What I find astounding is the sad Repukes who don't realize something maybe their mothers told them as kids. People judge you by the company you keep. Trump's approval rating is already sinking and they are going straight down the into the shit with him. The more confusion Trump creates the more he and they sink to the bottom. The circus tent will fold very quickly.
Trump repeatedly stated his precise intentions and plans for immediately implementing them. In fact, that is and was his platform. So, when the Democrats are reported to be "in disarray" and don't have "a plan" it's hard to understand why that may be the case. It's political malpractice by Democrats, given that there was a long, very public and prolific array of facts presumably known to them before the election (I hope).
In any event, very good summary of the disaster and, not to be a Cassandra, it's far, far, far to late to do anything about this. It took Hitler (Godwin's Law, but true anyway) 53 days to undo the Weimar Republic. It's taken Trump < 1 week to do the same to America's government.
Russ Vought said that Trump "ran against the Impoundment Control Act." Weirdly, I never heard him mention it in the campaign, nor did I hear anyone else ever mention it, even indirectly.
OTOH, anyone paying attention should have known that he would try to rule like a dictator. And it's hard to escape the conclusion that his apologists have been supporting him precisely because of his disdain for rules.
Breaking: "Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump’s Federal Grant Freeze A federal judge in the District of Columbia blocked a Trump administration order to freeze as much as $3 trillion in federal grants and loans pending a review."
So, some of this stuff happened during the first Trump administration, only on a very small scale. Here’s what happened to 2 guys who worked in the WH Records Office in 2018. You can’t make this stuff up. Their job was to put back together pieces of paper that Trump tore up during the course of the day, with Scotch tape. They got fired for it.
Sam, I was listening to one of your Youtube updates in the firing at the Justice Dept. and you said Trump was far outside the norm in politicizing the Justice Dept. I think this is something the Bulwark needs to investigate. Can you (or Mona) get a historian in to talk about the Kennedy Justice Department led by his brother and some of the other Justice Departments. We need to differentiate between unconstitutional acts (like ending birthright citizenship) versus pushing the envelop to the maximum. It would be interesting to hear more historically on this topic. Thanks, MaryLee
Reach out to friends in purple or red states and urge them to contact their Senators about Cabinet nominees. Some GOP Senators might be swayed if enough people speak out. There are hints that some are becoming dismayed by our new President’s actions.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) the RFK Jr. hearings happen. If he’s confirmed, we can welcome back polio. (Don’t call him “RFK” – his father must be turning in his grave. He’s “Jr.”)
If your Senators are Democrats – still, let them know your views. They need to hear how much their constituents care: An significant number of elected Democrats are caving already and voting to pass some horrible bills (e.g. Laken Riley). If you don’t have your Congress people on speed dial, just google their names. (Contact their Washington office, not their local office.)
Make a separate phone call (or email) each time you contact your Congresspeople. Each constituent opinion is noted individually and tallied. Our Senators want to be re-elected, so your opinion matters.
Soon we’ll be calling to speak out against Kash Patel.
And if you don’t receive Indivisible’s emails, pls. sign up. They are a real powerhouse - and they suggest bite-size actions we can take each week.
Among the ongoing debris and chaos from Trump’s first week in office…a real moment of goodness has been overlooked. That does justify a salute (not a Nazi salute)….
Jim Acosta has left CNN after almost 18 years….he left because of the capitulation and cowardice of CNN’s management in their efforts to placate Trump. There are too few of him…
This is a time when stress does not create character, it reveals it.
I am so tired of comments that say "why aren't Ds going this", "D's doing that", and "people are ignoring the truth", etc., etc. etc. Guess what - I see what Ds are doing and hearing from Ds watching MSNBC which costs me pennies compared to Substack.
Every single Substack article I would like to read wants $8, $10, whatever $ to read or comment on a month. And all of a sudden, I'm up to $100, $200, or more a month - which is far, far more than the local newspaper and Direct TVs cost, just to read articles that often reference each other and repeat what others say. I'm sorry, but I'm on a fixed income. That Substack is fast intruding on my spare income for the month, like for food and maybe a dinner from the fast food joint on the way home from grocery shopping at Walmart. And my income is still higher than what a lot of folks are spending on a family. They can't subscribe to Substack or whatever social media outlet a lot of folks here seem to be on. The news they get comes from their TVs, which means Fox and the Sinclair group in many places. If they're lucky, they might get a newspaper which buries the real news after the local news that does impact on their daily lives. Their news is what they catch in between working, commuting, feeding themselves and their families, doing chores, a minute or two with their favorite show before going to bed and starting again. And no they don't have hours upon hours to read Substack and all the comments on the articles.
So, I have a suggestion. Why not make Substack a real news media station - a newspaper, a podcast (which I don't personally like), a TV station like Newsmax or whatever - and use the people who write the articles, etc. their news anchors/celebrities? If Substack really can't afford it, with the number of subscribers, writers, etc., maybe the real truth is you just don't reach the people you need to reach. And if you can't do it, how about getting people to watch MSNBC, maybe get Cuban or whomever, to buy it and get their ratings up? Turn them into the center/left version of Fox and tell people the truth about #47 and his cronies. Maybe get together to buy a newspaper with a national reach and start giving Ds and anti-Trumpers a real outlet to fight Project 2025, #47 and the rest who will kill our country.
End of rant. The next step is to actually sit down and figure out just how much I can afford to pay Substack a month just to hear the same comments and articles on nearly every subscription. And how much time I can spend on these endless essays. Especially since I will have to move hundreds of miles away in a few months.
When my kids left public school for Catholic school, the new school had a new Principal who had been hired to make significant changes to the school. She did make the changes, but not all at once. She told me that in a situation like that one, ie, changing basically everything, you had to approach it like cutting down a large tree. If you just saw through the bottom of the tree and fell it all at once, it could hurt a lot of nearby stuff, including you. The better way is to do a series of smaller steps over time. First cut off the branches, then cut off a chunk of the top, then a chunk of the middle, then the bottom, and finally grind up the roots. She took 3 years to change the school, a bit here, a bit there, until she had what she wanted. In the meantime she made a list of the teachers she wanted to get rid of. Once again, her plan was not to fire them, but to make them so miserable they would quit. Trump is doing a little of that, but he’s also firing large groups of people and cutting down entire trees, and lots of them, all at once. There will be lots of collateral damage and it’s going to be like Trump stepped on an IED that he put in his own path. Can’t wait to see him explode.
What you're describing used to be conservative orthodoxy, and an argument against revolutionary utopianism.
MAGAs are counterrevolutionaries. They seem to believe that they won't do the same kind of damage that revolutionaries do because they're just "going back" to what they imagine was the natural order of things.
Also, they hate their political opponents so much that they don't care about collateral damage.
David Brooks said you can tell what kind of conservative you are dealing with by knowing which era they want to go back to. Medieval, Robber Barons, Disco?
“ Also, they hate their political opponents so much that they don't care about collateral damage.”
Ah, but the collateral damage will care about them, and that will be their downfall. Painful as it may be for us to live through, there will be a reckoning, and when it happens, the GOP will be out of office for decades. “Shorten the darkness”
This is pushing me more toward JVL's side on letting the leopard eat its face. The funding/aid freeze seems designed to spark a legal showdown re: executive power.... he gets away with these bluffs not intending on them going fully into effect.
It's called blitzkrieg.
What I find astounding is the sad Repukes who don't realize something maybe their mothers told them as kids. People judge you by the company you keep. Trump's approval rating is already sinking and they are going straight down the into the shit with him. The more confusion Trump creates the more he and they sink to the bottom. The circus tent will fold very quickly.
Answer? IMPEACMENT or 25th amendment
Trump repeatedly stated his precise intentions and plans for immediately implementing them. In fact, that is and was his platform. So, when the Democrats are reported to be "in disarray" and don't have "a plan" it's hard to understand why that may be the case. It's political malpractice by Democrats, given that there was a long, very public and prolific array of facts presumably known to them before the election (I hope).
In any event, very good summary of the disaster and, not to be a Cassandra, it's far, far, far to late to do anything about this. It took Hitler (Godwin's Law, but true anyway) 53 days to undo the Weimar Republic. It's taken Trump < 1 week to do the same to America's government.
Russ Vought said that Trump "ran against the Impoundment Control Act." Weirdly, I never heard him mention it in the campaign, nor did I hear anyone else ever mention it, even indirectly.
OTOH, anyone paying attention should have known that he would try to rule like a dictator. And it's hard to escape the conclusion that his apologists have been supporting him precisely because of his disdain for rules.
It will get to the point that even the most ardent Trump voter will realize they chose a shitshow. Move fast and break things indeed.
Rampell !, Oh Shit, nice one girl.
Yes, awesome response!
Breaking: "Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump’s Federal Grant Freeze A federal judge in the District of Columbia blocked a Trump administration order to freeze as much as $3 trillion in federal grants and loans pending a review."
So, some of this stuff happened during the first Trump administration, only on a very small scale. Here’s what happened to 2 guys who worked in the WH Records Office in 2018. You can’t make this stuff up. Their job was to put back together pieces of paper that Trump tore up during the course of the day, with Scotch tape. They got fired for it.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/10/trump-papers-filing-system-635164
Sam, I was listening to one of your Youtube updates in the firing at the Justice Dept. and you said Trump was far outside the norm in politicizing the Justice Dept. I think this is something the Bulwark needs to investigate. Can you (or Mona) get a historian in to talk about the Kennedy Justice Department led by his brother and some of the other Justice Departments. We need to differentiate between unconstitutional acts (like ending birthright citizenship) versus pushing the envelop to the maximum. It would be interesting to hear more historically on this topic. Thanks, MaryLee
Missed how trump destroyed the central bank with a poorly worded EO.
https://cryptocriticscorner.com/
Reach out to friends in purple or red states and urge them to contact their Senators about Cabinet nominees. Some GOP Senators might be swayed if enough people speak out. There are hints that some are becoming dismayed by our new President’s actions.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) the RFK Jr. hearings happen. If he’s confirmed, we can welcome back polio. (Don’t call him “RFK” – his father must be turning in his grave. He’s “Jr.”)
If your Senators are Democrats – still, let them know your views. They need to hear how much their constituents care: An significant number of elected Democrats are caving already and voting to pass some horrible bills (e.g. Laken Riley). If you don’t have your Congress people on speed dial, just google their names. (Contact their Washington office, not their local office.)
Make a separate phone call (or email) each time you contact your Congresspeople. Each constituent opinion is noted individually and tallied. Our Senators want to be re-elected, so your opinion matters.
Soon we’ll be calling to speak out against Kash Patel.
And if you don’t receive Indivisible’s emails, pls. sign up. They are a real powerhouse - and they suggest bite-size actions we can take each week.
Among the ongoing debris and chaos from Trump’s first week in office…a real moment of goodness has been overlooked. That does justify a salute (not a Nazi salute)….
Jim Acosta has left CNN after almost 18 years….he left because of the capitulation and cowardice of CNN’s management in their efforts to placate Trump. There are too few of him…
This is a time when stress does not create character, it reveals it.
I salute your integrity…Jim Acosta.
Okay, that's it. My dander is now up.
I am so tired of comments that say "why aren't Ds going this", "D's doing that", and "people are ignoring the truth", etc., etc. etc. Guess what - I see what Ds are doing and hearing from Ds watching MSNBC which costs me pennies compared to Substack.
Every single Substack article I would like to read wants $8, $10, whatever $ to read or comment on a month. And all of a sudden, I'm up to $100, $200, or more a month - which is far, far more than the local newspaper and Direct TVs cost, just to read articles that often reference each other and repeat what others say. I'm sorry, but I'm on a fixed income. That Substack is fast intruding on my spare income for the month, like for food and maybe a dinner from the fast food joint on the way home from grocery shopping at Walmart. And my income is still higher than what a lot of folks are spending on a family. They can't subscribe to Substack or whatever social media outlet a lot of folks here seem to be on. The news they get comes from their TVs, which means Fox and the Sinclair group in many places. If they're lucky, they might get a newspaper which buries the real news after the local news that does impact on their daily lives. Their news is what they catch in between working, commuting, feeding themselves and their families, doing chores, a minute or two with their favorite show before going to bed and starting again. And no they don't have hours upon hours to read Substack and all the comments on the articles.
So, I have a suggestion. Why not make Substack a real news media station - a newspaper, a podcast (which I don't personally like), a TV station like Newsmax or whatever - and use the people who write the articles, etc. their news anchors/celebrities? If Substack really can't afford it, with the number of subscribers, writers, etc., maybe the real truth is you just don't reach the people you need to reach. And if you can't do it, how about getting people to watch MSNBC, maybe get Cuban or whomever, to buy it and get their ratings up? Turn them into the center/left version of Fox and tell people the truth about #47 and his cronies. Maybe get together to buy a newspaper with a national reach and start giving Ds and anti-Trumpers a real outlet to fight Project 2025, #47 and the rest who will kill our country.
End of rant. The next step is to actually sit down and figure out just how much I can afford to pay Substack a month just to hear the same comments and articles on nearly every subscription. And how much time I can spend on these endless essays. Especially since I will have to move hundreds of miles away in a few months.
So is someone forcing you to join all these substacks?
IOW, maybe the fan that the shit is hitting may be a revolving one.
When my kids left public school for Catholic school, the new school had a new Principal who had been hired to make significant changes to the school. She did make the changes, but not all at once. She told me that in a situation like that one, ie, changing basically everything, you had to approach it like cutting down a large tree. If you just saw through the bottom of the tree and fell it all at once, it could hurt a lot of nearby stuff, including you. The better way is to do a series of smaller steps over time. First cut off the branches, then cut off a chunk of the top, then a chunk of the middle, then the bottom, and finally grind up the roots. She took 3 years to change the school, a bit here, a bit there, until she had what she wanted. In the meantime she made a list of the teachers she wanted to get rid of. Once again, her plan was not to fire them, but to make them so miserable they would quit. Trump is doing a little of that, but he’s also firing large groups of people and cutting down entire trees, and lots of them, all at once. There will be lots of collateral damage and it’s going to be like Trump stepped on an IED that he put in his own path. Can’t wait to see him explode.
What you're describing used to be conservative orthodoxy, and an argument against revolutionary utopianism.
MAGAs are counterrevolutionaries. They seem to believe that they won't do the same kind of damage that revolutionaries do because they're just "going back" to what they imagine was the natural order of things.
Also, they hate their political opponents so much that they don't care about collateral damage.
David Brooks said you can tell what kind of conservative you are dealing with by knowing which era they want to go back to. Medieval, Robber Barons, Disco?
“ Also, they hate their political opponents so much that they don't care about collateral damage.”
Ah, but the collateral damage will care about them, and that will be their downfall. Painful as it may be for us to live through, there will be a reckoning, and when it happens, the GOP will be out of office for decades. “Shorten the darkness”
This is pushing me more toward JVL's side on letting the leopard eat its face. The funding/aid freeze seems designed to spark a legal showdown re: executive power.... he gets away with these bluffs not intending on them going fully into effect.