Thank you for a heartfelt, gut wrenching piece. Not easy to write it, read it , or live through it these days. There is no putting a good face on any of it. It comes down to the courts, ( and some of them are handing him wins 🥲) , and whether they comply with court orders. As you say, not so far. For my part short term there are daily phone calls to both state offices and DC offices of my Senators and representative to let them know what I want them to do, and what I am unhappy about or ( when they did something laudible) to thank them for that. Overkill? It’s a numbers game in the end, how many people call on an issue, from which zip code. Does not matter if it is the same ones. Also I am heartened by the people showing up at demonstrations. I am sure they don’t care about 200 people, but if the movement swells with more people affected as time goes on maybe they will care about 100,000. ( or perhaps “just shoot them in the leg?” I hope not. ) That has been more difficult for me to attend this past month as I have not been well, but I am hopeful will be able to soon. I have a statewide Indivisible group. A few friends who are equally outraged. But it feels like we are all floundering, to be honest. I am not optimistic at all. I am quite pessimistic. It’s so easy to break things and a lot harder ( and sometimes impossible) to put them back together again. If this goes on too long, we may no longer have a democracy.
And to say nothing of the fact that Trump is meeting with Putin in Saudi Arabia to carve up Ukraine after Vance turned on Europe in Munich. The shame and betrayal is almost more than I can bear. 💔
It's gotten worse, with Trump posting yesterday "He who saves his Country does not violate any law," his version of Nixon's ""When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal" yet more ominous. Between Vance's tweet, Bondi's career-long willingness to trade rule of law for a position of power and this post by Trump meant to proactively absolve him and his boss Musk, it's clear that, contrary to what many pundits are saying, we're not on the edge of a constitutional crisis but have, as you pointed out, already plunged.
So sad to say you're right, all of it is correct. I have an idea of how we got here: 1. A republic built on lies and myth which created a citizenry unable to accept the truth--primed for the comfort of more lies. 2. Tolerating racism- set up the citizenry for "othering," which brings a tolerance for inhumanity. trump has leveraged that to build a base. 3. Lack of mental health care- you have to be batshit to think trump is president material. 4. Orchestrated ignorance and the sabotage of public education-once people lose the ability for critical thinking, you can sell them anything. What do we do? I don't know, but I believe that using laws against the lawless is a waste of time in this situation. I guess that we have to fight fire with fire and stop bringing high tea into a boxing ring.
Exactly what I’ve been thinking, the constitutional crisis is happening before our eyes! It’s also an uneducated, willfully ignorant population crisis. Not one elected Republican, WHO ALL KNOW BETTER, are stepping up to call out this injustice. They’ve all with few exceptions (McConnell for one wouldn’t have bucked JFK Jr unless he knew his vote wasn’t needed) voted to confirm ALL of these unqualified cabinet positions, and why? Because of the ignorant pig headed voters that put them in office! It’s the people of the country! The voters and the non-voters, just like the stupid Bernie voters that went with “Shill” Jill Stien, if their candidate didn’t win they didn’t care or give a damn, that sending a message bullshit thinking! The real blame for all of this is OUR POPULACE! Just like here in Texas, we keep electing and reelecting vile, corrupt, lying, politicians from the governor to the president, and the loathed Ted Cruz won by a larger margin this last time than before and so did Trump here! I keep hearing pundits and hopeful politicians say to listeners, remember we have the mid/terms coming and all we need is to pick up two seats, REALLY? We’ll be lucky to have another fair election in any close seat!
I think Democracy in this country is over and it’s happening right before our eyes at lightning speed. I read and hear references to Hitler, and there are many, but it’s also more of a Putin play book.
I’ve not watched any cable news since the election and only read what I can stomach because it’s to depressing. I try to stay occupied with work, fishing, and planing fishing outings to keep sane.
Funny how there's never a *GOOD GUYS* coup around when you need one. (I know, I know...) But no one's coming to arrest these fuckers and it kinda pains me. Maybe we can drop a load of press releases on 'em from a great height. Throw in a few senators for ballast.
Perhaps one of the best articles ever written about the deranged shit happening in the Musk administration. It’s written that Hitler was able to dismantle Germany’s democracy in just 50 days. We’re not too far off from the 50 day mark, so I’m guessing that boss Elon and his underling Donnie Capone are telling his “crew” to step up the pace!!
That video , both videos are incredibly shocking. I agree the Cheetos and beer statement , no one is wanting to look at the catastropic situation the US is in. What to do, is a good question. Strike? Walk outs? Marches?
Thank you for a heartfelt, gut wrenching piece. Not easy to write it, read it , or live through it these days. There is no putting a good face on any of it. It comes down to the courts, ( and some of them are handing him wins 🥲) , and whether they comply with court orders. As you say, not so far. For my part short term there are daily phone calls to both state offices and DC offices of my Senators and representative to let them know what I want them to do, and what I am unhappy about or ( when they did something laudible) to thank them for that. Overkill? It’s a numbers game in the end, how many people call on an issue, from which zip code. Does not matter if it is the same ones. Also I am heartened by the people showing up at demonstrations. I am sure they don’t care about 200 people, but if the movement swells with more people affected as time goes on maybe they will care about 100,000. ( or perhaps “just shoot them in the leg?” I hope not. ) That has been more difficult for me to attend this past month as I have not been well, but I am hopeful will be able to soon. I have a statewide Indivisible group. A few friends who are equally outraged. But it feels like we are all floundering, to be honest. I am not optimistic at all. I am quite pessimistic. It’s so easy to break things and a lot harder ( and sometimes impossible) to put them back together again. If this goes on too long, we may no longer have a democracy.
And to say nothing of the fact that Trump is meeting with Putin in Saudi Arabia to carve up Ukraine after Vance turned on Europe in Munich. The shame and betrayal is almost more than I can bear. 💔
It's gotten worse, with Trump posting yesterday "He who saves his Country does not violate any law," his version of Nixon's ""When the President does it, that means that it is not illegal" yet more ominous. Between Vance's tweet, Bondi's career-long willingness to trade rule of law for a position of power and this post by Trump meant to proactively absolve him and his boss Musk, it's clear that, contrary to what many pundits are saying, we're not on the edge of a constitutional crisis but have, as you pointed out, already plunged.
So sad to say you're right, all of it is correct. I have an idea of how we got here: 1. A republic built on lies and myth which created a citizenry unable to accept the truth--primed for the comfort of more lies. 2. Tolerating racism- set up the citizenry for "othering," which brings a tolerance for inhumanity. trump has leveraged that to build a base. 3. Lack of mental health care- you have to be batshit to think trump is president material. 4. Orchestrated ignorance and the sabotage of public education-once people lose the ability for critical thinking, you can sell them anything. What do we do? I don't know, but I believe that using laws against the lawless is a waste of time in this situation. I guess that we have to fight fire with fire and stop bringing high tea into a boxing ring.
What are we going to do about it? The only option remaining is to take to the streets. I hope the military will be on our side.
Exactly what I’ve been thinking, the constitutional crisis is happening before our eyes! It’s also an uneducated, willfully ignorant population crisis. Not one elected Republican, WHO ALL KNOW BETTER, are stepping up to call out this injustice. They’ve all with few exceptions (McConnell for one wouldn’t have bucked JFK Jr unless he knew his vote wasn’t needed) voted to confirm ALL of these unqualified cabinet positions, and why? Because of the ignorant pig headed voters that put them in office! It’s the people of the country! The voters and the non-voters, just like the stupid Bernie voters that went with “Shill” Jill Stien, if their candidate didn’t win they didn’t care or give a damn, that sending a message bullshit thinking! The real blame for all of this is OUR POPULACE! Just like here in Texas, we keep electing and reelecting vile, corrupt, lying, politicians from the governor to the president, and the loathed Ted Cruz won by a larger margin this last time than before and so did Trump here! I keep hearing pundits and hopeful politicians say to listeners, remember we have the mid/terms coming and all we need is to pick up two seats, REALLY? We’ll be lucky to have another fair election in any close seat!
I think Democracy in this country is over and it’s happening right before our eyes at lightning speed. I read and hear references to Hitler, and there are many, but it’s also more of a Putin play book.
I’ve not watched any cable news since the election and only read what I can stomach because it’s to depressing. I try to stay occupied with work, fishing, and planing fishing outings to keep sane.
Funny how there's never a *GOOD GUYS* coup around when you need one. (I know, I know...) But no one's coming to arrest these fuckers and it kinda pains me. Maybe we can drop a load of press releases on 'em from a great height. Throw in a few senators for ballast.
I’m open to all suggestions and any form of leadership, bro. Please advise.
Perhaps one of the best articles ever written about the deranged shit happening in the Musk administration. It’s written that Hitler was able to dismantle Germany’s democracy in just 50 days. We’re not too far off from the 50 day mark, so I’m guessing that boss Elon and his underling Donnie Capone are telling his “crew” to step up the pace!!
That video , both videos are incredibly shocking. I agree the Cheetos and beer statement , no one is wanting to look at the catastropic situation the US is in. What to do, is a good question. Strike? Walk outs? Marches?
Well done Jim. All so sad but so true. I might be an ex-pat before too long. Keep up the great work and real journalism.