This is not the time to panic. It is the time to organize. It’s time to educate. It’s time to spread the word. After all that has happened since Trump’s Rebellion of January 6, 2021, he is on the loose. He continues to attack our Constitution and democracy. Suggestions that democracy and our Constitution are not functioning properly have a ring of truth. Every day he is not called to account by law is a sign of weakness; a steady drip, drip, drip of acid upon the rock. For three years this white privileged billionaire male has exploited the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Section 3. I’m shocked, disgusted and disturbed this has gone on for so long. General Benedict Arnold only tried to give West Point to the British. He had to flee to England to dodge the hangman’s noose. Our dear former 45th President led a sneak attack on the U.S. Capitol. He’s free. He’s inciting more dangerous actions against the Constitution and democracy. Drip, drip, drip. Unbelievable. This is not America. https://johnadamsingram.substack.com
Yes, which makes the 4 yrs “not enough time” irrelevant. He spent 4 yrs learning how to do it. He will have had another 4 yrs preparing as are his allies like those involved in Project 2025. Their express purpose is to be ready with the agenda, steps & with personnel to eliminate those who can slow the roll.
Thank you. Keep ringing the alarm bells and please try and reach those who are not yet convinced. Trump wins, we are out of NATO, Putin takes over Ukraine and tries to expand further. Europe is threatened, which means the whole balance of power in the world is threatened. The US will become an ally of Russia and forsake democratic countries. In the United States, he will bully legislators and his followers will launch death. Fretz against legislators, who, in order to protect themselves in their families, will then pass whatever laws he wants, likely a version of the Enabling Act. Legislators are already being threatened and afraid, and have not stood up to him even though behind the scenes they acknowledge they know the truth. So you are correct… It may not take long before we are a dictatorship and even worse, it wouldn’t be long before Putin, this century’s Hitler, takes over, as much as he possibly can.
Edit above: "death threats against legislators...", not "death. Fretz." Hate autocorrect sometimes. Often not there when you need it, and often there when you don't need it. :)
Trump has been creating chaos and continued to undermine and target our Constitution, judicial and legislation branches of government for nearly four years since loosing the 2020 election and leaving office in disgrace. By my count, he’s been at this for nearly 8 years. Maybe some reporters at Politico have been asleep, but very few of us have.
Asli Aydintasba is terribly naive. She seems to think that Trump would be a lone operative and appears to be unaware of history: Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini; Franco. She ignores the fact Trump's grandfather was driven out of Germany because of the grandfather's support of Nazism. Trump's mother and father were active in the KKK. The seeds of hatred, violence and vigilantism were sown early-on. Trump and his minions are a serious threat to our democratic republic and should be regarded as the enemy domestic. Politico should be ashamed.
Asli should familiarize herself with the following from "GRAPHE" on Project 2025:
Quote: "The far right has made public its plans for an ‘ideal’ America if one of their allies wins the 2024 presidential election in its 2025 Presidential Transition Project. Project 2025 is spearheaded by the far-right think tank Heritage Foundation and supported by more than 80 organizations, many well-known for their extreme positions, and for pushing hate and Christian nationalism. The authors and supporters of Project 2025 claim this plan will “rescue the country” from “elite rule and woke cultural warriors.”
Their aims include “bringing together conservative allies with a common goal: to take back our country from the radical Left by developing a robust governing agenda and the right people to implement it.” And it has been reported, though denied, that internal Project 2025 discussions have centered around the next conservative president invoking the Insurrection Act on the first day in office to allow the military to quell civil unrest. Project 2025 is a threat to our democracy, and we must treat it as such." End quote.
Telling me not to panic only makes me panic more. She seems to overlook besides Project 2025 that trump has openly said he will be a dictator for one day. He will invoke the Insurrection Act and order the military into the streets.
Frankly they have been destroying our democracy already. Every ruling by the republican supreme court chips away at our democracy a piece at a time. The republican controlled states passing laws that allow book banning and removing curriculum simply by one person objecting is chipping away at our democracy. Gerrymandering our elections is chipping away at our democracy. Little by little they are destroying our democracy. Project 2025 will just complete the job.
This has been the Republican plot line since Nixon. With a few sidesteps here and there, the Republican tyranny has gone on with little resistance or pushback from Democrats. Democrats are in large part the reason Republicans have inserted themselves so widely within local and state legislatures. Democrats have been the enablers. How to rescue our republic now has become a bigger-than-life challenge.
1st term, interim 4 yrs as he & his allies (including Project 2025) prepare the plan etc.
And then a 2nd term to carry it out, with half or more states governed by GOP governors & / or AGs willing to meddle with others states. Plus, where do you suppose the database of journalists he was tracking went? And he wants Congress to make it easier to sue & otherwise punish them. They didn’t merely detain journalists - they did it in Mexico as journalists were trying to re-enter the US.
Thankfully and prayerfully, we must assume we will be spared the draconian aspects of another Trump presidency. If the U.S. fails, the world will fail where democracies are considered. "I am your retribution" will become "I am your retaliation, your recompense." Embedded in the psyche of the right-wingers is a belief that they have every right to punish, and punish severely, those who do not fall in line; their line. Trump functions from an irredeemible core of cruelty. Of course, he would not act directlly in such vile activities. He would have an ample cadre of agents to carry out his atrocities. Hyperbole? Hysteria? Perhaps. But, perhaps NOT. Hopefully, the gravity of this moment will not be lost on or diminished by the majority of Americans.
Because he couldn’t be legally elected again, I’m not sure how publicly he would be involved or why it would be a negative in his more. He can barely scare up the energy to get into a golf car so I agree that he’s not going to do anything himself except mob boss type orders. He has already publicly targeted people, specific media and former appointees & acting more unhinged. He wouldn’t be surrounded by people who try to restrain most of his urges. I’m not certain the public nature of what he wants wouldn’t continue in a bolder manner than last time.
Oh, and the news is reporting Weisselberg is in negotiations over a perjury plea. Also that Jack Smith’s team was told by witnesses there is a “hidden room” the agents did not find. There is also reporting that there was a locked closet which had the lock changed while DJT’s attorney was in the basement looking for classified docs. When the FBI was searching with a warrant they couldn’t get it open & decided not to break it open.
Sorry to say I can’t put much stock in the reporter’s efforts to calm the waters.
- Her math is WRONG. DJT already spent 4 yrs in office figuring out how to destroy us.
- He is spending another 4 yrs along with his funders & followers plotting, planning & propagandizing.
- If he has a 2nd term that means he will have spent 12 YEARS, not 4, deconstructing democracy.
- The entire purpose of Project 2025 is to not waste time; have a plan ready with a huge database of vetted loyalists; eliminate the barriers quickly.
* As for the courts, SCOTUS in particular - slow with no enforcement mechanism. We’ve already seen states try to worm out of following rulings. They will do so if there is a sympathetic DOJ.
* He’s said violence was warranted against people multiple times. As commander in chief he will not appoint anyone with scruples. He’s promised to bring back Mike Flynn.
* If he has a 2nd term, he will enter the WH in a raging fit of retribution with his target list ready. His minions are ready now.
As one who is a member of a class/group, I'm transgender, of people likely to be targeted early on I pay attention and am scared. As discussed in this post it is those who are unaware, even willfully so, of the potential for us to lose our Democracy and for groups of people such as those of us in the LGBTQ community, people of Color, etc. to become targets of discrimination and even violence who place us in danger. It frustrates me to no end how discussion of such realities is pooh poohed.
The “Pooh Poohers” need to think more broadly. The allies, friends or not hostile enough toward the targets = ‘traitor’ to the hardcore he activates. There is nothing worse than a traitor; not even the original target.
She may not be panicking but I’m sure getting close to it. Just reading Joyce Vance, Robert Reich and Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletters here on Substack is enough to turn my gray hair pure white. It would be one thing if our MSM were on top of things and acting like reporters ought to act or if we had more than just a few big newspapers to get the word out but all that is in our rear view mirror now. Local papers are kaput and only a tiny fraction of journalists actually are doing their jobs. The dirty bomb that is trump has exploded and contaminates just about everything it comes in contact with. And then there’s this too. https://www.theunpopulist.net?utm_source=navbar&utm_medium=web&r=np4n
So important, Stephen, and Mark! Thank you! We don’t want to minimize the very real threat to democracy a second Trump four years poses. It’s tragic, that the former oval office occupier is trying to weasel his way out of accountability for his wrongdoing and that there are followers that see him as a victim. You are so right in saying that we need to talk to everyone we can to keep a dictatorship from happening.
Well I’ve certainly seen enough from Trumps severely disordered personality to be aware , even if the author isn’t , that Trump already is being coached and encouraged to be an authoritarian. I’m not waiting till he writes it in the sky . We have much already to be worried about in this country , where the wealthiest Corporations run the show and have taken enough for the wealth of the majority of the citizens of this country .
He has already refused to relinquish his insistence that he won the election and has had lots of help from the likes of the Federalist Society to increase the willingness to play politics that can only be bought .
Look at the Supreme Court . Already having abandoned any reasonable ethical guidelines they have benefitted from some of the wealthiest people in this country’s buying and selling of the Constitution to suit their purposes. Much of the dysfunction of a Dictatorship exists already .
Please encourage people that care about Democracy to have serious concern for the planned installation of Trump as a leader in this Country again .
We know Putin owns Trump. Victor Orban has been invited several times to Republican Conventions to teach Authoritarian principles of government to these same Republicans .
I “feel” the tide is turning in Biden’s favor. Our fickle Citizenry may prove me wrong, but it appears Trump has too much shit going on; abortion/women’s health, his court cases, his deliriousness, “the women” Taylor & Nikki..., .... In retrospect, possibly the tide has already turned? What do you think?
One of the things that makes me lose hope is that poison is being sent out to right wing followers every day by outlets like Fox and Newsmax. I do not understand why we can’t do something about the lies and anti-American nonsense that they put out every day. Why can’t we uncover whatever support they have And get it through to their followers ? Free speech is one thing, but seems to me they are acting in treasonous ways, and there needs to be something that can stop their poison.
I do not know the author of the essay in Politico, but I’d venture to say that as a visiting fellow to the Center on the USA and Europe - The Türkiye Project, she doesn’t appear to have a grasp of the depth of Trump’s malevolent personality as well as his depraved indifference to all but himself. He certainly has demonstrated to be evil to the core, a liar par excellence and prone to bringing harm to whoever stands in his way. She really should stick to her knowledge of her own country.
This is not the time to panic. It is the time to organize. It’s time to educate. It’s time to spread the word. After all that has happened since Trump’s Rebellion of January 6, 2021, he is on the loose. He continues to attack our Constitution and democracy. Suggestions that democracy and our Constitution are not functioning properly have a ring of truth. Every day he is not called to account by law is a sign of weakness; a steady drip, drip, drip of acid upon the rock. For three years this white privileged billionaire male has exploited the First Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Section 3. I’m shocked, disgusted and disturbed this has gone on for so long. General Benedict Arnold only tried to give West Point to the British. He had to flee to England to dodge the hangman’s noose. Our dear former 45th President led a sneak attack on the U.S. Capitol. He’s free. He’s inciting more dangerous actions against the Constitution and democracy. Drip, drip, drip. Unbelievable. This is not America. https://johnadamsingram.substack.com
I forgot to note Trump’s Rebellion was an armed sneak attack, not unlike Pearl Harbor in only quantity and quality.
Yes, which makes the 4 yrs “not enough time” irrelevant. He spent 4 yrs learning how to do it. He will have had another 4 yrs preparing as are his allies like those involved in Project 2025. Their express purpose is to be ready with the agenda, steps & with personnel to eliminate those who can slow the roll.
It blows our minds that journalists like Asli appear unaware of the Project 2025 manifesto and the host of threats to American Democracy waiting in the wings that will immediately roll out if ANY Republican (with the party in its current incarnation) wins the presidency in November. Thank you for continuing to sound the alarm! https://michiganadvance.com/2024/01/16/project-2025-if-allowed-will-cement-america-as-a-rightwing-authoritarian-state/
Thank you. Keep ringing the alarm bells and please try and reach those who are not yet convinced. Trump wins, we are out of NATO, Putin takes over Ukraine and tries to expand further. Europe is threatened, which means the whole balance of power in the world is threatened. The US will become an ally of Russia and forsake democratic countries. In the United States, he will bully legislators and his followers will launch death. Fretz against legislators, who, in order to protect themselves in their families, will then pass whatever laws he wants, likely a version of the Enabling Act. Legislators are already being threatened and afraid, and have not stood up to him even though behind the scenes they acknowledge they know the truth. So you are correct… It may not take long before we are a dictatorship and even worse, it wouldn’t be long before Putin, this century’s Hitler, takes over, as much as he possibly can.
Yes, and Putin hasn’t aligned himself with Iran and China (as much as Xi allows) for nothing!
Edit above: "death threats against legislators...", not "death. Fretz." Hate autocorrect sometimes. Often not there when you need it, and often there when you don't need it. :)
Trump has been creating chaos and continued to undermine and target our Constitution, judicial and legislation branches of government for nearly four years since loosing the 2020 election and leaving office in disgrace. By my count, he’s been at this for nearly 8 years. Maybe some reporters at Politico have been asleep, but very few of us have.
Asli Aydintasba is terribly naive. She seems to think that Trump would be a lone operative and appears to be unaware of history: Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini; Franco. She ignores the fact Trump's grandfather was driven out of Germany because of the grandfather's support of Nazism. Trump's mother and father were active in the KKK. The seeds of hatred, violence and vigilantism were sown early-on. Trump and his minions are a serious threat to our democratic republic and should be regarded as the enemy domestic. Politico should be ashamed.
Asli should familiarize herself with the following from "GRAPHE" on Project 2025:
Quote: "The far right has made public its plans for an ‘ideal’ America if one of their allies wins the 2024 presidential election in its 2025 Presidential Transition Project. Project 2025 is spearheaded by the far-right think tank Heritage Foundation and supported by more than 80 organizations, many well-known for their extreme positions, and for pushing hate and Christian nationalism. The authors and supporters of Project 2025 claim this plan will “rescue the country” from “elite rule and woke cultural warriors.”
Their aims include “bringing together conservative allies with a common goal: to take back our country from the radical Left by developing a robust governing agenda and the right people to implement it.” And it has been reported, though denied, that internal Project 2025 discussions have centered around the next conservative president invoking the Insurrection Act on the first day in office to allow the military to quell civil unrest. Project 2025 is a threat to our democracy, and we must treat it as such." End quote.
Telling me not to panic only makes me panic more. She seems to overlook besides Project 2025 that trump has openly said he will be a dictator for one day. He will invoke the Insurrection Act and order the military into the streets.
Frankly they have been destroying our democracy already. Every ruling by the republican supreme court chips away at our democracy a piece at a time. The republican controlled states passing laws that allow book banning and removing curriculum simply by one person objecting is chipping away at our democracy. Gerrymandering our elections is chipping away at our democracy. Little by little they are destroying our democracy. Project 2025 will just complete the job.
This has been the Republican plot line since Nixon. With a few sidesteps here and there, the Republican tyranny has gone on with little resistance or pushback from Democrats. Democrats are in large part the reason Republicans have inserted themselves so widely within local and state legislatures. Democrats have been the enablers. How to rescue our republic now has become a bigger-than-life challenge.
It won’t be “4 years”. He would have 12 yrs.
1st term, interim 4 yrs as he & his allies (including Project 2025) prepare the plan etc.
And then a 2nd term to carry it out, with half or more states governed by GOP governors & / or AGs willing to meddle with others states. Plus, where do you suppose the database of journalists he was tracking went? And he wants Congress to make it easier to sue & otherwise punish them. They didn’t merely detain journalists - they did it in Mexico as journalists were trying to re-enter the US.
https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/the-u-s-government-tracked-detained-and-interrogated-journalists-were-suing
Thankfully and prayerfully, we must assume we will be spared the draconian aspects of another Trump presidency. If the U.S. fails, the world will fail where democracies are considered. "I am your retribution" will become "I am your retaliation, your recompense." Embedded in the psyche of the right-wingers is a belief that they have every right to punish, and punish severely, those who do not fall in line; their line. Trump functions from an irredeemible core of cruelty. Of course, he would not act directlly in such vile activities. He would have an ample cadre of agents to carry out his atrocities. Hyperbole? Hysteria? Perhaps. But, perhaps NOT. Hopefully, the gravity of this moment will not be lost on or diminished by the majority of Americans.
Because he couldn’t be legally elected again, I’m not sure how publicly he would be involved or why it would be a negative in his more. He can barely scare up the energy to get into a golf car so I agree that he’s not going to do anything himself except mob boss type orders. He has already publicly targeted people, specific media and former appointees & acting more unhinged. He wouldn’t be surrounded by people who try to restrain most of his urges. I’m not certain the public nature of what he wants wouldn’t continue in a bolder manner than last time.
Oh, and the news is reporting Weisselberg is in negotiations over a perjury plea. Also that Jack Smith’s team was told by witnesses there is a “hidden room” the agents did not find. There is also reporting that there was a locked closet which had the lock changed while DJT’s attorney was in the basement looking for classified docs. When the FBI was searching with a warrant they couldn’t get it open & decided not to break it open.
Purposefully disingenuous.
Sorry to say I can’t put much stock in the reporter’s efforts to calm the waters.
- Her math is WRONG. DJT already spent 4 yrs in office figuring out how to destroy us.
- He is spending another 4 yrs along with his funders & followers plotting, planning & propagandizing.
- If he has a 2nd term that means he will have spent 12 YEARS, not 4, deconstructing democracy.
- The entire purpose of Project 2025 is to not waste time; have a plan ready with a huge database of vetted loyalists; eliminate the barriers quickly.
* As for the courts, SCOTUS in particular - slow with no enforcement mechanism. We’ve already seen states try to worm out of following rulings. They will do so if there is a sympathetic DOJ.
* He has plans for the media. He tested the waters last time. The ACLU has a lawsuit that highlights some of it. He has also helped destroy trust in the media. https://www.aclu.org/news/civil-liberties/the-u-s-government-tracked-detained-and-interrogated-journalists-were-suing
* He’s said violence was warranted against people multiple times. As commander in chief he will not appoint anyone with scruples. He’s promised to bring back Mike Flynn.
* If he has a 2nd term, he will enter the WH in a raging fit of retribution with his target list ready. His minions are ready now.
Your math is more accurate.
My comment was similar to yours.
As one who is a member of a class/group, I'm transgender, of people likely to be targeted early on I pay attention and am scared. As discussed in this post it is those who are unaware, even willfully so, of the potential for us to lose our Democracy and for groups of people such as those of us in the LGBTQ community, people of Color, etc. to become targets of discrimination and even violence who place us in danger. It frustrates me to no end how discussion of such realities is pooh poohed.
The “Pooh Poohers” need to think more broadly. The allies, friends or not hostile enough toward the targets = ‘traitor’ to the hardcore he activates. There is nothing worse than a traitor; not even the original target.
She may not be panicking but I’m sure getting close to it. Just reading Joyce Vance, Robert Reich and Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletters here on Substack is enough to turn my gray hair pure white. It would be one thing if our MSM were on top of things and acting like reporters ought to act or if we had more than just a few big newspapers to get the word out but all that is in our rear view mirror now. Local papers are kaput and only a tiny fraction of journalists actually are doing their jobs. The dirty bomb that is trump has exploded and contaminates just about everything it comes in contact with. And then there’s this too. https://www.theunpopulist.net?utm_source=navbar&utm_medium=web&r=np4n
So important, Stephen, and Mark! Thank you! We don’t want to minimize the very real threat to democracy a second Trump four years poses. It’s tragic, that the former oval office occupier is trying to weasel his way out of accountability for his wrongdoing and that there are followers that see him as a victim. You are so right in saying that we need to talk to everyone we can to keep a dictatorship from happening.
Well I’ve certainly seen enough from Trumps severely disordered personality to be aware , even if the author isn’t , that Trump already is being coached and encouraged to be an authoritarian. I’m not waiting till he writes it in the sky . We have much already to be worried about in this country , where the wealthiest Corporations run the show and have taken enough for the wealth of the majority of the citizens of this country .
He has already refused to relinquish his insistence that he won the election and has had lots of help from the likes of the Federalist Society to increase the willingness to play politics that can only be bought .
Look at the Supreme Court . Already having abandoned any reasonable ethical guidelines they have benefitted from some of the wealthiest people in this country’s buying and selling of the Constitution to suit their purposes. Much of the dysfunction of a Dictatorship exists already .
Please encourage people that care about Democracy to have serious concern for the planned installation of Trump as a leader in this Country again .
We know Putin owns Trump. Victor Orban has been invited several times to Republican Conventions to teach Authoritarian principles of government to these same Republicans .
I “feel” the tide is turning in Biden’s favor. Our fickle Citizenry may prove me wrong, but it appears Trump has too much shit going on; abortion/women’s health, his court cases, his deliriousness, “the women” Taylor & Nikki..., .... In retrospect, possibly the tide has already turned? What do you think?
One of the things that makes me lose hope is that poison is being sent out to right wing followers every day by outlets like Fox and Newsmax. I do not understand why we can’t do something about the lies and anti-American nonsense that they put out every day. Why can’t we uncover whatever support they have And get it through to their followers ? Free speech is one thing, but seems to me they are acting in treasonous ways, and there needs to be something that can stop their poison.
I agree with both of you Steven and I for one will not be soft on what can and will happen if Trump gets back into office.
I do not know the author of the essay in Politico, but I’d venture to say that as a visiting fellow to the Center on the USA and Europe - The Türkiye Project, she doesn’t appear to have a grasp of the depth of Trump’s malevolent personality as well as his depraved indifference to all but himself. He certainly has demonstrated to be evil to the core, a liar par excellence and prone to bringing harm to whoever stands in his way. She really should stick to her knowledge of her own country.