As a septuagenarian who remembers when the US government was functional, my top concern is this: How do we prepare our children and grandchildren for what is likely, that is, an authoritarian kleptocracy?
"Some notable elected Republicans are showing faint signs of independent thought". That's about the same as saying that parrot in the Monty Python skit is showing faint signs of life.
Hopefully, you are right that moderate GOP Senators will re-emerge from their do-nothing opposition to Biden legislation. I also think that they realize now that primary challenges from MAGA are not necessarily that dangerous to them, especially in a mid-term. Recall the 2022 losses by such as Kari Lake, Herschel Walker, Doug Mastriano, and Mehmet Oz (oh, how they try and try again!). I continue to wonder why Trump decided to announce his picks so early, giving so much time for others to gather and consolidate opposition. Is it just his arrogance, or is he really so deluded as to think that he has a mandate and there won't be any opposition? It seems like a really stupid move to me.
I can understand why anyone is giving Trump or his toady minions or the GOP any possible benefit of any doubt. We know that Trump is going to do everything he did the first time, only worse. Emoluments clause? The GOP blocked all efforts to hold Trump to account and enforce the law. This time all he has to do is claim presidential authority. Trump voters have, eyes wide open, turned the white House into a crime syndicate. Calling Trump dangerous beggars the word "dangerous." Crossing the street without looking is dangerous, so we look both ways. Trump is beyond dangerous.
Can you all please have someone do a deep dive on the Vivek and Elon Wall Street Journal op-ed about DOGE. The third sentence alone is worth going into, claiming that 10,000 unnecessary regulations are issued every year by “unelected bureaucrats” acting without political accountability or congressional authorization. Well the OmB website actually tracks proposed, completed and potential regulatory actions by year. There are currently about 180 still pending regulatory actions and my by tough count about 800 completed this year. Were they issued by “unelected bureaucrats”. Well yes i suppose the cabinet secretaries, the head of OMB and numerous other confirmed presidential appointees are appointed and not elected and receive a federal salary. But there is a rigorous process for issuing most regulations that requires approval by the a politically appointed agency head, review by other agencies and OMB, and that’s before it even gets proposed to the public for comment. Then the agency has to consider those comments and any final rule will again need to be reviewed by other affected agencies and OMB. And then there is a 60 day legislative review period. And regulations can only be issued because the statute authorized and often requires the agency to issue them. So when people say they want to remove regulations what they really mean is they want to change them to allow something that the agency prohibited or restricted before. Such changes may be good or bad but they are still regulations. And changing a regulation, even by removing requirements, may not necessarily eliminate jobs.
Not only that, but when Vivek and Elon talk about “unelected bureaucrats acting without political accountability or congressional authorization," someone really needs to point them toward a mirror. Pretty descriptive of the heads of DOGE...
What? Bill sees nascent signs of spineless Republicans maybe, developing a bit of backbone? well, all, or most species, do evolve, but let’s remember, it takes eons. We will not see GOP’ers with anything resembling a stack of vertebrae in trump’s life time.
I was thinking just last night that I would like to deliver to each Senator a copy of Profiles In Courage with a simple note: Be worthy of the legacy you are inheriting.
The last 10 years has shown that any GOP Senator or Congressman will say one thing in front of a mic and vote differently. They get the attention for the words but not the scorn for the vote.
People fall for it every single time. Bill still wants to believe these conservative people will do the right thing and they will not.
I voted for VP Harris but please no. Just find something else to do. President isn’t the only job. We can’t keep running people who don’t win.
Our government is the most powerful in the world and now is run by a clown car of unserious men with gigantic insecurities. It’s a lunatic asylum that is breathtaking in its stupidity.
I mean, she can run in an actual primary, and she will lose.
She just isn’t what any of us Dem plebes want. I voted for her as well, but I would really really rather have a legit primary so a candidate is not forced on us like this time.
I think Kamala should make her face one that Trumpists sweat over. Keep in the spotlight, organize pinpoint rallies at key times, and help keep the part of America that has its brains altogether still in one piece.
I don't know that this translates to support in 2028, at least not from me. We'll see. We'll need to have a country first to see if we can keep it.
Sounds like a good plan. I think her best bet is to remind the non-MAGA Republicans that if Trump destroys the USA and gives it to Russia and China as he is well set to do, that they won't have any power anymore because Trump will have given his and this country over to these 2 illiberal leaders. Then, as Prof. Timothy Snyder points out, we will have to rely on the EU and Ukraine to save us. https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/a-third-world-war?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
It's quite amazing that people who claim to be all about making America great again and restoring the constitutional republic and saving Western civilization have a soft spot for Eurasian autocracy and take a dim view of American influence in the world over the past century.
This exactly. All the things that made America great and a world leader the first time Was our educational system, our belief in science and its’ benefits, our desire to see the word a better place because of our involvement in world affairs, our belief in innovation. It’s as though the baby has been thrown out with the bath water. The ‘make America great again’ people believe in none of this.
Yeah well, I don’t think the majority of women are going to just shut up if they implement their insane headship bs. Not all of us are Christians, and most people don’t want to live in a theocracy.
I assume there are more people than not who would be vocally against the things they want to implement, once they actually start to pay attention.
Well certainly the cheap shot has to be the biggest non surprise of the week. Meanwhile will be sending e-mails to encourage these senators to stand their ground and protect our country.
We should be reminding them that if Trump destroys the US, there will be no power for them. Perhaps they should all get used to eating Chinese food as they hand over the world power to Xi. That is what happens when you pretend the Emperor is wearing clothing and you are too. When the truth is revealed everyone sees that you are all naked. Where is the babe we need to point this out to them?
Sorry, Bill, those aren't swallows. They're sparrows. And they're not channeling Aristotle, they're channeling Shakespeare: "There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow." They will drop from the sky the instant their spines liquify, and the new Caesar's triumph, led by its braying parade of hegemonic masculinity, will march on.
I have very little confidence that the GOP Senators will continue to push back on Trump. Why do I think that? Haley, Christie, Sununu are wonderful examples of the depth and longevity of pushback we can expect from the GOP side. Further, I think that Trump did learn his lesson (ala Susan Collins) and he will do something to lessen their ability to interfere...I just don't know what it is yet...or how long before it gets implemented but he's not going to put up with this interference for long.
However, before they were looking at power ascending, now they are going to look at power diminishing into a vapor called Russia and China took over, and thought they wanted our assets too, so they could fully humiliate Trump and his toadies.
The writers are grasping at feathers, spinning their wheels with speculation, tea leaf reading, and some hopeful thinking. I am taking a wait and see stance while at the same time expecting twists and turns, stunt Twit X postings, sudden shifts in tactics, and general chaos.
With the "defining deviance down" Trump 2.0 administration 6 weeks or so away from taking power, it is painfully obvious the Overton Window is now a Doggy Door.
As a septuagenarian who remembers when the US government was functional, my top concern is this: How do we prepare our children and grandchildren for what is likely, that is, an authoritarian kleptocracy?
"Some notable elected Republicans are showing faint signs of independent thought". That's about the same as saying that parrot in the Monty Python skit is showing faint signs of life.
Hopefully, you are right that moderate GOP Senators will re-emerge from their do-nothing opposition to Biden legislation. I also think that they realize now that primary challenges from MAGA are not necessarily that dangerous to them, especially in a mid-term. Recall the 2022 losses by such as Kari Lake, Herschel Walker, Doug Mastriano, and Mehmet Oz (oh, how they try and try again!). I continue to wonder why Trump decided to announce his picks so early, giving so much time for others to gather and consolidate opposition. Is it just his arrogance, or is he really so deluded as to think that he has a mandate and there won't be any opposition? It seems like a really stupid move to me.
With Jack Smith dropping the federal charges against Trump, it has to be said that this career criminal is truly the Teflon Don. God help us all.
I can understand why anyone is giving Trump or his toady minions or the GOP any possible benefit of any doubt. We know that Trump is going to do everything he did the first time, only worse. Emoluments clause? The GOP blocked all efforts to hold Trump to account and enforce the law. This time all he has to do is claim presidential authority. Trump voters have, eyes wide open, turned the white House into a crime syndicate. Calling Trump dangerous beggars the word "dangerous." Crossing the street without looking is dangerous, so we look both ways. Trump is beyond dangerous.
Can you all please have someone do a deep dive on the Vivek and Elon Wall Street Journal op-ed about DOGE. The third sentence alone is worth going into, claiming that 10,000 unnecessary regulations are issued every year by “unelected bureaucrats” acting without political accountability or congressional authorization. Well the OmB website actually tracks proposed, completed and potential regulatory actions by year. There are currently about 180 still pending regulatory actions and my by tough count about 800 completed this year. Were they issued by “unelected bureaucrats”. Well yes i suppose the cabinet secretaries, the head of OMB and numerous other confirmed presidential appointees are appointed and not elected and receive a federal salary. But there is a rigorous process for issuing most regulations that requires approval by the a politically appointed agency head, review by other agencies and OMB, and that’s before it even gets proposed to the public for comment. Then the agency has to consider those comments and any final rule will again need to be reviewed by other affected agencies and OMB. And then there is a 60 day legislative review period. And regulations can only be issued because the statute authorized and often requires the agency to issue them. So when people say they want to remove regulations what they really mean is they want to change them to allow something that the agency prohibited or restricted before. Such changes may be good or bad but they are still regulations. And changing a regulation, even by removing requirements, may not necessarily eliminate jobs.
Not only that, but when Vivek and Elon talk about “unelected bureaucrats acting without political accountability or congressional authorization," someone really needs to point them toward a mirror. Pretty descriptive of the heads of DOGE...
What? Bill sees nascent signs of spineless Republicans maybe, developing a bit of backbone? well, all, or most species, do evolve, but let’s remember, it takes eons. We will not see GOP’ers with anything resembling a stack of vertebrae in trump’s life time.
I was thinking just last night that I would like to deliver to each Senator a copy of Profiles In Courage with a simple note: Be worthy of the legacy you are inheriting.
As if they would read anything else other than what they are allowed to “read” by their furher and his minions
The last 10 years has shown that any GOP Senator or Congressman will say one thing in front of a mic and vote differently. They get the attention for the words but not the scorn for the vote.
People fall for it every single time. Bill still wants to believe these conservative people will do the right thing and they will not.
I voted for VP Harris but please no. Just find something else to do. President isn’t the only job. We can’t keep running people who don’t win.
Our government is the most powerful in the world and now is run by a clown car of unserious men with gigantic insecurities. It’s a lunatic asylum that is breathtaking in its stupidity.
I mean, she can run in an actual primary, and she will lose.
She just isn’t what any of us Dem plebes want. I voted for her as well, but I would really really rather have a legit primary so a candidate is not forced on us like this time.
It's 'One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest' writ large in politics. With Trump in the Jack Nicholson role.
I think Kamala should make her face one that Trumpists sweat over. Keep in the spotlight, organize pinpoint rallies at key times, and help keep the part of America that has its brains altogether still in one piece.
I don't know that this translates to support in 2028, at least not from me. We'll see. We'll need to have a country first to see if we can keep it.
Sounds like a good plan. I think her best bet is to remind the non-MAGA Republicans that if Trump destroys the USA and gives it to Russia and China as he is well set to do, that they won't have any power anymore because Trump will have given his and this country over to these 2 illiberal leaders. Then, as Prof. Timothy Snyder points out, we will have to rely on the EU and Ukraine to save us. https://open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p/a-third-world-war?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
It's quite amazing that people who claim to be all about making America great again and restoring the constitutional republic and saving Western civilization have a soft spot for Eurasian autocracy and take a dim view of American influence in the world over the past century.
This exactly. All the things that made America great and a world leader the first time Was our educational system, our belief in science and its’ benefits, our desire to see the word a better place because of our involvement in world affairs, our belief in innovation. It’s as though the baby has been thrown out with the bath water. The ‘make America great again’ people believe in none of this.
One common denominator is reactionary Christianity and the reassertion of patriarchy. It’s all justified by a few sentences in Genesis, QED
Yeah well, I don’t think the majority of women are going to just shut up if they implement their insane headship bs. Not all of us are Christians, and most people don’t want to live in a theocracy.
I assume there are more people than not who would be vocally against the things they want to implement, once they actually start to pay attention.
Another is Tucker Carlson.
Well certainly the cheap shot has to be the biggest non surprise of the week. Meanwhile will be sending e-mails to encourage these senators to stand their ground and protect our country.
We should be reminding them that if Trump destroys the US, there will be no power for them. Perhaps they should all get used to eating Chinese food as they hand over the world power to Xi. That is what happens when you pretend the Emperor is wearing clothing and you are too. When the truth is revealed everyone sees that you are all naked. Where is the babe we need to point this out to them?
I mean all critters want power, and I can’t see them just sitting by the wayside so trump can have it all.
They can say whatever bs they want, but letting the US lose its status as world leader is dumb for everyone, even trump.
Sorry, Bill, those aren't swallows. They're sparrows. And they're not channeling Aristotle, they're channeling Shakespeare: "There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow." They will drop from the sky the instant their spines liquify, and the new Caesar's triumph, led by its braying parade of hegemonic masculinity, will march on.
I have very little confidence that the GOP Senators will continue to push back on Trump. Why do I think that? Haley, Christie, Sununu are wonderful examples of the depth and longevity of pushback we can expect from the GOP side. Further, I think that Trump did learn his lesson (ala Susan Collins) and he will do something to lessen their ability to interfere...I just don't know what it is yet...or how long before it gets implemented but he's not going to put up with this interference for long.
However, before they were looking at power ascending, now they are going to look at power diminishing into a vapor called Russia and China took over, and thought they wanted our assets too, so they could fully humiliate Trump and his toadies.
The writers are grasping at feathers, spinning their wheels with speculation, tea leaf reading, and some hopeful thinking. I am taking a wait and see stance while at the same time expecting twists and turns, stunt Twit X postings, sudden shifts in tactics, and general chaos.
Sure, assuming the worst accomplishes exactly what at this point? Oh, and can’t you come up with anything more than just reposting the same message?
I find that assuming the worst allows one to be prepared should the worst come to fruition. If it doesn’t, then there’s a pleasant surprise.
With the "defining deviance down" Trump 2.0 administration 6 weeks or so away from taking power, it is painfully obvious the Overton Window is now a Doggy Door.