This exchange embodies most of what is wrong & broken about Trump - & his feckless party that he has somehow made into his image:
> Everything Starts with a Lie.
> Blow it up
> When challenged, change the lie, but do not reflect on the matter...Truth & facts are not the point.
> Everything Starts with a Lie.
> Blow it up
> When challenged, change the lie, but do not reflect on the matter...Truth & facts are not the point.
> Bully and threaten. Sometimes with substantial threats. Usually just puffery that cannot be backed up/actually done.
> The point is intimidation. Power over the other.
> The point is to eliminate everything that contradicts the provincial needs of Tr&Co.
> The point is intimidation. Power over the other.
> The point is to eliminate everything that contradicts the provincial needs of Tr&Co.
> Hate w unrestrained fury anything that threatens to expose anything of substance & truth about the man, the administration, or the party.
The entire edifice of Trump(ism) is to serve Trump. More fundamentally Trump is serving a different power.
None of it is serving the country
The entire edifice of Trump(ism) is to serve Trump. More fundamentally Trump is serving a different power.
None of it is serving the country
Understand this & things make sense.
Miss it and nothing does.
It is easy to fit most any of the last three years into this basic framework. From the skullduggery of the Russia connection to the refusal to be accountable to Congress, to the longing for his "Cohen" to upset
Miss it and nothing does.
It is easy to fit most any of the last three years into this basic framework. From the skullduggery of the Russia connection to the refusal to be accountable to Congress, to the longing for his "Cohen" to upset
the axiomatic principles of the Justice dept, and Justice, for his own ends.
How he treated Sessions is a perfect a Platonic Form example of this syndrome.
He needed to have the Justice Dept subsumed & unable to respond to his lawlessness. Even Sessions could only go so far.
How he treated Sessions is a perfect a Platonic Form example of this syndrome.
He needed to have the Justice Dept subsumed & unable to respond to his lawlessness. Even Sessions could only go so far.
Trump rides him, debases him and the Justice Dept, every time they even glance at his doings, eventually unleashing his Orcs at Fox to attack & denigrate Sessions unmercifully. Sessions, who was untill then, a pillar in the RightWing GOP power structure. Tossed out like
a picked-over chicken bone.
(And, remarkably, Sessions so needs and longs to be part of his tribe, to not be exiled, that he regularly debases himself hoping to curry favor.
The disgusting episode reminds me of Winston, at the end, broken, but "he loved Big Brother")
(And, remarkably, Sessions so needs and longs to be part of his tribe, to not be exiled, that he regularly debases himself hoping to curry favor.
The disgusting episode reminds me of Winston, at the end, broken, but "he loved Big Brother")
Now he has Barr. A seemingly fearless man, mindless of what harm he is inflicting on the country, who will carry this flag for Trump. Who will overrule and derail anything that threatens Trump & Co.
Examples are too numerous, current, & painful to recount in detail.
History.
Examples are too numerous, current, & painful to recount in detail.
History.
When the foundations of Justice are not simply compromised but eroded, it is impossible for a democracy to last.
Which in the end, is what seems to be happening.
We are at, perhaps, the last battle for the existence of America as a democracy. Yes, of course, the battle has
Which in the end, is what seems to be happening.
We are at, perhaps, the last battle for the existence of America as a democracy. Yes, of course, the battle has
been raging from before the founding of the Constitution. And of course it is easy to cite any particular facet in the light of a true functioning democracy and indict ours for failing. Still, there is something that has been something other than the normal distribution of power
and resources in human history. I think Leonard Cohen said it best.
"Democracy is coming to the USA....It is coming here first because there is a spiritual thirst...."
It is this, I think, that stands as the ultimate, powerful, rebuke to all things Trump.
"Democracy is coming to the USA....It is coming here first because there is a spiritual thirst...."
It is this, I think, that stands as the ultimate, powerful, rebuke to all things Trump.
To win any war you have to understand your "enemy".
Unlike any time since the Civil War when the country was last so confronted with its demise, we are coming to a similar state of polarization.
As many, once stalwarts of the Republican Party, have realized Trump(ism) is both
Unlike any time since the Civil War when the country was last so confronted with its demise, we are coming to a similar state of polarization.
As many, once stalwarts of the Republican Party, have realized Trump(ism) is both
a consequence of past GOP policies & foundational premises and a new force embodying the worse of those ideas: the racism, disgust at immigrants, the poor, the devotion to power as a primary good, and deftly playing upon the fears and hopes of their adherents to gain & sustain
power.
Back to the top.
One of the last bastions of power that stands in the way of Trump/Trumpism and by definition the party that spawned him, the GOP, is the people.
The systems designed in the Constitution to deal with a rogue president failed due to the unforeseen, and
Back to the top.
One of the last bastions of power that stands in the way of Trump/Trumpism and by definition the party that spawned him, the GOP, is the people.
The systems designed in the Constitution to deal with a rogue president failed due to the unforeseen, and
unaccountable, condition of Congress fully capitulating to the Executive.
The cornerstone of American Constitutional Democracy is the distribution of power (horizontally) and the principle of exercising power at the lowest, closest to the citizen, as possible. (vertically).
The cornerstone of American Constitutional Democracy is the distribution of power (horizontally) and the principle of exercising power at the lowest, closest to the citizen, as possible. (vertically).
The Republican Senators used their majority status and power not to serve the country; not to find out the facts of the case being made for impeachment; not to hold the executive to account for the extraordinary violations of law and regulations...But to enable them.
The founders of the country could not account for such a systemic failure of Constitutional principle.
So it falls to the Citizens as the presumed source of that power..."The consent of the Governed...", to reclaim that power. Or, by relinquishing it make the ultimate, and last
So it falls to the Citizens as the presumed source of that power..."The consent of the Governed...", to reclaim that power. Or, by relinquishing it make the ultimate, and last
consent to another power. One that will gladly take it, & never plan on giving it back.
[Side note: It is part of the pattern of the decline and ruin of Democracies that the authoritarian system that asserts itself and challenges the Democracy's right to exist, always is elected
[Side note: It is part of the pattern of the decline and ruin of Democracies that the authoritarian system that asserts itself and challenges the Democracy's right to exist, always is elected
or given power more or less unchallenged.]
So...The last line of defense of the country, and the battlefront of offense to take back and restore Democracy in the USA, is the people, and the upcoming election.
We will find out if we have enough "spiritual thirst".
So...The last line of defense of the country, and the battlefront of offense to take back and restore Democracy in the USA, is the people, and the upcoming election.
We will find out if we have enough "spiritual thirst".
That the election is the next and last battle is not lost on the GOP nor Trump.
Whatever else you think of Trump as an idiot, buffoon, childish, an egomaniac, inarticulate, incompetent, lacking at every level of what normally would be a leader,
He managed to become president.
Whatever else you think of Trump as an idiot, buffoon, childish, an egomaniac, inarticulate, incompetent, lacking at every level of what normally would be a leader,
He managed to become president.
Trump is all those things and more. But he is not stupid. And he understands certain things enough, & is vapid enough in his personal self that he has no problem thinking that whatever he wants and believes is essentially a good, and American. Any contradiction being a threat.
The battle front is the next election.
This is why we are daily seeing reports of one sort or another of direct attacks on the ability of the people to vote.
This tussle w the Secretary of State of Michigan, @JocelynBenson, is just one skirmish.
This one likely will not come
This is why we are daily seeing reports of one sort or another of direct attacks on the ability of the people to vote.
This tussle w the Secretary of State of Michigan, @JocelynBenson, is just one skirmish.
This one likely will not come
anything in terms of the actual threats Trump made.
I doubt he ever actually expected to enforce some idea he could withhold monies already allocated by Congress. Maybe he did, who knows.
It is not the point.
The point is the threat. And creating an environment of tension,
I doubt he ever actually expected to enforce some idea he could withhold monies already allocated by Congress. Maybe he did, who knows.
It is not the point.
The point is the threat. And creating an environment of tension,
chaos, uncertainly... if possible, a pall of hopelessness over the people.
She resisted. Beautifully. Eloquently. Effectively.
This minor battle will be repeated over and over again between now and the election.
It is our job to resist, at every single incident of
She resisted. Beautifully. Eloquently. Effectively.
This minor battle will be repeated over and over again between now and the election.
It is our job to resist, at every single incident of
abuse of the right of the people to vote, it is our job to also resist Beautifully, Eloquently, Effectively.
Taking back the power that has been stolen... and putting it back into the hands of those who understand what the office of the President is... And is not.
Taking back the power that has been stolen... and putting it back into the hands of those who understand what the office of the President is... And is not.
If We the People can come together sufficiently at this critical juncture we may also, as A. Lincoln said about his own perilous time...we may "save ourselves".
Lincoln is our best example and guide in these fraught times. He has shown us how to think about these times.
Lincoln is our best example and guide in these fraught times. He has shown us how to think about these times.
It is an awesome moment we are coming up on. In Churchillian terms there is a Gathering Storm. We are experiencing the initial winds. And that in a time of crisis as well.
Our mettle will be tested.
We will have an answer to the question that confronts every generation:
Our mettle will be tested.
We will have an answer to the question that confronts every generation:
What sort of people are you?
At the end of this next battle we will have an answer.
Lets hope it is one that renews our commitment to "that nation, or any nation so constituted" thriving again.
At the end of this next battle we will have an answer.
Lets hope it is one that renews our commitment to "that nation, or any nation so constituted" thriving again.
