the winter about various Trump appointees and the BBB. And I just kept getting responses saying that as he had been a Governor he understood that Trump had the right to choose whomever he wanted to "advise" him.
He continues to believe that everything is perfectly fine and that it's just the Dems and the GOP doing what they have always done.
Even Schumer is starting to recognize that this is not business as usual. But Angus hasn't grasped it yet.
And yes, I wouldn't put it past him to be thinking he might get some GOP votes for his son. But frankly... that's one legacy family I'm not really inclined to vote for. I guess we will see how the primaries shake out.
Yes.
Hello from CD2.
Let's try to convince Gov. Mills to stay out of the Senate race.
Mills vs Collins. The debates could be interesting. The thought sickens me. We need generational change.
"We need generational change."
You are sooooo right there. I'm not a huge Mills fan though she did turn out better than I expected in some areas. But she's older than Susan.
Enough is enough.
We need younger people to be more involved. And I think that younger candidates will help that. We need fresh ideas and new perspectives.