76 Comments
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Barbara Lang's avatar

Jack Smith is the man to try to bring trust back to the Justice Department.

Richard Brody's avatar

But it would take a new President to make this happen. Good idea, bad timing, unfortunately.

W. R. Dunn's avatar

Fierce enemies of justice — the “Bondi-Blanche-Trump-Miller-Vought” subset of humanity — cannot kill justice.

They can but stifle, suborn, subvert and pervert it — for a limited time, in confined spaces, only as narrow as their minds, and the reach others permit such narrowness.

The truth will out. Justice will prevail. Reality always asserts its dominance over frauds.

But persons, societies and whole nations can be ruined and utterly destroyed by the evil acts of unjust persons, and by the lazy or cowardly inaction of persons too morally weak to defend what is right and just.

Americans have done better than this in the past. And we have done worse. We can always destroy ourselves. But justice will forever prevail, with or without us.

JBR's avatar

Not subset of humanity. Subset of Evil as you point out. Not a political philosophy any more than Hitlers desire to exterminate a race was a philosophy. He views people who oppose fascism as vile criminals. He complains about communists but supports putin, the ultimate communist.

Ronna Crowder's avatar

Putin is the ultimate authoritarian, not a communist at all. Which is why Trump likes him so much.

JBR's avatar

Communist leaders fint believe in treating themselves equal to everyone else.

JBR's avatar

Yes. Putin is authoritarian but he presides over communist country. Thats what communism is. The people are subject to harsh rules with basic govt services and leaders who are oligarchs. Trump likes stealing public funds and crushing the public.

Senior cynic's avatar

FYI: Russia isn't a communist country.

JBR's avatar

Russia is a Neanderthal republic.

JBR's avatar

And how do you define communism?

Senior cynic's avatar

Doesn't matter how I define it as Russia isn't a communist country.

JBR's avatar

So what is it? Oligarchy?

Senior cynic's avatar

From a quick search: Russia is not a communist country and has not been since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Today, Russia operates as a federal semi-presidential republic with a late-stage capitalist economy. While the government exerts heavy control over major industries and political opponents, this state-directed model is oligarchic rather than communist.

Carol Johnson's avatar

I hope you are correct

BE Anderson's avatar

My short and succinct answer is that I have ZERO faith that the required number of Republicans will do the right thing and vote AGAINST his confirmation. But, we shall see.

Richard Brody's avatar

It seems to me that many Republicans in the Senate have failed to meet the requirements of their oaths and are prime targets for challengers in the November elections. Candidates against these Senators MUST demonstrate to voters how their elected representatives have acted at the behest of Donald T…p, not the voters who elected them to office. I agree the worst scenario is possible, but it will change.

Helen Stajninger's avatar

I agree too , very sadly. Hope I am wrong

Jim Gray's avatar

A clergyman and his family that I know recently decamped to Portugal because one of their daughters was a DOJ attorney who worked on cases that the felon in our White House didn’t like. They left the United States because they were generally fearful of what might happen to their daughters and them. That sounds more like the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany to me than the United States of America. If the current Senate majority lets this miscreant become the AG, then our Republic is in even greater jeopardy than it already is because of Mango Mussolini and his compliant Supreme Court.

Jude Johnson's avatar

Understand that the FatFelon is not in charge and not the "master designer" of this playbook--Putin is, and while he has the Felon by the short hairs so to speak, his other, greater, instrument to destroy the US is the greed of billionaires like Vought and Musk.

I feel for your friend, but they made the right move to get out asap. An acquaintance of mine, an author who was previously working for the CIA in Moscow in the 90s, has excellent insight into this scenario and how the Soviet mindset is to go after families; her daughter, who had helped manage a nightclub in Moscow frequented by the Felon and his pals, was mysteriously murdered in Japan shortly after the election in 2016. I highly recommend her Substack here: https://egraham.substack.com

Richard Brody's avatar

Putin, for sure, if not directly that by the abdication of his responsibilities for reasons it suited himself, not the People. But then there’s Russell Vought and Steven Miller who for sure are the executors of Project 2025 and trying to ensure that list of crazy ideas become reality.

Mary Greenwald's avatar

Vought and Miller are just the symptoms of the cancer of the Federalist Society. When dark money and corrupt justice is allowed to prevail, we are all subjected to the virus that kills democracy.

JBR's avatar

Trump says hes great deal maker. In fact he cant make a deal with anyone for anything. He is simply a bully. His definition of a deal is pointing a gun at someone or walking away. He said iran desperate for deal. Hes been bombing them, offering them billions, and hasn't negotiated a single deal. Hes a fraud. Hes a racist. He aids abets and encourages murder, assault. He lies constantly. He makes up words. He creates fictional environm we nts. His prosecutors file false charges. He and his staff act like vucious bullies. How many educated humane and literate Americans like or respect him?

JBR's avatar

Except the devil. He made deal with the devil.

JBR's avatar

Environments.

Macman's avatar

It’s not just a problem of surviving Todd Blanche, but of surviving this administration for another 2 1/2 years.

Dawn Kucera's avatar

I think justice will survive, mainly thanks to the hundreds, if not, thousand, of judges who are doing their jobs. Will the DOJ survive? Yes probably, but it is going to take years before it regained the trust of the American people.

I would nominate Jack Smith as the next Attorney General. I think he has the knowledge, the integrity, and it’s probably one of the few people in the country whose reputation is so intact that he could carry it off.

Plus, it would infuriate Trump. The walls will be covered in ketchup.

Al Bellenchia's avatar

Yes. We the people will prevail.

jane's avatar

Thank you, Mr. Beschloss.

RICHMOND DOCTOR's avatar

AN EDUCATED POPULATION IS THE BEST DEFENSE AGAINST ARISTOCRACY

Trump and the Heritage Foundation both know that education is their enemy. Free speech by educated citizens can destroy their plans to turn our country into an autocracy where the ruling power can reshape the country to benefit the wealthy. Trump has dismantled the Department of Education, cut funding for advanced studies at universities, and degraded and controlled elementary education. These changes are all part of the plans promoted in Project 2025.

Compared with other countries, our educational program does not rank among the top 20, with South Korea first and the Nordic countries next. The US and China represent two contrasting educational philosophies. The US system prioritizes decentralization, holistic development, critical thinking, and student-driven exploration. In contrast, the Chinese system employs centralized curricula, intense academic rigor, and a meritocracy heavily driven by high-stakes testing and memorization—University of Colorado.

America is becoming an ignorant population. We are unwilling to invest the effort required to acquire knowledge in any form. We are lazy, and AI will contribute to this lack of education. We are a country whose population thinks in eight-minute segments, the time usually allotted to a TV segment on any show. Our educational process has been described as weak and ineffective, and our colleges as extended day camps. We have discontinued formal standardized testing and reduced the number of science and math courses. Whereas in the past we aimed to ensure that college graduates had a well-rounded education, we now have useless college degrees.

Trump and company have reduced or eliminated funding for advanced studies in the sciences, weather research, and space exploration. Education is now in the hands of the individual states, with no national standard in place, and subject to local reductions in the importance of national educational standards. Local authorities will control the standards in each state and may have no national responsibility. Combine all of this with the erosion of our freedom of speech, and you can see an organized effort to keep our population ignorant.

Other countries, including China, South Korea, Japan, and all the Nordic countries, recognize that the education of their citizens is essential to their survival. Trump is an ignoramus who sees money as the only measure of success and security; he is an example of an uneducated person with false credentials who is an uncontrollable liar and has conned the uneducated 38% into believing he was a successful businessman. He lied about his success as a businessman, and the uninformed, uneducated Americans drank his Kool-Aid and thought that with him in power, they could go about their lives without having to think.

John Sanderson's avatar

Well, the states have always controlled education, and that’s why it’s kind of silly to refer to the “educational SYSTEM” in America. But yes, established standards and sanctions have been in place for many years that have encouraged at least a somewhat standardized approach to education in the separate states.

The major problem I see today is the proliferation of “charter” schools and private schools (many of which are bereft of any standards whatsoever) that are being encouraged by state legislatures through vouchers and other means, thus taking funding away from regular public schools. It’s a serious problem, and if you think we have an uneducated population now, just wait about ten years and you’ll be amazed at the rampant stupidity and ignorance that will abound.

I’m in total agreement with your main premise: An educated populace is an absolute necessity for democracy to function properly. And we are failing woefully as a society today.

Constance Story's avatar

Absolutely not! He has zero integrity.

willsx2's avatar

Since SCOTUS can't take on every case brought by DOJ, and judges are getting wise to their lawlessness, I believe justice will be battered but will survive. If I didn't believe that, I couldn't stay here

AVee. (Alexia)'s avatar

What do you think? Can justice survive Todd Blanche?

Again, I really appreciate you concentrating concern on - what seems to perhaps be the major distributor of dirty greasy oil for the gears of the Heritage Foundation and their madman at the head of corruption - Blanche.

Blanche forging ahead with unfettered determination to support the corruption.

I feel the only course of action is to rid ourselves of this enterprise of corruption, this regime. Non violently and begin reform. I believe we can.

Only then will we survive.

The reform must be massive.

Term limits all around

EXPAND SCOTUS!!

Ethics for SCOTOS-accountability

Felons not eligible for office

And so much more

….

Possible candidates for AG

Jack Smith

Possible Candidates for SCOTUS

Barack Obama

Jamie Raskin

Letitia James

Your imbedded links were/are very helpful.

Thank you for all you do

Prayers for our Country

💙🇺🇸💙

Ilene Winn-Lederer's avatar

I agree with your recipe for restoring justice and faith and democracy and our country.

AVee. (Alexia)'s avatar

Ilene, thank you!

John Worner's avatar

Who, in their right mind, would choose to work for the federal government, under these conditions. It will take generations to reestablish the trust which has been systematically destroyed. You asked about justice, what justice is they’re for the federal workers.

Ellen Deschatres's avatar

At this point, I think we should all be in the streets, as the good people of Albania have been, and as other democratic nations have seen, in numbers that will get our point across…that we will not tolerate this fascist movement to prevent our votes from counting, or from preventing us to vote.

What worries me most is the 30-ish percent of Americans who support this ‘unitary executive’ theory. Dictatorship wrapped in the flag. If we cannot all agree that democracy is in peril; that this president is barreling through unlocked doors that once kept norms and laws and statutes in place, then nothing and no one is safe.

Ronna Crowder's avatar

I don't believe that 30% of Americans support Trump. Those were the people who voted for him but many are disillusioned by his current activities and actions, which is why the Republicans are worried about the midterms. Democrats need to get their act together - stop the infighting quickly - and get a cohesive and convincing message out there supporting the American public. If this isn't done, then we are all in for worse times.

Ellen Deschatres's avatar

I don’t want to believe it but those are the stats. In fact, a recent released Quinnipiac poll showed 70-75% of Republicans support him. This is what we are up against!

Ann Sharon's avatar

I think at one time it was 30% of voters but it’s been shrinking like his approval rating.

His biggest problem & to our benefit, elections are not won without Independents / Unaffiliated voters. 46% of them voted for him in 2024. Now he’s down to 25% support from them.

Ellen Deschatres's avatar

Yes…I am speaking only of Republicans.

Mark Avens's avatar

This is the fight of our lives! I am handicapped and can barely type this.

I miss my countries liberty and attend any protest I can. Just to type this has taken over a half hour. No matter who you are, we deserve better. Fight with me!!!