The most frightening part of this entire nightmare is this sentence from the article:
“Judges can block him, governors can sue him, but the machinery of power still lurches forward because the blueprint was never written to stop a bad-faith operator at the top.”
This regime is chock-full of bad-faith operators, from Trump down thru Miller, Susie Wiles, Noem, Rubio, Hegseth, RFK, Jr.
I’d like to know where the White House counsel is… or even who he or she is.
At the end of the day, it will come down to all of us to resist this fascist takeover.
so much to unpack here... what is unfolding is what has always worried me since trump took the stage. Our whole government structure, law and order, and economy rest on a few gossamer threads of decency. we rely on balance of power, and when one branch, the presidency for example, begins to disobey the rules, we have methods such as impeachment to correct the matter. all this relies on a means to enforce this and the fatal flaw as we are seeing is if the justice department is not independent from the presidency, then everything falls apart. he can do what he wants, congress and the senate can impeach him, the courts can rule against him, but it ultimately falls to the justice department.. the police, the FBI, the enforcing branches to enforce those decisions. that is not happening. the justice department, like ICE is his own little army. fill the congress and senate with Democrats and what can they do? they can impeach, they can hold hearings, but to what end if there is no one there to enforce it? Authoritarians always turn toward the enemy from within. they recognize that the "enemies" external to the nation are generally not going to rush over the border and invade. they pose less of a threat to the authoritarian's power than those inside the nation. Putin and Oban knew that NATO was not going to invade, but they were at risk from opposition inside Russia and Hungary respectively and so quelled that opposition and took over the courts and press in their own ways. trump is doing exactly that, and so much of what he is doing now is carrying out actions that both partially distract from the real issues (failing economy, bad decisions on tariffs, rudderless national direction, backwards drift on the climate) but also reinforce his false claims about crime, immigrants, etc. By taking action against an imagined enemy (the imaginary chaos in Oregon) he reinforces it in the minds of his followers who are content not to actually check up on anything...
There comes a reckoning as Republicans, the cabinet , the red state governors, and reps, see their party bend the knee or kiss the ring. AND…that they will en mass will be fired come the November vote…
That WE here,there,most everywhere will vote and bury them …leaving NO doubt…then the indictment, impeachments, and prison detail will be revealed…in a couple of weeks….😉
Their only last plan can be to not permit the vote.
We must have that possibility by the rogue regime ….covered .
The news today of the bombing of the judge from South Carolina is uppermost in my mind as I read your words this morning. The judges and prosecutors are vital in our struggle to rid our nation of this blight of an administration. How many will continue to make those brave, correct rulings while fearing for their families? It's such a sad state of affairs, Mary. To speak against the King is dangerous . This is not America and we do need to make it whole again. Bear traps and court orders may be our only defense. No Kings March....October 18th!
The one to watch here is Stephen Miller. He is the number one enemy from within. He is like Wormtongue whispering in the ear of the King and showing him AI doctored videos of places like Portland.
Agree, and Vought and Vance are equally dangerous. With Trump at the helm, this wrecking crew is hell-bent on destroying American democracy with cruel, corrupt, and vindictive policies and actions.
Each of us has to defend democracy in whatever way we can. Vote, boycott, protest. Contribute to pro-democracy organizations. Do small things or big things, alone or in groups. But do something. Today, tomorrow, next week, next month.
Remember to make your voice heard on Sat, Oct 18 -
Everyday my mind now uses tyrant, regime, despicable, deplorable, dishonest, corrupt and I'm still thinking of the guy in the Oval with the pen with ink that has gold flecks in it and whose family is out building their wealth with many, many zeros in it. Someone needs to do a rift on the grift known as crypto.
Stephen Miller seems to enjoy his role as Trump’s Retribution Whisperer - a malignant voice for vengeance and pain to “the enemy within”. According to many reports, he helps translate Trump’s delusions and vengeful impulses into policy and action.
Two main allies in Miller’s enterprise are Project 2025’s/OMB’s Russell Vought and Trump VP JD Vance.
Vought has examined every nook and cranny of federal government operations. With Miller and others, he has laid a path to destroying federal government of, by and for the people using every legal loophole, gap and weak link in the system to do so.
JD Vance, shapeshifter supreme, gives cover to the destruction. In his latest role as Trump supplicant on a mission infused with the hardline brand of Catholicism to which he converted, Vance acts and lies brazenly for the MAGA cause with ease and conviction.
The billionaires and foreign interests invested in MAGA are counting on these men, together with MAGA enablers in Congress and the Supreme Court, to do the heavy lifting Trump is too lazy and lacking to do himself. So far, they are serving their backers well, aided by MAGA’s Big Lie machine.
As Mary Geddry eloquently points out, it’s up to us to thwart their schemes with savvy and the lawful, peaceful tools we have to stand firm and say no. Courageous pro-Constitution judges, other individuals and institutions with power and influence need to know we in the majority are doing our part and have their backs.
I still hear people in this thread saying things like "We must have that possibility by the rogue regime ….covered ." and "when this nightmare is over." It will not BE over unless WE resist, MILITANTLY, if necessary. The observation that the Constitution assumed leaders acting in good faith (which I've observed since my history/political-science college days in the 80s was an achiles heel in American politics) is one that STILL doesn't seem to hit home. Robert Jerman's observation that "it ultimately falls to the justice department.. the police, the FBI, the enforcing branches to enforce those decisions" is THE crux of the issue. Someone needs to literally tell Trump he's not going to do what he's determined to do AT THE POINT OF A GUN. Nothing else will stop him. He's made that excruciatingly clear from day 1. And WE must be willing to be the point of that gun. He needs to know that if he continues to do this he. will. die. And, that must be a real consequence waiting at the end of the line so that it actually happens. Nothing else will do.
I know that it has become rather cliche now, but just imagine how apoplectic the MSM, Congress (republican and dem), SCOTUS, our esteemed institutions of learning and commerce, and the general public would be if Biden had tried to pull such things. The guy has some strange power over all the nation that EVERYONE isn't out on the streets demanding his removal. Fascinating, really, when one contemplates what a mental invalid he is and what a weak, cowardly, malignant narcissist he has always been. If every democratic elected official isn't out raising hell today there is something incurably wrong with the party. And, if the republican party doesn't rally behind our constitution and the rule of law, they are criminally and actionably complicit.
Make no mistake about it. Trump and his malignant henchmen are waging war against the 50% of the country who stridently support the constitution, the rule of law, and democracy.
Wow are there going to be a lot of these impotent little sociopaths going to jail when this nightmare is over.
The most frightening part of this entire nightmare is this sentence from the article:
“Judges can block him, governors can sue him, but the machinery of power still lurches forward because the blueprint was never written to stop a bad-faith operator at the top.”
This regime is chock-full of bad-faith operators, from Trump down thru Miller, Susie Wiles, Noem, Rubio, Hegseth, RFK, Jr.
I’d like to know where the White House counsel is… or even who he or she is.
At the end of the day, it will come down to all of us to resist this fascist takeover.
David Warrington is the Whitehouse counsel
Thanks. I would have never known. I think the guy is AWOL.
so much to unpack here... what is unfolding is what has always worried me since trump took the stage. Our whole government structure, law and order, and economy rest on a few gossamer threads of decency. we rely on balance of power, and when one branch, the presidency for example, begins to disobey the rules, we have methods such as impeachment to correct the matter. all this relies on a means to enforce this and the fatal flaw as we are seeing is if the justice department is not independent from the presidency, then everything falls apart. he can do what he wants, congress and the senate can impeach him, the courts can rule against him, but it ultimately falls to the justice department.. the police, the FBI, the enforcing branches to enforce those decisions. that is not happening. the justice department, like ICE is his own little army. fill the congress and senate with Democrats and what can they do? they can impeach, they can hold hearings, but to what end if there is no one there to enforce it? Authoritarians always turn toward the enemy from within. they recognize that the "enemies" external to the nation are generally not going to rush over the border and invade. they pose less of a threat to the authoritarian's power than those inside the nation. Putin and Oban knew that NATO was not going to invade, but they were at risk from opposition inside Russia and Hungary respectively and so quelled that opposition and took over the courts and press in their own ways. trump is doing exactly that, and so much of what he is doing now is carrying out actions that both partially distract from the real issues (failing economy, bad decisions on tariffs, rudderless national direction, backwards drift on the climate) but also reinforce his false claims about crime, immigrants, etc. By taking action against an imagined enemy (the imaginary chaos in Oregon) he reinforces it in the minds of his followers who are content not to actually check up on anything...
There comes a reckoning as Republicans, the cabinet , the red state governors, and reps, see their party bend the knee or kiss the ring. AND…that they will en mass will be fired come the November vote…
That WE here,there,most everywhere will vote and bury them …leaving NO doubt…then the indictment, impeachments, and prison detail will be revealed…in a couple of weeks….😉
Their only last plan can be to not permit the vote.
We must have that possibility by the rogue regime ….covered .
The news today of the bombing of the judge from South Carolina is uppermost in my mind as I read your words this morning. The judges and prosecutors are vital in our struggle to rid our nation of this blight of an administration. How many will continue to make those brave, correct rulings while fearing for their families? It's such a sad state of affairs, Mary. To speak against the King is dangerous . This is not America and we do need to make it whole again. Bear traps and court orders may be our only defense. No Kings March....October 18th!
The one to watch here is Stephen Miller. He is the number one enemy from within. He is like Wormtongue whispering in the ear of the King and showing him AI doctored videos of places like Portland.
Agree, and Vought and Vance are equally dangerous. With Trump at the helm, this wrecking crew is hell-bent on destroying American democracy with cruel, corrupt, and vindictive policies and actions.
Each of us has to defend democracy in whatever way we can. Vote, boycott, protest. Contribute to pro-democracy organizations. Do small things or big things, alone or in groups. But do something. Today, tomorrow, next week, next month.
Remember to make your voice heard on Sat, Oct 18 -
National Day Of Protest
To find an event near you goto:
https://www.mobilize.us/map/.
What kind of leader invades his own country?
Everyday my mind now uses tyrant, regime, despicable, deplorable, dishonest, corrupt and I'm still thinking of the guy in the Oval with the pen with ink that has gold flecks in it and whose family is out building their wealth with many, many zeros in it. Someone needs to do a rift on the grift known as crypto.
Stephen Miller seems to enjoy his role as Trump’s Retribution Whisperer - a malignant voice for vengeance and pain to “the enemy within”. According to many reports, he helps translate Trump’s delusions and vengeful impulses into policy and action.
Two main allies in Miller’s enterprise are Project 2025’s/OMB’s Russell Vought and Trump VP JD Vance.
Vought has examined every nook and cranny of federal government operations. With Miller and others, he has laid a path to destroying federal government of, by and for the people using every legal loophole, gap and weak link in the system to do so.
JD Vance, shapeshifter supreme, gives cover to the destruction. In his latest role as Trump supplicant on a mission infused with the hardline brand of Catholicism to which he converted, Vance acts and lies brazenly for the MAGA cause with ease and conviction.
The billionaires and foreign interests invested in MAGA are counting on these men, together with MAGA enablers in Congress and the Supreme Court, to do the heavy lifting Trump is too lazy and lacking to do himself. So far, they are serving their backers well, aided by MAGA’s Big Lie machine.
As Mary Geddry eloquently points out, it’s up to us to thwart their schemes with savvy and the lawful, peaceful tools we have to stand firm and say no. Courageous pro-Constitution judges, other individuals and institutions with power and influence need to know we in the majority are doing our part and have their backs.
I still hear people in this thread saying things like "We must have that possibility by the rogue regime ….covered ." and "when this nightmare is over." It will not BE over unless WE resist, MILITANTLY, if necessary. The observation that the Constitution assumed leaders acting in good faith (which I've observed since my history/political-science college days in the 80s was an achiles heel in American politics) is one that STILL doesn't seem to hit home. Robert Jerman's observation that "it ultimately falls to the justice department.. the police, the FBI, the enforcing branches to enforce those decisions" is THE crux of the issue. Someone needs to literally tell Trump he's not going to do what he's determined to do AT THE POINT OF A GUN. Nothing else will stop him. He's made that excruciatingly clear from day 1. And WE must be willing to be the point of that gun. He needs to know that if he continues to do this he. will. die. And, that must be a real consequence waiting at the end of the line so that it actually happens. Nothing else will do.
I know that it has become rather cliche now, but just imagine how apoplectic the MSM, Congress (republican and dem), SCOTUS, our esteemed institutions of learning and commerce, and the general public would be if Biden had tried to pull such things. The guy has some strange power over all the nation that EVERYONE isn't out on the streets demanding his removal. Fascinating, really, when one contemplates what a mental invalid he is and what a weak, cowardly, malignant narcissist he has always been. If every democratic elected official isn't out raising hell today there is something incurably wrong with the party. And, if the republican party doesn't rally behind our constitution and the rule of law, they are criminally and actionably complicit.
Make no mistake about it. Trump and his malignant henchmen are waging war against the 50% of the country who stridently support the constitution, the rule of law, and democracy.
Wow are there going to be a lot of these impotent little sociopaths going to jail when this nightmare is over.