Every employee affected needs to engage with the ACLU and begin the many lawsuits needed to stop the breaking of the laws. The employees will win. We will sponsor the ACLU via donations.
Not the ACLU, Carl. I fired them after Skokie. These folks are lawyers. All of them are more aware of the lay of the land than any outsider. They may/may not have union representation. https://www.nrtw.org/news/doj-nteu-flra-01172025/
If they are "whistleblowers," they are protected. If they prevail, get reinstatement, fees and costs. They should know who have been prevailing in similar litigation. Many great plaintiffs' lawyers will kill to represent them.
At my former agancy Trump eliminated FCCP/DEI. The staff are all union members. The judges are not, but I assume they can perform other duties and will not be removed.
Remember, the ACLU struck a blow for 1st amendment power, the march in Skokie didn't happen, and those two facts led to an explosion in Holocaust education and awareness, including creation of the the world's third largest Holocaust museum right there in Skokie. Yes, I'm a former Skokie resident and an active volunteer at the museum.
Thank you, Daniel, for replying. I appreciate your knowing what you're talking about and citing references to boot.
I reread that Wikipedia article, and I'm not seeing references to other Nazi marches in Skokie. I haven't heard about any or been able to find references to them, and I continue to live nearby. Please tell me more.
You're right, of course, about hate speech being unprotected -- had courts established that by the late 1970s? -- and about SPLC, which I enthusiastically support.
ADL recorded 211 incidents of antisemitic assault, vandalism, and harassment in Illinois in 2023, a shocking 74% above the previous record of 121 set in 2022. Chicago remains a hotbed of antisemitism. https://chicago.adl.org/antisemitisminchicago/
The National Socialist Party of America (NSPA) was a Chicago-based organization founded in 1970 by Frank Collin shortly after he left the National Socialist White People's Party. The NSWPP had been the American Nazi Party until shortly after the assassination of its leader George Lincoln Rockwell in 1967.
Now, in addition, Nick Fuentes Fuentes who lived in La Grange Park, Illinois, and attended Lyons Township High School, where he was president of the student council, has a big following.
In 2022, another white supremacist killed at least six people, wounded at least 30 and sent hundreds of people fleeing from an Independence Day parade in Highland Park.
BTW, my brother, a graduate of Nortwestern Law, lives 2 blocks from Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh, where 11 were murdered.
Most "hate" speech is protected speech with a few exceptions. The Skokie Nazi demonstrations fell within that category and is referenced in this article. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/hate-speech/ .
This is another informative article:
"In other words, the First Amendment recognizes that the government cannot regulate hate speech without inevitably silencing the dissent and dialogue that democracy requires. Instead, we as citizens possess the power to most effectively answer hateful speech — whether through debate, protest, questioning, laughter, silence, or simply walking away.
As Justice Louis Brandeis put it, the framers of the Bill of Rights “believed that freedom to think as you will and to speak as you think are means indispensable to the discovery and spread of political truth; that without free speech and assembly discussion would be futile; that with them, discussion affords ordinarily adequate protection against the dissemination of noxious doctrine; that the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people; that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government.”
NAZIs are despicable and as far as I'm concerned should be outlawed -- just like they are in Germany. Not a question of "discussion" whether Jews (or anybody else) MUST be exterminated.
Not to scurry down a conspiracy rabbit hole but I just can’t believe that all this muscling through is Trump’s acting alone. The brutality, yes; and the pettiness.
But this is three dimensional chess and Trump is pure checkers … and cheats at golf.
Or longer. I still think a lot of the ideas we’re seeing now were in the pot simmering until just the right person came along to put it in place. It all funnels right back to Reagan and the unholy alliance with the Moral Majority. Along comes Shrub and his No Child Left Behind policy, home schooling and vouchers all of which worked to gut our public education system. Sadly, hindsight is always 20/20.
I said for months that the idiots who don't really know how government fuctions who are being put into cabinet positions by Trump will be advised/instructed by Project 2025 veterans who do know how governent works and how to pull the levers that will make it work the way they want it to. Cabinet heads are just figureheads.
He probably cheats at checkers, too, if he even knows how to play. And he has lots of people like Stephen Miller who are very good at brutality and pettiness.
He’s too dim witted and uninformed to be initiating all of this. It’s the people behind him and pulling the strings that have to be outed, constantly, consistently, legally, morally. Eventually something will stick. It must.
It's scary to know that there are educated intelligent people who know what actions to take and how to game the system. I'd guess many are lawyers who are good at finding ways to use the law for bad.. Many folks it seems - especially educated, rich & powerful -are simply cruel individuals with not a gram of morals. And too boot, many are so called Christians. They did their homework in these last four years. How were they able to have so many EO's prepared/printed that first day. Were they created ahead of time? Isn't their some sort of special process or even stationary ?
Actually, not cliche. The German fascists prepared for a decade in plain sight. Just like the American rightists. They struck, and the rest of Western Europe equivocated and appeased, just like my Democratic Party. Oh, some voices were raised just as Bernie, the two Liz’s, Schiff and AOC, etc. But we haven’t risen to the challenge. Where’s our Roosevelt? Where’s our Churchill?
Yes. I was born in 1950. As a Jew, I always keep one bag packed … at least figuratively. The first tattoo I saw (outside of Popeye’s) was a number on a left forearm. Nazism is not a musty cliche to me; it’s a forewarning.
I saw such a number in probably the early 60s on the right arm of a woman who worked at Baskin Robbins. Between that and knowing that my father lost 38 relatives, probably at Auschwitz, Nazism is scary.
I grew up with them in our Midwest synagogue. Swastikas painted outside. My family perished in Treblinka and Auschwitz. It’s beyond scary to see it happening again and being embraced by people who love to hate and scapegoat. Project 2025 is Mein Kampf 2.0
Very interesting indeed! My mother came of age in the 1930s when Jews were made to feel shame for being Jewish. I believe she wanted to become the first Episcopalian pope.
Exactly! Where are the electeds who should be calling out every autocratic move that happens. Why do some democrats vote to confirm some of the most unqualified, dishonest dangerous people for the Trumps cabinet? It's just so bad...
When I was advocating in California’s carceral system for an end to indefinite solitary confinement back in 2011-2015, aka unconstitutional torture for decades, a most intelligent colleague explained that conservatives are very organized. They are patient. They know exactly what they are doing and they cultivate relationships and power, based on self-serving agendas. However, we won our class action suit against the department of corrections, which I must admit has been making some bona fide sea changes, and not just cosmetic. They even have a large DEI program. So these peaceful protests instigated by thousands of incarcerated men and women did eventually change perceptions of “criminals” as human beings, and the dehumanization has decreased. We have juvenile justice changes across the nation. Prolonged solitary confinement is not the norm in California any longer (another discussion). Our victory over the white supremacist staff culture (including gladiator fight setups) meant that 1500+ (mostly people of color) were released to general population. I’m not saying they are all Boy Scouts; what I’m saying is that protest is possible, even among the most marginalized, when truth is heard; conservatives don’t always win.
Of course now they are back to lock-em-up and even ship-em-out, but times have changed and surveys confirm constantly that the American people prefer rehabilitation and restorative justice over endless incarceration. Also a lot cheaper: In california, it costs $135,000 to incarcerate ONE person annually. US citizen taxpayers especially do not understand what is being threatened by the fascist dehumanization playbook, especially the aligning with private prisons. I’m just saying … there are pathways in rising to the challenges. It may not be a Churchill or Roosevelt, but much good wisdom and righteous justice can be led and organized from the most unsuspecting places. It’s on us now to stop looking to others, and to “authority,” and do the work ourselves.
Please provide us some concrete means and/or suggestions to carry through. If we are going to protest and stand firm, what are we. ordinary concerned/alarmed citizens to do, now.? Do we write to our congressmen, do we write letters to the editor, do we organize public protests? To point out the stakes here is great, but hey, we need some direction. Some help, please.
I agree we need some concrete direction as to what we can do. All your suggestions are good ones but I think we need to mobilize our efforts toward something more on a national level. How about a day where we blackout all billionaire owned media outlets and boycott their stores. While at the same time hold peaceful demonstrations to show that we are fighting back. We can spread the word through our social media, substacks, you tube, etc. But we need to pick a date first--one that would be symbolic. July 4th is too far off, but what about Feb 17th President's Day? Maybe Meidas Touch Network could spearhead this!?!
I’ve been making a list … Amazon, Whole Foods, WAPO, Home Depot, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Target, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Messenger, Google … all of Musk’s (thankful I’m not a Tesla owner, never could afford anyway).
who else on the list of donors to the inauguration and campaign? Great idea for Meidas —- post it there and I will too. I will also post the idea on my Substack.
Yes to all of your ideas here plus join the ACLU. It’s not expensive, I’ve carried the card for years - and they are working for us right now - especially on the birthright citizenship challenge. Strength through unity.
The Project 2025 intends to do away with all government. Do away with federal employees, no replacement . IT IS the GUT of our government and all departments. Authoritarianism is the fill in and take over. BE Aware of this, its a rampage and nonstop bombardment to overwhelm the system and to take over our country
Thank you , Harry. I fear for our democracy . His cabinet picks are the worst kinds of people.
People try to say Bondi is honest and won't break the law. After watching her testify I find that hard to believe. We really are in big trouble and if the dems don't start fighting like crazy all will be lost. I think maybe they were thinking after he pardoned the 1500 criminals that being quiet and letting Trump hang himself was the answer. Nope .. I hope and pray that the truth about these events are kept safe.
Martin is a buffon. He's NEVER served as a prosecutor, instead was the legal goon for Phyllis Schlaffly's "Eagle Foundation." So, he knows how to play "Grand Inquisitor" with MO reproductive services organizations., but let's watch him poop his pants in federal court.
They had a model and they had motive and they had time. They played the long game and played it well. The model was the takedown of the Weimar Republic and humiliation of Bismarck and the rise of the Third Reich. The motive: the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025, Christian Nationalism and the re-ascension of the white male Christian to dominance in this society. The long game: seed the courts, both state and federal, with ultra-conservative majorities to get decisions like Citizens United, Shelby County, and the absurd Immunity decision. Three dimensional chess indeed. All they needed was the mouthpiece and they found him in the brash malignant narcissist with experience in reality TV.
We are on our heels now. Taking the game to them will be hard and long, but it has to be done or the great experiment will die after 248 years. With narrow majorities in both houses of Congress, the ultra-right crowd is in power, but is vulnerable. All it takes is a swing of a small number in either chamber, but I maintain that we will have to prevail in the courts at the federal level. That may well be the pivot point that makes or breaks the game.
I’m no expert, but I have to believe that the actions of the President since taking office has a number of judges questioning the Supreme Court decisions that brought us to this point, even some of the justices that sided with the majority in the dubious decisions listed above. There may well have to be some very hard decisions made by those within the leadership ranks. Do we allow the decline to a lesser form of government that is repressive to all but a chosen few or do we resist these attacks and go on the offense to take our country back? I believe that the ranks backing Trump and his followers will rapidly disappear to all but the hard-core MAGA fanatics when they start to feel personally what their vote in 2024 truly revealed. We can and we will prevail in the end. Of that, I am sure.
You’re right about the model they’re following but too hopeful about the strength of MAGA. I’d say that Trump has more control than Hitler at this point, but a tougher constitutional opponent.
I well could be wrong on MAGA, but the public is fickle. Take away some freedoms and/or hit them in the pocketbook and I believe you’ll find an exodus. They will figure out he’s a charlatan-I have family members that are currently firmly in his camp, but they’re good folks duped by all the disinformation and outright lies. They will come around. It’s the whackos who want to tear it down just to do it that will remain encamped in MAGA. Bannon, Kirk, billionaire bros, Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, et.al.
Idea: To get serious about calling Trump out I've been proposing THE UTTERCRAP MONITOR, a very public posting of every Trump lie, stupidity, grossness, self-service, and his misspellings and grammatical inanities corrected to demonstrate how not-so-bright he is.
May I suggest ‘Jeff Tiedrich’ as well as ‘The F Team’, both found on Substack. You’ll read strong language but it’s well used. No lie gets past either of them.
It's hard to disagree with "The day will come when the episode, like the January 6 insurrection itself, will be broadly understood to have been driven by the self-serving lies of a petty would-be autocrat." But one thing that scares me: the more egregious the Trump/Bondi/Martin/Vought/Project 2025 - the fiercer they will have to fight just to avoid getting impeached down the road. It's a slippery slope down into an Orban-like autocracy. The more People like Bondi and Martin sell out, the harder it will be for the US to return to the shining city on the hill.
What I am afraid of is while those goons play their venomous games, no one is paying attention to the nut cases and terrorists while they are waiting and watching. What if this causes another 9/11? Something has to be done with Trump AND Vance before something like that happens!
I don’t know how somebody hadn’t already beaten the shit out of felon47. When someone is that dumb, you have to resort to violence, that’s all they understand.
"With so many bombs exploding at once, it’s very hard for institutionalists to effectively make the case or even explain to the American people why Trump’s conduct threatens constitutional rule."
Would the defense work to simply state the obvious: He's breaking his oath. He's committing illegal acts that do not uphold and defend the Constitution.
He has to be stopped. We can't just stand by and watch his sledge hammer / bulldozers dismantle the foundation principles of government.
Yes, he has to be stopped but I'm not sure how it can be done short of litigation all the way to the Supreme Court with some of the 6 who gave him virtually blanket immunity having second thoughts about how Felon47 is flouting both laws passed by Congress and the U.S. Constitution itself.
I would add to your defense of the Jan 6 prosecutors, aren’t these career civil servants with due process rights? And being “career” civil servants, haven’t at least some of them worked at DOJ in the first trump administration, and maybe even in the Bush administration? Wouldn’t that fact tend to negate the claim that they are Biden partisans?
"Wouldn’t that fact tend to negate the claim that they are Biden partisans?" I'm sure you know that's immaterial to Felon47 and his appointees to the DOJ.
Yes, I know. But they are civil service employees who can only be terminated for good cause, after clear warnings and opportunity to improve. Oh, and the reason must be performance related.
Every employee affected needs to engage with the ACLU and begin the many lawsuits needed to stop the breaking of the laws. The employees will win. We will sponsor the ACLU via donations.
Not the ACLU, Carl. I fired them after Skokie. These folks are lawyers. All of them are more aware of the lay of the land than any outsider. They may/may not have union representation. https://www.nrtw.org/news/doj-nteu-flra-01172025/
If they are "whistleblowers," they are protected. If they prevail, get reinstatement, fees and costs. They should know who have been prevailing in similar litigation. Many great plaintiffs' lawyers will kill to represent them.
Trump lost bigly trying to excise DOJ lawyers when he was #45. https://www.politico.com/news/2024/07/26/peter-strzok-lawsuit-settlement-00171498
At my former agancy Trump eliminated FCCP/DEI. The staff are all union members. The judges are not, but I assume they can perform other duties and will not be removed.
Remember, the ACLU struck a blow for 1st amendment power, the march in Skokie didn't happen, and those two facts led to an explosion in Holocaust education and awareness, including creation of the the world's third largest Holocaust museum right there in Skokie. Yes, I'm a former Skokie resident and an active volunteer at the museum.
The ACLU gave NAZis free representation. NAZIs have marched in Skoie several times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_Party_of_America_v._Village_of_Skokie
The 1st Amendment does NOT protect hate speech. If it does, who needs it?
Send your money to the Southern Poverty Law Center. https://www.splcenter.org/
Thank you, Daniel, for replying. I appreciate your knowing what you're talking about and citing references to boot.
I reread that Wikipedia article, and I'm not seeing references to other Nazi marches in Skokie. I haven't heard about any or been able to find references to them, and I continue to live nearby. Please tell me more.
You're right, of course, about hate speech being unprotected -- had courts established that by the late 1970s? -- and about SPLC, which I enthusiastically support.
I don't live there but just last year. I'm told they show up at public meetings. https://chicago.suntimes.com/2024/02/26/jewish-residents-in-evanston-denounce-antisemitic-comments-made-at-recent-city-council-meeting
ADL recorded 211 incidents of antisemitic assault, vandalism, and harassment in Illinois in 2023, a shocking 74% above the previous record of 121 set in 2022. Chicago remains a hotbed of antisemitism. https://chicago.adl.org/antisemitisminchicago/
The National Socialist Party of America (NSPA) was a Chicago-based organization founded in 1970 by Frank Collin shortly after he left the National Socialist White People's Party. The NSWPP had been the American Nazi Party until shortly after the assassination of its leader George Lincoln Rockwell in 1967.
Now, in addition, Nick Fuentes Fuentes who lived in La Grange Park, Illinois, and attended Lyons Township High School, where he was president of the student council, has a big following.
In 2022, another white supremacist killed at least six people, wounded at least 30 and sent hundreds of people fleeing from an Independence Day parade in Highland Park.
BTW, my brother, a graduate of Nortwestern Law, lives 2 blocks from Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh, where 11 were murdered.
All very meaningful, scary, and well worth necessary opposition, but different from the specific "Nazis have marched in Skokie several times."
Most "hate" speech is protected speech with a few exceptions. The Skokie Nazi demonstrations fell within that category and is referenced in this article. https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/hate-speech/ .
This is another informative article:
"In other words, the First Amendment recognizes that the government cannot regulate hate speech without inevitably silencing the dissent and dialogue that democracy requires. Instead, we as citizens possess the power to most effectively answer hateful speech — whether through debate, protest, questioning, laughter, silence, or simply walking away.
As Justice Louis Brandeis put it, the framers of the Bill of Rights “believed that freedom to think as you will and to speak as you think are means indispensable to the discovery and spread of political truth; that without free speech and assembly discussion would be futile; that with them, discussion affords ordinarily adequate protection against the dissemination of noxious doctrine; that the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people; that public discussion is a political duty; and that this should be a fundamental principle of the American government.”
Justice Brandeis argued that our nation’s founders believed that prohibiting “evil counsels” — what today we might call hate speech — would backfire.... https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/hate-speech-legal
This is why the ACLU took on the Nazi actions in Skokie.
NAZIs are despicable and as far as I'm concerned should be outlawed -- just like they are in Germany. Not a question of "discussion" whether Jews (or anybody else) MUST be exterminated.
This is not my tradelane, which is neophyte. You should write a guide for those impacted.
Excellent idea!
I’m sorry but comparisons to 1930s Germany are a cliche … but horrifyingly apt.
Sadly true, but take heart. Many government workers like me are protecting our sacred democracy by undermining Trump, just like we did during his first term. We pledge allegiance to the flag, not the fascists! https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/i-pledge-allegiance-to-the-flag-not
Not to scurry down a conspiracy rabbit hole but I just can’t believe that all this muscling through is Trump’s acting alone. The brutality, yes; and the pettiness.
But this is three dimensional chess and Trump is pure checkers … and cheats at golf.
it's not just First Felon, it's Miller and all the other psycho-phants doing the actual "work" while he golfs and tweets....
Yes, I am afraid you’re right. Vought too? Two sad little men begging for daddy’s attention.
While Musk works his techno-magic to undermine the opposition.
No, it’s the architects of Project 2025 and they’ve been planning this for 4 years.
Or longer. I still think a lot of the ideas we’re seeing now were in the pot simmering until just the right person came along to put it in place. It all funnels right back to Reagan and the unholy alliance with the Moral Majority. Along comes Shrub and his No Child Left Behind policy, home schooling and vouchers all of which worked to gut our public education system. Sadly, hindsight is always 20/20.
Yes, Karen
I said for months that the idiots who don't really know how government fuctions who are being put into cabinet positions by Trump will be advised/instructed by Project 2025 veterans who do know how governent works and how to pull the levers that will make it work the way they want it to. Cabinet heads are just figureheads.
We are in deep trouble.
Exactly!
They’re not playing checkers. They have a sophisticated multi-pronged strategic plan. We don’t besides piece-meal opposition.
He probably cheats at checkers, too, if he even knows how to play. And he has lots of people like Stephen Miller who are very good at brutality and pettiness.
What about the Heritage Foundation and all the many co-sponsors of P2025? They have a role in this and $millions to contribute.
Them too!
“They” perhaps … but I think that Trump himself is looking on while not entirely understanding.
He’s too dim witted and uninformed to be initiating all of this. It’s the people behind him and pulling the strings that have to be outed, constantly, consistently, legally, morally. Eventually something will stick. It must.
It's scary to know that there are educated intelligent people who know what actions to take and how to game the system. I'd guess many are lawyers who are good at finding ways to use the law for bad.. Many folks it seems - especially educated, rich & powerful -are simply cruel individuals with not a gram of morals. And too boot, many are so called Christians. They did their homework in these last four years. How were they able to have so many EO's prepared/printed that first day. Were they created ahead of time? Isn't their some sort of special process or even stationary ?
I’m sure you’re right. I think it goes like this: Big Daddy has a Big Idea, blurts it, leaves it others to execute, meets tee time.
Actually, not cliche. The German fascists prepared for a decade in plain sight. Just like the American rightists. They struck, and the rest of Western Europe equivocated and appeased, just like my Democratic Party. Oh, some voices were raised just as Bernie, the two Liz’s, Schiff and AOC, etc. But we haven’t risen to the challenge. Where’s our Roosevelt? Where’s our Churchill?
Yes. I was born in 1950. As a Jew, I always keep one bag packed … at least figuratively. The first tattoo I saw (outside of Popeye’s) was a number on a left forearm. Nazism is not a musty cliche to me; it’s a forewarning.
I saw such a number in probably the early 60s on the right arm of a woman who worked at Baskin Robbins. Between that and knowing that my father lost 38 relatives, probably at Auschwitz, Nazism is scary.
I grew up with them in our Midwest synagogue. Swastikas painted outside. My family perished in Treblinka and Auschwitz. It’s beyond scary to see it happening again and being embraced by people who love to hate and scapegoat. Project 2025 is Mein Kampf 2.0
More like terrifying.
Me as well. You might want to read my Substack post on Sea of Mercy, In Remembrance. I have never forgotten, not for a single day.
Very interesting indeed! My mother came of age in the 1930s when Jews were made to feel shame for being Jewish. I believe she wanted to become the first Episcopalian pope.
Interesting!
Can I give a shout out for Rachel Maddow’s podcast ‘Ultra’? It provides lots of information about American Nazis.
It’s both informative as well as entertaining, she’s a great storyteller.
Exactly! Where are the electeds who should be calling out every autocratic move that happens. Why do some democrats vote to confirm some of the most unqualified, dishonest dangerous people for the Trumps cabinet? It's just so bad...
When I was advocating in California’s carceral system for an end to indefinite solitary confinement back in 2011-2015, aka unconstitutional torture for decades, a most intelligent colleague explained that conservatives are very organized. They are patient. They know exactly what they are doing and they cultivate relationships and power, based on self-serving agendas. However, we won our class action suit against the department of corrections, which I must admit has been making some bona fide sea changes, and not just cosmetic. They even have a large DEI program. So these peaceful protests instigated by thousands of incarcerated men and women did eventually change perceptions of “criminals” as human beings, and the dehumanization has decreased. We have juvenile justice changes across the nation. Prolonged solitary confinement is not the norm in California any longer (another discussion). Our victory over the white supremacist staff culture (including gladiator fight setups) meant that 1500+ (mostly people of color) were released to general population. I’m not saying they are all Boy Scouts; what I’m saying is that protest is possible, even among the most marginalized, when truth is heard; conservatives don’t always win.
Of course now they are back to lock-em-up and even ship-em-out, but times have changed and surveys confirm constantly that the American people prefer rehabilitation and restorative justice over endless incarceration. Also a lot cheaper: In california, it costs $135,000 to incarcerate ONE person annually. US citizen taxpayers especially do not understand what is being threatened by the fascist dehumanization playbook, especially the aligning with private prisons. I’m just saying … there are pathways in rising to the challenges. It may not be a Churchill or Roosevelt, but much good wisdom and righteous justice can be led and organized from the most unsuspecting places. It’s on us now to stop looking to others, and to “authority,” and do the work ourselves.
Who’s daddy’s widdle boy? You are, you are!
Thanks to that provision so preciously held by the thugs, the Second Amendment, the opposition is not without arms.
Cliche? Why worry about that when it is true?
Please provide us some concrete means and/or suggestions to carry through. If we are going to protest and stand firm, what are we. ordinary concerned/alarmed citizens to do, now.? Do we write to our congressmen, do we write letters to the editor, do we organize public protests? To point out the stakes here is great, but hey, we need some direction. Some help, please.
I agree we need some concrete direction as to what we can do. All your suggestions are good ones but I think we need to mobilize our efforts toward something more on a national level. How about a day where we blackout all billionaire owned media outlets and boycott their stores. While at the same time hold peaceful demonstrations to show that we are fighting back. We can spread the word through our social media, substacks, you tube, etc. But we need to pick a date first--one that would be symbolic. July 4th is too far off, but what about Feb 17th President's Day? Maybe Meidas Touch Network could spearhead this!?!
OH THAT is a great idea! And Feb 17 is perfect!
I’ve been making a list … Amazon, Whole Foods, WAPO, Home Depot, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Target, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Messenger, Google … all of Musk’s (thankful I’m not a Tesla owner, never could afford anyway).
who else on the list of donors to the inauguration and campaign? Great idea for Meidas —- post it there and I will too. I will also post the idea on my Substack.
Yes to all of your ideas here plus join the ACLU. It’s not expensive, I’ve carried the card for years - and they are working for us right now - especially on the birthright citizenship challenge. Strength through unity.
Why doesn't "someone" release the file on Trump, online for public consumption?
This playing softball while he lies his butt off and the entire Republican party highjacks the government. I would think it's time "we" play hardball.
You would think there is SO much information that could be released. Whistleblowers. Deep throats for our times.
The Project 2025 intends to do away with all government. Do away with federal employees, no replacement . IT IS the GUT of our government and all departments. Authoritarianism is the fill in and take over. BE Aware of this, its a rampage and nonstop bombardment to overwhelm the system and to take over our country
And remember, this is a party that loudly complimented itself by blatantly ignoring Congressional subpoenas.
Thank you , Harry. I fear for our democracy . His cabinet picks are the worst kinds of people.
People try to say Bondi is honest and won't break the law. After watching her testify I find that hard to believe. We really are in big trouble and if the dems don't start fighting like crazy all will be lost. I think maybe they were thinking after he pardoned the 1500 criminals that being quiet and letting Trump hang himself was the answer. Nope .. I hope and pray that the truth about these events are kept safe.
Martin is a buffon. He's NEVER served as a prosecutor, instead was the legal goon for Phyllis Schlaffly's "Eagle Foundation." So, he knows how to play "Grand Inquisitor" with MO reproductive services organizations., but let's watch him poop his pants in federal court.
They had a model and they had motive and they had time. They played the long game and played it well. The model was the takedown of the Weimar Republic and humiliation of Bismarck and the rise of the Third Reich. The motive: the Heritage Foundation, Project 2025, Christian Nationalism and the re-ascension of the white male Christian to dominance in this society. The long game: seed the courts, both state and federal, with ultra-conservative majorities to get decisions like Citizens United, Shelby County, and the absurd Immunity decision. Three dimensional chess indeed. All they needed was the mouthpiece and they found him in the brash malignant narcissist with experience in reality TV.
We are on our heels now. Taking the game to them will be hard and long, but it has to be done or the great experiment will die after 248 years. With narrow majorities in both houses of Congress, the ultra-right crowd is in power, but is vulnerable. All it takes is a swing of a small number in either chamber, but I maintain that we will have to prevail in the courts at the federal level. That may well be the pivot point that makes or breaks the game.
I’m no expert, but I have to believe that the actions of the President since taking office has a number of judges questioning the Supreme Court decisions that brought us to this point, even some of the justices that sided with the majority in the dubious decisions listed above. There may well have to be some very hard decisions made by those within the leadership ranks. Do we allow the decline to a lesser form of government that is repressive to all but a chosen few or do we resist these attacks and go on the offense to take our country back? I believe that the ranks backing Trump and his followers will rapidly disappear to all but the hard-core MAGA fanatics when they start to feel personally what their vote in 2024 truly revealed. We can and we will prevail in the end. Of that, I am sure.
You’re right about the model they’re following but too hopeful about the strength of MAGA. I’d say that Trump has more control than Hitler at this point, but a tougher constitutional opponent.
I well could be wrong on MAGA, but the public is fickle. Take away some freedoms and/or hit them in the pocketbook and I believe you’ll find an exodus. They will figure out he’s a charlatan-I have family members that are currently firmly in his camp, but they’re good folks duped by all the disinformation and outright lies. They will come around. It’s the whackos who want to tear it down just to do it that will remain encamped in MAGA. Bannon, Kirk, billionaire bros, Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, et.al.
These are very scary times!
Idea: To get serious about calling Trump out I've been proposing THE UTTERCRAP MONITOR, a very public posting of every Trump lie, stupidity, grossness, self-service, and his misspellings and grammatical inanities corrected to demonstrate how not-so-bright he is.
May I suggest ‘Jeff Tiedrich’ as well as ‘The F Team’, both found on Substack. You’ll read strong language but it’s well used. No lie gets past either of them.
It's hard to disagree with "The day will come when the episode, like the January 6 insurrection itself, will be broadly understood to have been driven by the self-serving lies of a petty would-be autocrat." But one thing that scares me: the more egregious the Trump/Bondi/Martin/Vought/Project 2025 - the fiercer they will have to fight just to avoid getting impeached down the road. It's a slippery slope down into an Orban-like autocracy. The more People like Bondi and Martin sell out, the harder it will be for the US to return to the shining city on the hill.
What I am afraid of is while those goons play their venomous games, no one is paying attention to the nut cases and terrorists while they are waiting and watching. What if this causes another 9/11? Something has to be done with Trump AND Vance before something like that happens!
I don’t know how somebody hadn’t already beaten the shit out of felon47. When someone is that dumb, you have to resort to violence, that’s all they understand.
"With so many bombs exploding at once, it’s very hard for institutionalists to effectively make the case or even explain to the American people why Trump’s conduct threatens constitutional rule."
Would the defense work to simply state the obvious: He's breaking his oath. He's committing illegal acts that do not uphold and defend the Constitution.
He has to be stopped. We can't just stand by and watch his sledge hammer / bulldozers dismantle the foundation principles of government.
Yes, he has to be stopped but I'm not sure how it can be done short of litigation all the way to the Supreme Court with some of the 6 who gave him virtually blanket immunity having second thoughts about how Felon47 is flouting both laws passed by Congress and the U.S. Constitution itself.
I would add to your defense of the Jan 6 prosecutors, aren’t these career civil servants with due process rights? And being “career” civil servants, haven’t at least some of them worked at DOJ in the first trump administration, and maybe even in the Bush administration? Wouldn’t that fact tend to negate the claim that they are Biden partisans?
"Wouldn’t that fact tend to negate the claim that they are Biden partisans?" I'm sure you know that's immaterial to Felon47 and his appointees to the DOJ.
Yes, I know. But they are civil service employees who can only be terminated for good cause, after clear warnings and opportunity to improve. Oh, and the reason must be performance related.
Former US Senator Bob Menendez sentenced to 11 years in prison in gold bar bribery case https://l.smartnews.com/p-iuB9To4/OkBBaN
American justice which apparently only works sometimes.
Something is better than nothing.