Project 2025 - the gift that keeps on giving. Can't wait to see which side the military picks, ICE is already fully on board with FBI following as soon as Patel is confirmed. On the bright side, Congress can then relax and let Elon write the budget bills while The Don enjoys golfing. Who said the Republicrats would not establish a Christian nationalist paradise? Yay.
We're a little over two weeks into Trump's reign, and we already have a body count. The innocent pay the Trump tax with their lives. With MAGAs, death and misery are the price we pay. It's just how big is the bill going to be?
We need a call to action. Trump's chaos agenda needs to be turned on its head and thrown back at him. He's great at causing chaos because he doesn't care about consequences and he has no empathy. He's a psychopath, and so are his followers. But, he can't manage chaos. He folds. America's foes know this. All Trump has is his image and cruelty. If the oligarchs weren't propping him up, he would be toast.
The think tankers who wrote his agenda for him also seem indifferent to the pain they're causing to real people while they try to reengineer the whole government and society.
If it's the Heritage folks, that's Koch's pet project I believe. And, he doesn't give a shit about anybody but himself. Take it from a Kansan. He thinks crushing normal people is good for them. He thinks we're all spoiled brats living off his largesse.
I am waiting for someone in the press core to say: “Mr President stop saying stupid things.”DEI did not cause the air crash at Reagan National Airport.
Me neither. I am in my early 70s and have lived through about 12 different Presidents. We have never had one like the current office holder. I am frustrated that my two adult children in their 40s don't seem to worry much about what is happening, which in my view is a slow slide toward oligarchy. I was a college student during the early 1970s and I remember the demonstrations that drew large crowds on a variety of issues, including the Vietnam War, equal rights, ect. Where are the protests today? Why aren't the Democrats organizing? The resistance feels quite timid.
Hitler rose to power partly through political divisions among traditional conservative Germans, socialists and communists. In the 1920's and 30's Germany's economy was really bad with hyperinflation and poverty. Hitler scapegoated Jews and those with "non-pure" blood and he had a receptive audience in that economic time. His rise was in part due to persistence among his followers and their need to find a scapegoat, together with the idea that the "God-like leader "could rescue them and return their country to greatness.
Trumpism has some things in common with Hitler's approach. But it differs in that Trump lacks any core ideology other than enriching himself. But he does use many of the same tools as Hitler- bashing political opponents, blaming political opponents, deriding the press, and promoting violence.
Our only hope in avoiding slipping into autocracy is that people will wake up and realize that he does not care about the citizenry. I don't expect help from his Republican party, since most of them have already sold out for their own personal gain.
One of his core tactics - which is used heavily by his allies - is the claim that any impediment to his will is a form of "corruption." The whole "drain the swamp" war cry had little if anything to do with corruption as it is normally understood. It was just a righteous veneer on a wrecking ball.
For all readers=supporters of The Bulwark, I suggest 2 books as primers on how things can go downhill very fast:
Defying Hitler: A Memoir by Sebastian Haffner published in English translation 2003 and Takeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power by Timothy Rybeck. On Tyranny and other work by Timothy Snyder. ALSO it could be very helpful to read After Ten Years by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, especially the section on the danger of stupidity cultivated by authoritarian regimes. This last is published by Fortress Press with introduction by Victoria J. Barnett. We must understand what we are up against. Whenever people are issuing decrees in place of thoughtful legislative initiatives, when totally incompetent frauds, liars, grifters, drunks, are nominated by the regime, the goal is more stupidity and therefore more weakness, more manipulation by propaganda. When billionaires are seated in the WH and these billionaires throw Fascist salutes, believe what they are doing. It is exactly what they are doing. Don't think otherwise or you too are succumbing to stupidity and believing gaslighting.
I wouldn’t call these settlements “bribes” so much as “protection” payments. Good old fashioned Mob extortion. “Fine network ya got here. It’d be a real shame if anything happened . . .”
People in 1932 Germany were living in a world of hurt, with a shattered economy and little prospect for renewal. That is what is so confounding re the Trump/MAGA takeover. Are 100 million Americans truly ignorant enough to believe that America is a rapidly declining wasteland, based only on what Trump and Foxnews/RWM tell them? Maybe. And to the news organizations and opportunistic individuals who are taking down our democracy for their own selfish benefit I say....your place in an unpleasant afterlife awaits. Good luck with that.
The fact that so many buy - as Tom Nichols so accurately put it - "ginned-up fears produced by the right-wing rage machine" over what their eyes and ears tell them is one of the things that continues to dumbfound me. And prove that it's a cult.
Straight outta the Nazi playbook. Lost WWI? Blame the Jews. Plane crashes? Blame the women and minorities.
Why did the authors of the constitution want a separation of the church from the state? They were pretty clear about that.
Religion has been a driving force in some of the most horrific moments in history.
Project 2025 - the gift that keeps on giving. Can't wait to see which side the military picks, ICE is already fully on board with FBI following as soon as Patel is confirmed. On the bright side, Congress can then relax and let Elon write the budget bills while The Don enjoys golfing. Who said the Republicrats would not establish a Christian nationalist paradise? Yay.
UPDATED AS AN “SOS POST.” THE REPUBLICAN SENATE IS ABOUT TO HAND THIS GUY THE KEYS TO THE FBI. CALL YOUR SENATOR: TELL HIM/HER “SAY NO!” https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htmhttps://kevinmcdonald.substack.com/p/copy-kash-patel-embodiment-of-the
I heard/watched Chris Hayes the other night speculate about these "bribes." It is absolutely chilling.
We're a little over two weeks into Trump's reign, and we already have a body count. The innocent pay the Trump tax with their lives. With MAGAs, death and misery are the price we pay. It's just how big is the bill going to be?
We need a call to action. Trump's chaos agenda needs to be turned on its head and thrown back at him. He's great at causing chaos because he doesn't care about consequences and he has no empathy. He's a psychopath, and so are his followers. But, he can't manage chaos. He folds. America's foes know this. All Trump has is his image and cruelty. If the oligarchs weren't propping him up, he would be toast.
The think tankers who wrote his agenda for him also seem indifferent to the pain they're causing to real people while they try to reengineer the whole government and society.
If it's the Heritage folks, that's Koch's pet project I believe. And, he doesn't give a shit about anybody but himself. Take it from a Kansan. He thinks crushing normal people is good for them. He thinks we're all spoiled brats living off his largesse.
Sounds more like extortion.
I am waiting for someone in the press core to say: “Mr President stop saying stupid things.”DEI did not cause the air crash at Reagan National Airport.
Immigrants are not harming us.
The press needs to specifically call him out.
I'd prefer if they asked him, With all due disrespect, what the hell is wrong with you, you sick fkcu?"
They work for oligarchs now, so it's not going to happen.
Me neither. I am in my early 70s and have lived through about 12 different Presidents. We have never had one like the current office holder. I am frustrated that my two adult children in their 40s don't seem to worry much about what is happening, which in my view is a slow slide toward oligarchy. I was a college student during the early 1970s and I remember the demonstrations that drew large crowds on a variety of issues, including the Vietnam War, equal rights, ect. Where are the protests today? Why aren't the Democrats organizing? The resistance feels quite timid.
DON’T CALL IT A BRIBE <-- My first thought was: If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quack likes a duck, then it's a bribe.
Hitler rose to power partly through political divisions among traditional conservative Germans, socialists and communists. In the 1920's and 30's Germany's economy was really bad with hyperinflation and poverty. Hitler scapegoated Jews and those with "non-pure" blood and he had a receptive audience in that economic time. His rise was in part due to persistence among his followers and their need to find a scapegoat, together with the idea that the "God-like leader "could rescue them and return their country to greatness.
Trumpism has some things in common with Hitler's approach. But it differs in that Trump lacks any core ideology other than enriching himself. But he does use many of the same tools as Hitler- bashing political opponents, blaming political opponents, deriding the press, and promoting violence.
Our only hope in avoiding slipping into autocracy is that people will wake up and realize that he does not care about the citizenry. I don't expect help from his Republican party, since most of them have already sold out for their own personal gain.
One of his core tactics - which is used heavily by his allies - is the claim that any impediment to his will is a form of "corruption." The whole "drain the swamp" war cry had little if anything to do with corruption as it is normally understood. It was just a righteous veneer on a wrecking ball.
Drain the swamp? He’s the swamp incarnate. What could be swampier than his grift, unless it’s his confederacy-of-dunces cabinet picks?
When does the revolution start?
Where are the headlines in MSM that say "LIES" where is the spotlight?
Quashed by the oligarchs who own the MSM?
For all readers=supporters of The Bulwark, I suggest 2 books as primers on how things can go downhill very fast:
Defying Hitler: A Memoir by Sebastian Haffner published in English translation 2003 and Takeover: Hitler's Final Rise to Power by Timothy Rybeck. On Tyranny and other work by Timothy Snyder. ALSO it could be very helpful to read After Ten Years by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, especially the section on the danger of stupidity cultivated by authoritarian regimes. This last is published by Fortress Press with introduction by Victoria J. Barnett. We must understand what we are up against. Whenever people are issuing decrees in place of thoughtful legislative initiatives, when totally incompetent frauds, liars, grifters, drunks, are nominated by the regime, the goal is more stupidity and therefore more weakness, more manipulation by propaganda. When billionaires are seated in the WH and these billionaires throw Fascist salutes, believe what they are doing. It is exactly what they are doing. Don't think otherwise or you too are succumbing to stupidity and believing gaslighting.
I wouldn’t call these settlements “bribes” so much as “protection” payments. Good old fashioned Mob extortion. “Fine network ya got here. It’d be a real shame if anything happened . . .”
People in 1932 Germany were living in a world of hurt, with a shattered economy and little prospect for renewal. That is what is so confounding re the Trump/MAGA takeover. Are 100 million Americans truly ignorant enough to believe that America is a rapidly declining wasteland, based only on what Trump and Foxnews/RWM tell them? Maybe. And to the news organizations and opportunistic individuals who are taking down our democracy for their own selfish benefit I say....your place in an unpleasant afterlife awaits. Good luck with that.
The fact that so many buy - as Tom Nichols so accurately put it - "ginned-up fears produced by the right-wing rage machine" over what their eyes and ears tell them is one of the things that continues to dumbfound me. And prove that it's a cult.