Trump wields the FBI as a weapon against dissent, chilling anyone who dares oppose him. The message is clear: criticize him, and the state will come for you.
Apparently MAGAs and Republicans are OK with this. I wonder how they will react with the FBI shows up at their homes because they didn't kiss the ring? When will enough be finally enough? How did we get here? When does this insanity come to an end? Are we going to allow this to continue?
This is what happens in authoritarian dictatorships. Fascism on display. This is right out of the dictators playbook. He said before the election he will rule as a dictator if elected and that is what he is doing.. 🤦♀️
We have gone down the road of fascism and if we don't do something soon we are gone!
This "We the People will NOT comply with tyranny" tee is more alive than ever 👇
Absolutely. This is my initial response to Steven’s post-
Well, I’ll go out on a limb here and state the obvious…
IF RETRIBUTION IS NOW THE AMERICAN WAY, then we already, as a nation, are no longer the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. We would have become AMERIKA. Or trumplandia. Some warped denigrated, deviant substitute.
And unfortunately, it seems obvious to me that we’re already moving very rapidly toward a fascist, theocratic, authoritarian dictatorship, on our way to a totalitarian state.
“Authoritarian leaders exercise power arbitrarily and without regard to existing laws or constitutional limitations, and typically cannot be replaced by citizens through freely conducted elections. The right to create opposing political parties that might compete for power with the ruling group is limited or prohibited in authoritarian states.”
“Totalitarianism is a form of government in which the state’s power is unlimited and controls virtually all aspects of public and private life. This control extends to all political and financial matters as well as the attitudes, morals, and beliefs of the people.
“In a totalitarian state, the government’s range of control over the people is virtually unlimited. The government controls nearly all aspects of the economy, politics, culture, and society. Education, religion, the arts and sciences, and even morality and reproductive rights are controlled by totalitarian governments.”
I think the GOP was already worried about this in his first term. Republicans who dared to oppose him, for instance voted for impeachment, said more agreed but feared for themselves & their families. They know about the harassment & threats from the public & what DJT’s willing to do.
There was the incident with Michael Cohen with Barr as AG. He was being released to home confinement like other prisoners during covid - only for DOJ to show up with fake forms to sign to guarantee his silence. Cohen refused & was put in solitary confinement. A judge ruled it was retaliation & he got out.
All of it around the country sends a message. One by one they flipped or folded their tent & went home. They haven’t learned that lesson about hanging together.
It’s sad. The world’s wealthiest country increased taxes on and stripped benefits from the poor—to feed the wealthy. Gerrymander-elected government does not serve its people. Tear this house down. Give heathcare, food, and living wages to everyone. Here are 108 protest signs for your protests. Protesting is now critical for Occupied D.C. There is time to get signs printed for your protest group. Fill the hands of the signless. FreeDC!
Yes, Trump’s way but also the extremist-conservative way. Note: the Republican party purged traditional (reasonable and responsible) Republicans while the extremists (Christian-Nationalists) slid into the vacated positions. They chipped away at the parts of government that assisted the majority of working Americans, redistributing the wealth to the top of the economic ladder. Once Trump 2.0 came in, they took hatchets and machetes to whatever was left, claiming that this was what they had promised, voters wanted, and they now delivered - all the while ignoring that the promises they made were significantly less threatening, less chaotic and destructive to our society and economy than the ones they delivered. Trump is not the force behind this destruction, he’s just the face of it. Look behind the curtain and you’ll find the puppetmasters.
No president runs the country on his own. A president sets the direction. This is the direction he set. It’s mostly what was attempted in his first term - but on steroids with an implementation plan devised to do it quickly.
Because he was not completely successful his first term many were lulled into thinking he wouldn’t be in a 2nd term. But late in his 1st term they’d realized purging the federal workforce & all opposition was the only way to get the momentum to grab power from institutions. He started by taking over GOP. He pushed states to adopt new favorable rules to weaken the chances of a strong primary opponent. His staffers were working with the Heritage Foundation on Project 2025 - which has 2 economic plans. A more traditional conservative one and the tariffs (written by Navarro). The tariffs which are what he wanted.
I view it as more of a symbiotic relationship. This is the way he ran his businesses, mob-style on loyalty & with only a few key people doing the work. He has the cult following. The others needed him to make the scheme work.
This has been a long-term process and planning since the 1960s when civil rights alerted the right that it would not be easy to shift the country their way. Read the memo from Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell at https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/powellmemo/
The GOP takeover began under Nixon with the “silent majority”, Reagan moved it further along with “supply-side economics and the presidential blessing of greed; Gingrich's Contract with America and the loss of civility; Trump 1.0 was a trial run to see how far they could push the envelope; Trump 2.0 is the overthtrow of the democratic republic.
So you’re talking 60 yrs of history & I read it as recent history. I heard all that stuff in the 60s and 70s as we came out of the Red Scares. We could go back further. But the real question is what to do now.
No, what I’m saying is, we are now seeing the end result of a calculated plan, by a group of wealthy and influential men, that started farther back than we realize. The industrialists of the pre-WWII era hated FDR and the New Deal. They wanted to end it, but the war interrupted their plans. My guess is that there were meetings of small groups in the 1950s to layout a plan. They had to accelerate it after the 1960s to counter the progressive movement’s evolution after the war. This did not start with Trump- he is a means to a desired end.
No? I did not ever say this began with trump. I said we could go back further than 60 yrs. I will add that we also don’t need to guess. We can go back to clear markers such as 1886, Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Rail Road when SCOTUS first used the 14th Amendment to treat corporations as persons & set us on the path for Citizens United. Others prefer to point at the authors of the Constitution who needed to make comprises to have the Constitution ratified. Almost half were slaveholders and another sizable portion were merchants and businessmen.
We can speculate until the cows come home on whether they took advantage of opportunities or had a centuries old plan. But rehashing history doesn’t give us concrete steps to take now. It does not absolve trump of responsibility. He is controlling the levers of power.
If Richard Nixon were alive today, Trump and his band of maniacal marauders would be his political dream team.
As I read this essay, I wonder how many red-hatted MAGAts out there still love their dear leader or are now simply too afraid to say otherwise? We may be ignoring an opportunity to weed these people out and gain their support.
One more thing: as I follow Trump‘s rabidly rotten regimes roundups, the image of a crazed ‘lover’ beating his wife/partner bloody all while screeching, “I LOVE YOU!!!”
Everyone who voted for him isn’t in the red-hatted maga camp. The biggest voter group is independents / unaffiliated. The WH knew what they were doing would be unpopular. That’s why they took the steps in the order they did with great speed. It’s why his campaign & now the administration frame their targets as ‘criminals’ - only bad people like criminals. If the WH didn’t know they are alienating most voters there wouldn’t be a mid-census redistricting push.
The trump internal polls must be as bad as the public polling. I live in KY. Trump received over 64.5% of the vote. According to a YouGov poll in late July, only 35% believed the president is doing what needs to and 54% said he’s gone too far.
Buy party registration “too far”: 97% of Dems, 70% of Independents, 26% GOP. They also surveyed in Mississippi, Iowa, Maine & Utah where voters said he’s gone too far.
You bring up an interesting things with Nixon. He and trump became pen pals before trump got into politics. He also flew him on his plane on a few occasions to events. Trump decided Nixon’s big mistake was not destroying the tapes. He’s been known to say the difference between him & Nixon is that he’s not leaving.
Interesting, Ann. Thanks for posting this information, disturbing as it is. Trump didn’t take his own advice; he should have had all the materials stolen from the WH destroyed as well. However, he was probably right about one thing; that he is not leaving because the only way he is going to do that will be feet first.
Their momentum is increasing as they dismantle our Democracy and consolidate their power over our country. His biggest lie, "i'm going to be dictator for one day". And people laughed. This is not a joke, this is the destruction of our country and the world order. Do you really think he will allow a free and fair election in 15 months?
Yes, he told us. This is my response to Steven’s post -
Well, I’ll go out on a limb here and state the obvious…
IF RETRIBUTION IS NOW THE AMERICAN WAY, then we, as a nation, are already no longer the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. We would have become AMERIKA. Or trumplandia. Some warped denigrated, deviant substitute.
And unfortunately, it seems obvious to me that we’re already moving very rapidly toward a fascist, theocratic, authoritarian dictatorship, well on our way to a totalitarian state.
“Authoritarian leaders exercise power arbitrarily and without regard to existing laws or constitutional limitations, and typically cannot be replaced by citizens through freely conducted elections. The right to create opposing political parties that might compete for power with the ruling group is limited or prohibited in authoritarian states.”
“Totalitarianism is a form of government in which the state’s power is unlimited and controls virtually all aspects of public and private life. This control extends to all political and financial matters as well as the attitudes, morals, and beliefs of the people.
“In a totalitarian state, the government’s range of control over the people is virtually unlimited. The government controls nearly all aspects of the economy, politics, culture, and society. Education, religion, the arts and sciences, and even morality and reproductive rights are controlled by totalitarian governments.”
He is already and will do ‘everything’ to make that election not free and fair. Gerrymandering, voter suppression in any ways, lies, misinformation and disinformation etc. but this actually always has been the ‘conservative’ way to win elections, hasn’t it?
Who's next and where do we draw the line and when is it not hypocritical to accuse Trump of doing exactly the same thing that was done to him. Of course, in our eyes, Trump was already guilty when Mar-A Lago was searched but is there a real difference between then and now? My red line is when Obama's home is searched and at that point we might as well be ready for full blown fascism because that's where we are headed if not already there.
We’re already there. This is my comment to Steven’s post -
Well, I’ll go out on a limb here and state the obvious…
IF RETRIBUTION IS NOW THE AMERICAN WAY, then we are already, as a nation, no longer the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. We would have become AMERIKA. Or trumplandia. Some warped denigrated, deviant substitute.
And unfortunately, it seems quite obvious to me that we’re already moving very rapidly toward a fascist, theocratic, authoritarian dictatorship, well on our way to a totalitarian state.
“Authoritarian leaders exercise power arbitrarily and without regard to existing laws or constitutional limitations, and typically cannot be replaced by citizens through freely conducted elections. The right to create opposing political parties that might compete for power with the ruling group is limited or prohibited in authoritarian states.”
“Totalitarianism is a form of government in which the state’s power is unlimited and controls virtually all aspects of public and private life. This control extends to all political and financial matters as well as the attitudes, morals, and beliefs of the people.
“In a totalitarian state, the government’s range of control over the people is virtually unlimited. The government controls nearly all aspects of the economy, politics, culture, and society. Education, religion, the arts and sciences, and even morality and reproductive rights are controlled by totalitarian governments.”
There is no hypocrisy in my eyes in opposing this regime’s tactics. He is threatening & investigating his political “enemies”. The same principle applies whether it is Bolton or Obama, a member of the Federal Reserve board of governors, NY AG, a seated Senator, etc.
There are several differences between what is happening with Bolton & what happened at Mar a Lago.
• Bolton is on a political enemies list because he is a critic.
• He was investigated during trump’s first term over his book; briefly during Biden’s term.
• trump had previously threatened to arrest him & called him a traitor.
• trump ran on a platform of retribution.
* For almost a year and a half the federal government tried to get trump to return federal records.
* He returned a few and hid others.
* trump’s security team & advisors were notified in advance.
* It was trump who announced the search.
* a trump attorney, Christina Bob, was on the grounds while the search was conducted.
* trump publicly said they were his papers & the feds should return them
I believe we are well past ‘heading’ toward fascism.
Cuz Dump’s retribution against Bolton was made for TV. Blondi & Patel hints on X. New York Post offered ride-along exclusive. In full regalia, not plain clothes, FBI raids JB’s home. Same day DOJ owes his BFF’s files to Congress!
EXACTLY! This is how they operate -- made for TV drama while looking "movie tough." Such garbage. The fact it obscured Epstein news was an extra reason.
I thought the same thing. Imagine if we hadn't waited 1-1/2 years to "raid" MAL. And yet the both siders are saying Garland did the same thing. PS Trump saying he had no idea of this raid is obviously a joke - just like all the other stuff he conveniently knows nothing about
The whole bunch are pettifoggers: lawyers whose methods are petty, underhanded and disreputable. Revenge, for a bully like Trump, is the only "negotiating" tool he has. He does not have the intellect nor the emotional integrity to govern the United States any other way. America is full of bullies who are intellectually deficient with severe personality deficits. The rest of us want to be understanding and fair in our dealings, but that has allowed the bullies to take over. The pettifoggers in the House and Senate are the enablers of Trump and their fear of insignificance moves them to injustice.
I was going to say that hell yes we should protest this, but I'm also struck by the intelligence and eloquence of the people on this forum, who actually read books and care about history. This is the saddest part: that everyone in the country is capable of using their brains but so many would rather waste their lives on cage matches and collecting guns. What a country.
Two things: 1) This has always been the way this Felon did things. If you took him to court there were delays after delays and he NEVER has paid a penny of any judgement against him. He sued anyone at the drop of a hat to bleed them dry and bankrupt in court costs even if they ultimately "won" a judgement against him.
2) WE ARE ALREADY IN A FASCIST POLICE STATE, PEOPLE. WAKE THE HELL UP.
How are we to stop them when there is no independent DOJ or SCOTUS? Can't call the FBI, even when they kidnap and hold a TX state legislator hostage.
The only way to fight is massive nonviolent protests in the streets and hope you can convince the military not to shoot us down like Noem does dogs. Study history; massive protests of the many against the few have worked before and will again.
I just don't think this will end without bloodshed.
Agree, and in fact we’re already well beyond fascism…
The following was my response to Steven’s post -
Well, I’ll go out on a limb here and state the obvious.
IF RETRIBUTION IS NOW THE AMERICAN WAY, then we already, as a nation, are no longer the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. We would have become AMERIKA. Or trumplandia. Some warped denigrated, deviant substitute.
And unfortunately, it seems obvious to me that we’re already moving very rapidly toward a fascist, theocratic, authoritarian dictatorship, well on our way to a totalitarian state.
“Authoritarian leaders exercise power arbitrarily and without regard to existing laws or constitutional limitations, and typically cannot be replaced by citizens through freely conducted elections. The right to create opposing political parties that might compete for power with the ruling group is limited or prohibited in authoritarian states.”
“Totalitarianism is a form of government in which the state’s power is unlimited and controls virtually all aspects of public and private life. This control extends to all political and financial matters as well as the attitudes, morals, and beliefs of the people.
“In a totalitarian state, the government’s range of control over the people is virtually unlimited. The government controls nearly all aspects of the economy, politics, culture, and society. Education, religion, the arts and sciences, and even morality and reproductive rights are controlled by totalitarian governments.”
John Bolton is not exactly a sympathetic character for many Americans who identify as “progressives” and/or as Democrats, as I loosely do. I get that.
But any American who does not realize how dangerous it is when the United States government targets its legal residents and/or citizens in purely politically motivated legal investigations needs to read, or reread, German theologian and Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller’s 1946 poem, “First They Came.”
And I feel the same way about the Republicans in Congress who consistently give Trump a green light to trash the United States Constitution.
Because the fascist dictator may ultimately turn on anyone he deems as not loyal enough to him because he is loyal only to himself.
Therefore, the correct approach at this time, in my judgement, for Americans who, above all else, value freedom, justice, and democracy is for them to engage in mass civil disobedience in the way of weekly, perhaps even daily, public demonstrations; maybe go on a prolonged general strike, and possibly withhold paying their federal income taxes until the Trump regime’s fascist onslaught stops and the Epstein files are released.
I think the reason why Trump won’t release the Epstein files is because there may be information contained in them revealing that he is a pedo perv.
Also, Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate must do everything within their power to shut down the federal government after September 30 and accelerate Trump’s efforts to break the American economy.
Not to cause the American people suffering for the sake of suffering but so that more Americans are willing to do everything peaceful within their power to resist Trump. His job disapproval ratings in public opinion polls, at this juncture, are not high enough and there are not enough Americans who are strongly opposed to him and his policies to stop or, really even slow down, his fascist onslaught.
But if, or should I say when, Americans are forced to pay ten times as much as they are now for basic goods and services due to Trump’s idiotic and inflationary tariffs and depraved immigration policy and/or Trump’s ineptitude and malice causes Social Security to collapse that could change in a heartbeat.
Also, any funding of the U.S. government right now will simply give Trump more opportunities to abuse his power. And while I realize there is some chance Democrats will be blamed by most Americans if they are seeing by them as the reason the federal government shuts down, there are no better options right now and extreme times call for extreme measures.
If Democrats had shut down the federal government back in March and had been doing more all along to resist Trump, maybe American democracy would not be this close to collapsing.
During the Second World War in July of 1940, Sir Winston Churchill ordered a British naval attack on French Navy ships on the coast of French Algeria that killed 1,297 French servicemen in order to prevent those ships from falling into German hands after the Allied defeat in the Battle of France.
In order for there to be any chance of saving American democracy from Trump and regime’s fascist onslaught, Democrats and other anti-Trumpers are going to have to adopt, from a metaphorical standpoint, the exact same strategy. Because there is no greater threat to American democracy at this time than the Trump regime. I’m sorry that it has reached this point.
The earliest targets are those the public gives the least sympathy. That’s why authoritarians label all their enemies & other targets “criminals.” Only bad people support criminals.
A excellent question. Retribution has always been the way of Trump. Now he has a gang around him willing to obey and not question. I also think that is the way of most of his supporters. The thing is that it spreads like poison throughout society. Given time it will become the American way, without most people knowing that they are infected.
When you mentioned patriotism near the end today, I thought of the shirt I proudly wear often and especially to demonstrations and meetings. It says: “DISSENT IS PATRIOTIC”. From ACLU. Thanks for all you do. L. Linzey , MD
Reading daily the current rambling inconclusive commitments to demonstrating and protest and the possibilty of ending up in jail, I was reminded of an anecdote I read back when concerning Thereau and Emerson. Thereau refused to pay a tax he thought unjust and was arrested and thrown in jail. Emerson, while walking down the street, saw Thereau sitting behind his barred window, looking back at him. Emerson yelled out 'my good Henry, what are you doing in there?' Thereau replied 'my good Waldo, what are you doing out there?'
This is what happens when candidates are elected who ran for office with a retribution platform in one hand and a step-by-step plan to purge, defund & take over all aspects of the government in the other. This is not haphazard. It is a methodical “deconstruction”. He tried most of it in the 1st term but didn’t have a plan.
We saw aggressive DOGE purging of federal employees; arbitrary gutting of agency funding & institutions. Current funding priorities: more prisons and ICE. From Education to FEMA & health, priorities are tied to aggressive policing and detention / imprisonment. Under this administration “crime” is opposition - his enemies. He was clear during the campaign: “criminal” immigrants; “criminal” liberals; “criminals” who spoke out against him, exposed the truth or stood in his way.
The Project 2025 Tracker says 47% of the game plan has been completed. Others are in the works and some have not begun. This is Congresswoman Lofgren’s outline from 2024:
Not the American way…only trump’s way.
Trump wields the FBI as a weapon against dissent, chilling anyone who dares oppose him. The message is clear: criticize him, and the state will come for you.
Apparently MAGAs and Republicans are OK with this. I wonder how they will react with the FBI shows up at their homes because they didn't kiss the ring? When will enough be finally enough? How did we get here? When does this insanity come to an end? Are we going to allow this to continue?
This is what happens in authoritarian dictatorships. Fascism on display. This is right out of the dictators playbook. He said before the election he will rule as a dictator if elected and that is what he is doing.. 🤦♀️
We have gone down the road of fascism and if we don't do something soon we are gone!
This "We the People will NOT comply with tyranny" tee is more alive than ever 👇
https://libtees.dashery.com/products/78688428-we-the-people-will-not-comply-with-tyranny
Welcome to tyranny!
Absolutely. This is my initial response to Steven’s post-
Well, I’ll go out on a limb here and state the obvious…
IF RETRIBUTION IS NOW THE AMERICAN WAY, then we already, as a nation, are no longer the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. We would have become AMERIKA. Or trumplandia. Some warped denigrated, deviant substitute.
And unfortunately, it seems obvious to me that we’re already moving very rapidly toward a fascist, theocratic, authoritarian dictatorship, on our way to a totalitarian state.
“Authoritarian leaders exercise power arbitrarily and without regard to existing laws or constitutional limitations, and typically cannot be replaced by citizens through freely conducted elections. The right to create opposing political parties that might compete for power with the ruling group is limited or prohibited in authoritarian states.”
“Totalitarianism is a form of government in which the state’s power is unlimited and controls virtually all aspects of public and private life. This control extends to all political and financial matters as well as the attitudes, morals, and beliefs of the people.
“In a totalitarian state, the government’s range of control over the people is virtually unlimited. The government controls nearly all aspects of the economy, politics, culture, and society. Education, religion, the arts and sciences, and even morality and reproductive rights are controlled by totalitarian governments.”
Methinks we’re in deep trouble…
https://www.thoughtco.com/totalitarianism-authoritarianism-fascism-4147699
https://osbcontent.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/PC-00466.pdf - 14 characteristics of fascism
I think the GOP was already worried about this in his first term. Republicans who dared to oppose him, for instance voted for impeachment, said more agreed but feared for themselves & their families. They know about the harassment & threats from the public & what DJT’s willing to do.
There was the incident with Michael Cohen with Barr as AG. He was being released to home confinement like other prisoners during covid - only for DOJ to show up with fake forms to sign to guarantee his silence. Cohen refused & was put in solitary confinement. A judge ruled it was retaliation & he got out.
All of it around the country sends a message. One by one they flipped or folded their tent & went home. They haven’t learned that lesson about hanging together.
It’s sad. The world’s wealthiest country increased taxes on and stripped benefits from the poor—to feed the wealthy. Gerrymander-elected government does not serve its people. Tear this house down. Give heathcare, food, and living wages to everyone. Here are 108 protest signs for your protests. Protesting is now critical for Occupied D.C. There is time to get signs printed for your protest group. Fill the hands of the signless. FreeDC!
https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/protest-sign-sign-everywhere-a-sign
Yes, Trump’s way but also the extremist-conservative way. Note: the Republican party purged traditional (reasonable and responsible) Republicans while the extremists (Christian-Nationalists) slid into the vacated positions. They chipped away at the parts of government that assisted the majority of working Americans, redistributing the wealth to the top of the economic ladder. Once Trump 2.0 came in, they took hatchets and machetes to whatever was left, claiming that this was what they had promised, voters wanted, and they now delivered - all the while ignoring that the promises they made were significantly less threatening, less chaotic and destructive to our society and economy than the ones they delivered. Trump is not the force behind this destruction, he’s just the face of it. Look behind the curtain and you’ll find the puppetmasters.
No president runs the country on his own. A president sets the direction. This is the direction he set. It’s mostly what was attempted in his first term - but on steroids with an implementation plan devised to do it quickly.
Because he was not completely successful his first term many were lulled into thinking he wouldn’t be in a 2nd term. But late in his 1st term they’d realized purging the federal workforce & all opposition was the only way to get the momentum to grab power from institutions. He started by taking over GOP. He pushed states to adopt new favorable rules to weaken the chances of a strong primary opponent. His staffers were working with the Heritage Foundation on Project 2025 - which has 2 economic plans. A more traditional conservative one and the tariffs (written by Navarro). The tariffs which are what he wanted.
I view it as more of a symbiotic relationship. This is the way he ran his businesses, mob-style on loyalty & with only a few key people doing the work. He has the cult following. The others needed him to make the scheme work.
This has been a long-term process and planning since the 1960s when civil rights alerted the right that it would not be easy to shift the country their way. Read the memo from Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell at https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/powellmemo/
The GOP takeover began under Nixon with the “silent majority”, Reagan moved it further along with “supply-side economics and the presidential blessing of greed; Gingrich's Contract with America and the loss of civility; Trump 1.0 was a trial run to see how far they could push the envelope; Trump 2.0 is the overthtrow of the democratic republic.
So you’re talking 60 yrs of history & I read it as recent history. I heard all that stuff in the 60s and 70s as we came out of the Red Scares. We could go back further. But the real question is what to do now.
No, what I’m saying is, we are now seeing the end result of a calculated plan, by a group of wealthy and influential men, that started farther back than we realize. The industrialists of the pre-WWII era hated FDR and the New Deal. They wanted to end it, but the war interrupted their plans. My guess is that there were meetings of small groups in the 1950s to layout a plan. They had to accelerate it after the 1960s to counter the progressive movement’s evolution after the war. This did not start with Trump- he is a means to a desired end.
No? I did not ever say this began with trump. I said we could go back further than 60 yrs. I will add that we also don’t need to guess. We can go back to clear markers such as 1886, Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Rail Road when SCOTUS first used the 14th Amendment to treat corporations as persons & set us on the path for Citizens United. Others prefer to point at the authors of the Constitution who needed to make comprises to have the Constitution ratified. Almost half were slaveholders and another sizable portion were merchants and businessmen.
We can speculate until the cows come home on whether they took advantage of opportunities or had a centuries old plan. But rehashing history doesn’t give us concrete steps to take now. It does not absolve trump of responsibility. He is controlling the levers of power.
If Richard Nixon were alive today, Trump and his band of maniacal marauders would be his political dream team.
As I read this essay, I wonder how many red-hatted MAGAts out there still love their dear leader or are now simply too afraid to say otherwise? We may be ignoring an opportunity to weed these people out and gain their support.
One more thing: as I follow Trump‘s rabidly rotten regimes roundups, the image of a crazed ‘lover’ beating his wife/partner bloody all while screeching, “I LOVE YOU!!!”
Everyone who voted for him isn’t in the red-hatted maga camp. The biggest voter group is independents / unaffiliated. The WH knew what they were doing would be unpopular. That’s why they took the steps in the order they did with great speed. It’s why his campaign & now the administration frame their targets as ‘criminals’ - only bad people like criminals. If the WH didn’t know they are alienating most voters there wouldn’t be a mid-census redistricting push.
The trump internal polls must be as bad as the public polling. I live in KY. Trump received over 64.5% of the vote. According to a YouGov poll in late July, only 35% believed the president is doing what needs to and 54% said he’s gone too far.
Buy party registration “too far”: 97% of Dems, 70% of Independents, 26% GOP. They also surveyed in Mississippi, Iowa, Maine & Utah where voters said he’s gone too far.
You bring up an interesting things with Nixon. He and trump became pen pals before trump got into politics. He also flew him on his plane on a few occasions to events. Trump decided Nixon’s big mistake was not destroying the tapes. He’s been known to say the difference between him & Nixon is that he’s not leaving.
Interesting, Ann. Thanks for posting this information, disturbing as it is. Trump didn’t take his own advice; he should have had all the materials stolen from the WH destroyed as well. However, he was probably right about one thing; that he is not leaving because the only way he is going to do that will be feet first.
Their momentum is increasing as they dismantle our Democracy and consolidate their power over our country. His biggest lie, "i'm going to be dictator for one day". And people laughed. This is not a joke, this is the destruction of our country and the world order. Do you really think he will allow a free and fair election in 15 months?
Yes, he told us. This is my response to Steven’s post -
Well, I’ll go out on a limb here and state the obvious…
IF RETRIBUTION IS NOW THE AMERICAN WAY, then we, as a nation, are already no longer the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. We would have become AMERIKA. Or trumplandia. Some warped denigrated, deviant substitute.
And unfortunately, it seems obvious to me that we’re already moving very rapidly toward a fascist, theocratic, authoritarian dictatorship, well on our way to a totalitarian state.
“Authoritarian leaders exercise power arbitrarily and without regard to existing laws or constitutional limitations, and typically cannot be replaced by citizens through freely conducted elections. The right to create opposing political parties that might compete for power with the ruling group is limited or prohibited in authoritarian states.”
“Totalitarianism is a form of government in which the state’s power is unlimited and controls virtually all aspects of public and private life. This control extends to all political and financial matters as well as the attitudes, morals, and beliefs of the people.
“In a totalitarian state, the government’s range of control over the people is virtually unlimited. The government controls nearly all aspects of the economy, politics, culture, and society. Education, religion, the arts and sciences, and even morality and reproductive rights are controlled by totalitarian governments.”
Methinks we’re in deep trouble…
https://www.thoughtco.com/totalitarianism-authoritarianism-fascism-4147699
https://osbcontent.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/PC-00466.pdf - 14 characteristics of fascism
He is already and will do ‘everything’ to make that election not free and fair. Gerrymandering, voter suppression in any ways, lies, misinformation and disinformation etc. but this actually always has been the ‘conservative’ way to win elections, hasn’t it?
I totally agree. I keep thinking that we're entering a modern version of the American civil war, which for many people never ended.
No, and he meant to be dictator from day one and all days thereafter.
Absolutely. He's never really hidden who he really is, and what his intentions are.
Who's next and where do we draw the line and when is it not hypocritical to accuse Trump of doing exactly the same thing that was done to him. Of course, in our eyes, Trump was already guilty when Mar-A Lago was searched but is there a real difference between then and now? My red line is when Obama's home is searched and at that point we might as well be ready for full blown fascism because that's where we are headed if not already there.
Tragically, I think we need to be ready now.
Yes, methinks we’re in deep trouble
We’re already there. This is my comment to Steven’s post -
Well, I’ll go out on a limb here and state the obvious…
IF RETRIBUTION IS NOW THE AMERICAN WAY, then we are already, as a nation, no longer the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. We would have become AMERIKA. Or trumplandia. Some warped denigrated, deviant substitute.
And unfortunately, it seems quite obvious to me that we’re already moving very rapidly toward a fascist, theocratic, authoritarian dictatorship, well on our way to a totalitarian state.
“Authoritarian leaders exercise power arbitrarily and without regard to existing laws or constitutional limitations, and typically cannot be replaced by citizens through freely conducted elections. The right to create opposing political parties that might compete for power with the ruling group is limited or prohibited in authoritarian states.”
“Totalitarianism is a form of government in which the state’s power is unlimited and controls virtually all aspects of public and private life. This control extends to all political and financial matters as well as the attitudes, morals, and beliefs of the people.
“In a totalitarian state, the government’s range of control over the people is virtually unlimited. The government controls nearly all aspects of the economy, politics, culture, and society. Education, religion, the arts and sciences, and even morality and reproductive rights are controlled by totalitarian governments.”
Methinks we’re in deep trouble…
https://www.thoughtco.com/totalitarianism-authoritarianism-fascism-4147699
https://osbcontent.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/PC-00466.pdf - 14 characteristics of fascism
There is no hypocrisy in my eyes in opposing this regime’s tactics. He is threatening & investigating his political “enemies”. The same principle applies whether it is Bolton or Obama, a member of the Federal Reserve board of governors, NY AG, a seated Senator, etc.
There are several differences between what is happening with Bolton & what happened at Mar a Lago.
• Bolton is on a political enemies list because he is a critic.
• He was investigated during trump’s first term over his book; briefly during Biden’s term.
• trump had previously threatened to arrest him & called him a traitor.
• trump ran on a platform of retribution.
* For almost a year and a half the federal government tried to get trump to return federal records.
* He returned a few and hid others.
* trump’s security team & advisors were notified in advance.
* It was trump who announced the search.
* a trump attorney, Christina Bob, was on the grounds while the search was conducted.
* trump publicly said they were his papers & the feds should return them
I believe we are well past ‘heading’ toward fascism.
Holy shit - can you imagine that? What would the fallout be from that!
And they gave Trump fair warning before they came. None of that for Bolton!
WHY NOT A SUBPOENA?
Cuz Dump’s retribution against Bolton was made for TV. Blondi & Patel hints on X. New York Post offered ride-along exclusive. In full regalia, not plain clothes, FBI raids JB’s home. Same day DOJ owes his BFF’s files to Congress!
EXACTLY! This is how they operate -- made for TV drama while looking "movie tough." Such garbage. The fact it obscured Epstein news was an extra reason.
I thought the same thing. Imagine if we hadn't waited 1-1/2 years to "raid" MAL. And yet the both siders are saying Garland did the same thing. PS Trump saying he had no idea of this raid is obviously a joke - just like all the other stuff he conveniently knows nothing about
Not a joke. More like a LIE.
The whole bunch are pettifoggers: lawyers whose methods are petty, underhanded and disreputable. Revenge, for a bully like Trump, is the only "negotiating" tool he has. He does not have the intellect nor the emotional integrity to govern the United States any other way. America is full of bullies who are intellectually deficient with severe personality deficits. The rest of us want to be understanding and fair in our dealings, but that has allowed the bullies to take over. The pettifoggers in the House and Senate are the enablers of Trump and their fear of insignificance moves them to injustice.
Right you are. These cultists have no interest in real governance. That—unlike wanton destruction—is hard.
I’ve been watching The Roosevelts on PBS. I urge everyone to watch it. It was so great when both parties compromised on policies.
Thanks for flagging, Kim.
I honestly believe I learned more about the Roosevelt family from watching that documentary than I ever learned in high school or college.
Nope it’s not. America 🇺🇸 is our land give me, a break. Lady Liberty 🗽. Is our way. Give me your tired , warm huddled masses yearning to be free. 🆓
That's the spirit.
I was going to say that hell yes we should protest this, but I'm also struck by the intelligence and eloquence of the people on this forum, who actually read books and care about history. This is the saddest part: that everyone in the country is capable of using their brains but so many would rather waste their lives on cage matches and collecting guns. What a country.
I’m so saddened by these ridiculous happenings. Who are we. What have we become. There’s a protest on Sept 20. BE THERE.
Two things: 1) This has always been the way this Felon did things. If you took him to court there were delays after delays and he NEVER has paid a penny of any judgement against him. He sued anyone at the drop of a hat to bleed them dry and bankrupt in court costs even if they ultimately "won" a judgement against him.
2) WE ARE ALREADY IN A FASCIST POLICE STATE, PEOPLE. WAKE THE HELL UP.
How are we to stop them when there is no independent DOJ or SCOTUS? Can't call the FBI, even when they kidnap and hold a TX state legislator hostage.
The only way to fight is massive nonviolent protests in the streets and hope you can convince the military not to shoot us down like Noem does dogs. Study history; massive protests of the many against the few have worked before and will again.
I just don't think this will end without bloodshed.
Agree, and in fact we’re already well beyond fascism…
The following was my response to Steven’s post -
Well, I’ll go out on a limb here and state the obvious.
IF RETRIBUTION IS NOW THE AMERICAN WAY, then we already, as a nation, are no longer the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. We would have become AMERIKA. Or trumplandia. Some warped denigrated, deviant substitute.
And unfortunately, it seems obvious to me that we’re already moving very rapidly toward a fascist, theocratic, authoritarian dictatorship, well on our way to a totalitarian state.
“Authoritarian leaders exercise power arbitrarily and without regard to existing laws or constitutional limitations, and typically cannot be replaced by citizens through freely conducted elections. The right to create opposing political parties that might compete for power with the ruling group is limited or prohibited in authoritarian states.”
“Totalitarianism is a form of government in which the state’s power is unlimited and controls virtually all aspects of public and private life. This control extends to all political and financial matters as well as the attitudes, morals, and beliefs of the people.
“In a totalitarian state, the government’s range of control over the people is virtually unlimited. The government controls nearly all aspects of the economy, politics, culture, and society. Education, religion, the arts and sciences, and even morality and reproductive rights are controlled by totalitarian governments.”
Methinks we’re in deep trouble…
https://www.thoughtco.com/totalitarianism-authoritarianism-fascism-4147699
https://osbcontent.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/PC-00466.pdf - 14 characteristics of fascism
Why is this comment repeated over and over and over???
Steven,
John Bolton is not exactly a sympathetic character for many Americans who identify as “progressives” and/or as Democrats, as I loosely do. I get that.
But any American who does not realize how dangerous it is when the United States government targets its legal residents and/or citizens in purely politically motivated legal investigations needs to read, or reread, German theologian and Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller’s 1946 poem, “First They Came.”
And I feel the same way about the Republicans in Congress who consistently give Trump a green light to trash the United States Constitution.
Because the fascist dictator may ultimately turn on anyone he deems as not loyal enough to him because he is loyal only to himself.
Therefore, the correct approach at this time, in my judgement, for Americans who, above all else, value freedom, justice, and democracy is for them to engage in mass civil disobedience in the way of weekly, perhaps even daily, public demonstrations; maybe go on a prolonged general strike, and possibly withhold paying their federal income taxes until the Trump regime’s fascist onslaught stops and the Epstein files are released.
I think the reason why Trump won’t release the Epstein files is because there may be information contained in them revealing that he is a pedo perv.
Also, Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate must do everything within their power to shut down the federal government after September 30 and accelerate Trump’s efforts to break the American economy.
Not to cause the American people suffering for the sake of suffering but so that more Americans are willing to do everything peaceful within their power to resist Trump. His job disapproval ratings in public opinion polls, at this juncture, are not high enough and there are not enough Americans who are strongly opposed to him and his policies to stop or, really even slow down, his fascist onslaught.
But if, or should I say when, Americans are forced to pay ten times as much as they are now for basic goods and services due to Trump’s idiotic and inflationary tariffs and depraved immigration policy and/or Trump’s ineptitude and malice causes Social Security to collapse that could change in a heartbeat.
Also, any funding of the U.S. government right now will simply give Trump more opportunities to abuse his power. And while I realize there is some chance Democrats will be blamed by most Americans if they are seeing by them as the reason the federal government shuts down, there are no better options right now and extreme times call for extreme measures.
If Democrats had shut down the federal government back in March and had been doing more all along to resist Trump, maybe American democracy would not be this close to collapsing.
During the Second World War in July of 1940, Sir Winston Churchill ordered a British naval attack on French Navy ships on the coast of French Algeria that killed 1,297 French servicemen in order to prevent those ships from falling into German hands after the Allied defeat in the Battle of France.
In order for there to be any chance of saving American democracy from Trump and regime’s fascist onslaught, Democrats and other anti-Trumpers are going to have to adopt, from a metaphorical standpoint, the exact same strategy. Because there is no greater threat to American democracy at this time than the Trump regime. I’m sorry that it has reached this point.
Sincerely,
David Hurwitz
The earliest targets are those the public gives the least sympathy. That’s why authoritarians label all their enemies & other targets “criminals.” Only bad people support criminals.
Steve,
A excellent question. Retribution has always been the way of Trump. Now he has a gang around him willing to obey and not question. I also think that is the way of most of his supporters. The thing is that it spreads like poison throughout society. Given time it will become the American way, without most people knowing that they are infected.
All the best.
Steve Dundas
When you mentioned patriotism near the end today, I thought of the shirt I proudly wear often and especially to demonstrations and meetings. It says: “DISSENT IS PATRIOTIC”. From ACLU. Thanks for all you do. L. Linzey , MD
Great t-shirt. Thx, Linda.
Reading daily the current rambling inconclusive commitments to demonstrating and protest and the possibilty of ending up in jail, I was reminded of an anecdote I read back when concerning Thereau and Emerson. Thereau refused to pay a tax he thought unjust and was arrested and thrown in jail. Emerson, while walking down the street, saw Thereau sitting behind his barred window, looking back at him. Emerson yelled out 'my good Henry, what are you doing in there?' Thereau replied 'my good Waldo, what are you doing out there?'
If you are an asshat
Haha.
This is what happens when candidates are elected who ran for office with a retribution platform in one hand and a step-by-step plan to purge, defund & take over all aspects of the government in the other. This is not haphazard. It is a methodical “deconstruction”. He tried most of it in the 1st term but didn’t have a plan.
We saw aggressive DOGE purging of federal employees; arbitrary gutting of agency funding & institutions. Current funding priorities: more prisons and ICE. From Education to FEMA & health, priorities are tied to aggressive policing and detention / imprisonment. Under this administration “crime” is opposition - his enemies. He was clear during the campaign: “criminal” immigrants; “criminal” liberals; “criminals” who spoke out against him, exposed the truth or stood in his way.
STRENGTHENING AND UNLEASHING AMERICA’S LAW ENFORCEMENT TO PURSUE CRIMINALS AND PROTECT INNOCENT CITIZENS https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/strengthening-and-unleashing-americas-law-enforcement-to-pursue-criminals-and-protect-innocent-citizens/
The Project 2025 Tracker says 47% of the game plan has been completed. Others are in the works and some have not begun. This is Congresswoman Lofgren’s outline from 2024:
https://lofgren.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/lofgren.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/Stop%20Project%202025%20Task%20Force's%20Project%202025%20Subject-by-Subject%20Breakdown_7.26.2024.docx-compressed.pdf