In today’s post, I’m citing two commentaries that describe where we are– and one that outlines what we must do.
Last Monday, Simon Rosenberg’s post at “Hopium Chronicles” included a two-paragraph summary of Trump’s preceding week. I’m quoting both paragraphs in full, because they paint a very clear picture of the time and place we inhabit.
Just in the last few manic days Trump has launched a full out assault on the Fed (see Chairman Powell’s historic video, below). He is threatening to invade Greenland, bomb Iran, struck targets in Syria this weekend, and last night declared himself “Acting President of Venezuela.” He is now fighting with the oil companies over their reluctance to become part of his Venezuelan oil fantasy; threatened the credit card companies with a law that only exists in his mind; sanctioned the killing of Americans by his paramilitaries for dissent; threatened to veto the resumption of the ACA subsidies if passed by the Senate; and with another anemic jobs report on Friday received further confirmation of the failure of his tariffs to deliver for the country, or Republican candidates facing extinction over affordability. The lunatic HHS Secretary is returning America to a pre-modern health era, threatening the lives and health of tens of millions of Americans. Millions of people took to the streets this weekend, many in terrible weather. We are now more than a quarter of the way into the new federal fiscal year without a budget, and the government may run out of money again in 18 days.
Things are getting worse, not better, for Republicans and the country. Trump is threatening the fundamental security alliance that has kept us safe and free for 80 years. He is threatening the integrity of our financial system which has made us the wealthiest nation in history. He has walked away from the UN Charter which has created the basic governing rules for nations for 81 years. He snatched a foreign leader from his palace in the middle of the night, without Congressional approval. In the last few days he openly threatened both the oil companies, and the big banks, two powerful Republican-aligned industries who will be loudly complaining to Thune and Johnson today. Last night he declared himself the “Acting President of Venezuela.” He is encouraging his goons to kill Americans on the streets. His public performances and social media posts suggest he has completely lost his shit and it is time now for the keys to be taken away.
Rosenberg is a Democrat–a hated “progressive.” However, Charlie Sykes, was a rock-ribbed conservative pundit.
Sykes began his post by sharing an editorial cartoon that’s been making the rounds–ICE agents standing over a fallen Statue of Liberty, polishing their guns and explaining that “She was brandishing a torch.” He then pivoted to discussion of “Judgement at Nuremberg” a film he found relevant to the times in which we find ourselves. He then quoted Joe Klein for the “critical parallel.”
Innocent people are being rounded up in the streets of America now. One was killed last week. Too many of our fellow citizens are okay with this.
But they don’t even have the “Good” Nazis’ excuse: they know it’s happening. They see it on tv every night. Their tolerance for this brutality is making our country, palpably, a place it never was before. It is becoming the sort of country that people used to flee… to come to America.
That’s where we are. The critical question, of course, is: where do we go? What must we do? Rick Wilson–another former Republican (and former GOP strategist) has weighed in on that pivotal question.
To stop the immediate crisis, we must weaponize the very “propositional nature” of America. This involves a tactical veto of civil society: a collective refusal by elected leaders, local governments, businesses, the legal community, and civic and religious leaders to facilitate the “will to power.”
By creating friction in the gears of the state, we transform the grim anxiety of the populace into a functional resistance that protects the remaining guardrails of the Republic until the momentum of ICE can be broken at the ballot box.
Then, Wilson writes, we must create a National Commission on the Rule of Law to document every “butcher’s bill” and ensure that names like Renee Good are never forgotten. That Commission must then pursue the active prosecution of every functionary who used the machinery of the state to crush America–the “American SS and people like Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Greg Bovino, and Tom Homan, and the hundreds of lower-ranking DHS and ICE officials who executed these abuses.”
Wilson is right. We must return to an America in which “the rule of law is not a suggestion, but a binding commitment that carries a price for its betrayal.”
We the People can do that.
Well, if you’re expecting the Democratic Party to pursue any of Rick’s solutions, you may be disappointed. They can’t even prosecute Pam Bondi, even though she’s clearly breaking the law. Now we know why Trump “urged” Republicans to sign the bill, making releasing the Epstein files a law. And, while Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna are talking up a storm, there have been zero consequences.
Pam even wrote on social media this week about the protesters in Minnesota, “Nobody is above the law.” She got skewered on X for that one. Also, did you hear Trump threaten to pull the trigger on the Insurrection Act? I’m still waiting for Pam to declare she made a connection between Renee Good and George Soros.
The theatrics being portrayed in Washington have accomplished exactly what they were intended to do – put the Epstein Coverup on the back pages of the newspaper. Has anybody been talking about Sascha Riley’s case? While a young boy, he was trafficked to Trump and SCOTUS judge Clarence Thomas, Lindsey Graham, Jim Jordan, etc. Not a single outlet has covered it yet, and he’s offered to testify before Congress if they’ll issue a subpoena. He’s an Iraq War vet in hiding because his interviews even accuse these deranged people of murdering kids on film for jollies.
So, what will the Democratic Party do to inflict consequences on the guilty? Will they hold Bondi accountable? Will they let Sascha Riley be heard? Laws mean nothing to these people.
p.s. Once Sascha entered the picture, Lindsey Graham hauled ass over to Israel to see if Mossad leaked the video of him. #coverup #epsteinfiles
How can the DNC prosecute Bondi and the others without any authority and while the kneeling Republicans continue to dance around it all?
All of this gangster herd deserve prison – or worse/better. Stephen Miller is the de facto HHS operator while Botox Barbie obfuscates in front of every camera she sees.
Gee, Todd, where and who/what are your sources? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t doubt these monsters’ behaviors for a second, but corroborate and present hard evidence. Let’s see what happens.
I haven’t talked about Sascha’s case because I haven’t heard it corroborated anywhere. I don’t doubt it, but I have no additional facts to support it. It did seem some of the dates were hinky or didn’t match up. Frankly, I don’t see why it makes a difference unless it’s because he’s a male. It’s not like there isn’t plenty to prosecute already. And we aren’t getting ANY of it. We aren’t sharing ANY of the cases. Even ones we know are true.
153 Democrats just voted to send 3.3 billion to Israel.
What a bunch of cowards and ineffective milk ops.
Everything Republicans touch dies because democrats are too timid to oppose.
As long as people like Banks, Young, Braun, Beckwith, Rokita and Morales remain in power backed by gerrymandered legislators who believe that protesters are paid and can thus be criminalized and prosecuted, we are in mortal danger of becoming an authoritarian state and country.
HCR’s letter this morning shows a completely deranged report of a new grift in his Board of Peace where he gets to be king, demands tribute and controls who, when and where anyone on the Board gets to suggest rules that only he can approve. He descends into madness more and more every day. The Epstein files must really be damning for him to be willing to deploy everything short of nuclear (we hope) to protect himself from prison.
We don’t need any further evidence or witness of his depravity than what hundreds of women have already told us. The files are supporting documentation of their testimony. But, because they are women, they can be written off by the misogynists as hysterical and unreliable because, you know, they are emotionally unstable women who cannot be relied on to speak truth.
The mere fact that there are men, mostly white and privileged by skin color, and women who are just the same and sociopaths to boot, willing to grab everything for themselves and gleefully crow about how righteous they are, tells us that there are serious flaws in our government structures that need to be fixed. The trouble is that there are almost 1 in 3 voters who think that he and his merry band of thieves and murderers are doing a great job, still, after all evidence to the contrary. They are not inconvenienced and have more than they deserve by entitlement, so they are good with things as they are.
If ever there is a chronicle of the times written after the fall, the selfish and greedy should be named. Nuremberg was a reckoning to model for the consequences of the capital crimes being committed today. Let it be so.
RESIST.
One MSNOW that I like to watch is The Weekend. It gives me a look what younger people are thinking. Today they are reviewing year one of T2. It is the most depressing thing I’ve seen in years. We desperately need so much legislation to fix what is being destroyed, it is going to take the will to make radical changes. Neither political party has that will at this time. Democrats really need new leadership if they are going to be relevant.
For me this morning the Blog is far too much to assimilate; I’m still stuck in the past few weeks we have experienced because in my mind, it is still going on. Waking and watching CNN’s 4:00 a.m. news broadcast I could only keep thinking of the long ago Pogo phrase; “We have met the enemy and it is us.”
Am I the only one who wonders if maybe, just maybe, those Epstein files have already been shredded? And the coverup we see now is to cover up that little detail. You know that he must have thought of doing that.
Meanwhile, is anyone keeping detailed and exact details of all the crimes Donald Trump has committed so far? And not just him, but his whole blankity blank gang.
So, the Republicans are burning America to the ground and it is the Democrats fault. Really? Get real.
And, in Colorado, the MAGA crowd is upset about Trump’s first veto, killing their chances for clean water. One of the few things the Big Clown-Ass said that was real, was “I don’t care about you, I just want your votes.”
Rick Wilson for president!
patmcc. Thank you!
No, Ian, everything Republicans touch dies is because they are Republicans: Owned, operated and compromised by corporate/banking America. Democrats are also in the lobbyist portfolio, but only to the extent that they have to compete with Republican money farms.
Meanwhile, things continue to die at the hands of the inept, corrupt, stupid and scared crapless Republicans … all by themselves. They can’t even detect political suicide.
It’s the same on both sides of the aisle. Their only mission is do what their masters in Israel want and provide everything for their donors. Notice the priority, first take away healthcare so they could give the rich billionaires a $4 trillion gift. After that was done, we didn’t have any money, so it’s austerity time.
You know who is fighting to keep the CA billionaire tax from getting on the ballot?
Gavin Newsom, Democratic Governor, 2028 Presidential Candidate.
Todd. It is not the same on both sides of the aisle.You are just wrong about that. I expect that nothing anyone says will change your mind but there is plenty of evidence that you are wrong, as Sheila has included in previous posts. To the extent that you are able to convince people that you are right about this, you undermine any incentive to vote and, thereby, you undermine democracy. I believe that much of what you write is part of the problem instead of part of the solution. But then you are the guy who said all out nuclear war would be good for us, so….
Yes or no..
Is Todd wrong wrt Gavin Newsom’s attempt to keep the billionaire tax off the ballot?
If he is correct, then the naysayers might as well be DNC bots.
From my perspective, the US needs justice for all the corruption going on in the trump regime. The grift and the blatant misuse of power that hurts regular citizens and working people is so contrary to American Constitution and laws. The enemy is the grifter, lunatic sitting in the oval office lashing out with/through his sycophant officials, allowed by the citizens united laden Republican Party. The current Maga/Republican Party is negligent and outright complicit in the corruption and abuse of the trump régime. The Republican Congress has the power to stop the corruption and the dismantling of US law, but they stay silent and cover up the crimes. while promoting trump’s gas lit narrative that leads to chaos and war. What will it take to stop their madness and bring them to justice?
Agreed – We need to plan now to (1) clean house of Trumpsters, (2) pass tons of legislation to fix the economy and protect voting rights – including rescinding all Trump Executive Orders, and (3) prosecute EVERY wrong-doer.
Is there a good law in place to punish those who vow to defend the Constitution, but instead violate it at every chance?
Maybe an Executive Order to rescind citizenship for Bundi,, Miller, Noem, and others, deport them to South Sudan or Iran, and then say. “Oops sorry. Nothing we can do now.” when the order is declared unconstitutional. – just fantasizing
The real questions are (A) will the Dems wimp out and say “it seems too political. Let’s just return to normalcy.”? and (B) Will the anti-Trump Republicans and Independents fear giving too much power to the Democrats and balk at real change? Or dither while they negotiate, as if time didn’t matter?
These matters will require lightning speed that will make Trump II look slow. Negotiate before the elections.
I always appreciate your column when it identifies a problem and offers a solution, even if it seems improbable at the moment. We have to start doing that more often. It is not enough to point out a problem and leave it at that.
Talk of what should be changed, who should be arrested, etc., when Trumpism is ouf of power is putting the cart before the horse. The Trump regime has already declared itself above the law and not answerable to judges. Non-trumpist military officers, prosecutors, and law enforcement personnel have been purged, and the remainder are happily following illegal orders to attack whoever they’re told to attack. The US military’s attack on Venezuela has been turned onto a lucrative personal cash grab for Trump (with similar plans for Greenland, no doubt). The regime is investigating state and local officials of “blue” states, and Democratic senators/representatives, and preparing to arrest them and any remaining federal officials who fail to grovel and obey. All Trumpists are now effectively pre-emptively pardoned for all crimes up to and including open murder. The regine is laying the groundwork for creating and/or declaring a “state of insurrection” in blue states, to justify interfering in those states elections or simply nullifying their votes. Trump is openly musing about canceling elections.
This fascist regime does not plan to cede power. Peaceably, or democratically, or ever. Power will have to be wrested back from them against their will.
Thank you Sheila for all you do to share information with a large group of us.
To All, To mebit is not about A Psrty bailing us/US out. There is a National CALL for NATIONAL WALK OUT OF HOME, WORK, SCHOOL, BUSINESSES, SHOPS, ON MONDAY JAN 20 at 2 pm. If each of us/US-ERS COULD LEAVE OUR TECHNOLOGY AND WARMTH OF INDOORS , wherever we might be at that time, TO JUST GO TO THE STREETS IT MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO THOSE WHO ARE STAYING IN OUR COUNTRY TO ATTEMPT TO END THIS NEVERENDING NIGHTMERES.
Please consider giving at least O E HOUR ON MONDAY TO DETATCH FROM SHELTER TO MAKE A NATIONAL STATEMENT.
Let US Try It. It just might work. ThecWorld Will Be Watching US tomorrow.
This is in regards to Gavin Newsom. I live in California. Newsom has said outright that he will keep the billionaire tax off the ballot. I have seen and heard Newsom for years. He is smart, articulate, has little to no follow through on his promises and is almost totally bought. I knocked on doors for him, heard him speak at California Dem conventions and watched him interact with donors. He is not to be trusted, totally owned by the bilionaire class and is probably well on the way to being one himself. He’s better than trump and I would vote for him rather than a GOP candidate, but he has let the voters who voted for him in California down in many ways.