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William Politt's avatar

Whenever I see trump slouching in his ill-fitting suit and ubiquitous baseball cap I note what a weak impersonation of Hitler, Franco, Mussolini he is. Hard to imagine the depths to which he'd plunge if he had an actual ideology instead of just impulses.

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Ruthy Wexler's avatar

Oh my. How right you are. Cold comfort, that, however.

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William Farrar's avatar

Unfortunately or corporate media and many on the left are missing something that could affect all of us. SCOTUS has given the Trump regime, free reign to denaturalize everyone. Even people whose ancestors both sides were born in the United States.

So you are a descendant of a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Trump;s ego is hurt because of your position in writing or on the internet. Pam Himmler can denaturalize you.

I fear for Zohar Mamdani, he is a thorn in Trump's side, and I don't expect the Democratic party to protect him as Hakeem Jeffries biggest donor is AIPAC,and he also slops at the donor's trough, as he is the minority leader in the house, and Mamdani's democratic socialism plank is a threat to the corporations and the donor class.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

The fight today is in the House. All need to be on deck.

Everything else is a distraction.

.

Well I've been around the world

And I've been in the Washington Zoo

And in all my travels as the facts unravel

I've found this to be true

.

While the poor people sleepin'

With the shade on the light

While the poor people sleepin'

All the stars come out at night.

.

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William Farrar's avatar

Yep, Daniel. I know that. Any defectors in the House?

With the mid terms upon them, you would think that the House would not want to hurt their base, however the Big Ugly Bills attacks on Medicaid were crafted to not take effect until after the mid terms. Thus the Republicans know what they are doing, and I don't see the corporate media exposing them, and so what if they do, only old farts like me pay attention to MSNBC. Joe Sixpack, watches only Fox or other media in his echo chamber, and I doubt subscribes to NYT or WAPO, which is corporate anyway and thus protective of corporate profits and dividends.

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Ruthy Wexler's avatar

I’m nurturing a fantasy. These human beings horribilus finally meet their due. Whatever Civili War must happen, has happened. And we, long suffering decent human beings, decide to let them get what’s coming to them for FUCKING ONCE. We pen them up. We give them little to eat. We do to them what they are doing to good, innocent people. And we put THEM on Alligator Alley and watch THEM, one by one, try and escape. No food. no water. Just their wits and the alligators. I am a very kind person. Went out of my WAY to avoid hurting anyone. But I will be happy to watch a reality TV show where Trump, and gthat horrible Kristi Noem, try to escape. And seeing how it’s not gonna happen for a while, and I’m 81, I think I’ll write a YA book to guide the future, a reverse Hunger Games.

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Sophia Demas's avatar

You are simply asking that all of them receive their due karma for putting us in perennial terror. What I hate is when people tell me to pray for them. I cannot. I can say: May the light in me see the light in them...because I sure can't....

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Ruthy Wexler's avatar

The light’s been killed. I’m reminded of The Hiding Place, where Cory Ten Boom’s dying sister (if memory serves) Betsye tells Cory that she feels so sorry for ‘them.’ Corey thinks she means the people in the camp. But Betsye means the Nazis. How far they each are from their soul. She prays for them. I know what Betsye means. But I can’t get there either.

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Lily Kulibaba's avatar

Something I learned over the years. Karma works best and quickly when you let go and set her free to act according to her wisdom. As long as you keep trying to direct her and wanting to see the results, you'll be waiting a very long time. Namaste

During a conference, Cory Ten Boom once shared how one day she knelt before the altar and asked god why her prayers weren't being answered. She'd been praying and asking for some time; God replied, explaining to her how she would come with her suitcase full of supplications and lay each one on the altar before Him. When she finished talking with Him, she picked up each one and put it back in the suitcase, taking them with her. He told her she needed to leave them there on the altar with Him, as long as she held on to them, He could not act.

It's harder to do than talk about, but you've got this. I'm just a bit younger than you.

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Mary "Snookie" DeMarce's avatar

Oh Ruth, you've perfectly said it for millions of us!! I love your idea about a new reality show! We could call it The New Survivors and fill it with Trump's ass-kissers. Instead of being voted out of the island, they're voted in! Love you, RUTH!!

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Robert B. Elliott's avatar

Let's not be confused about who is behind this horror show. If Trump had a fatal heart attack or were successfully assassinated in a third attempt, the show would go on without a hitch. In fact, it would speed up. JD Vance and the billionaire cabinet and Heritage and all of the perverted sociopaths, who also include Musk, Thiel, and dozens of those technofascists waiting to step in and take over the country would not hesitate to ramp up and accelerate these initiatives. The 25th Amendment would not offer the slightest relief. These people and their evil designs must be exposed every day in every way for what and who they are. Before they were fascists, they were self-righteous, sanctimonious, ultra-orthodox, "problem-solving" authorities or "experts" or money-makers with big ideas and big supporters. They dominated in school or "upper" education and bullied their way into important positions. They developed leadership skills, they "fit-in", and they were listened to. They talked a lot about following rules and obeying the law and the authority. Morality was their calling card. They were good "conservative Republicans with "family values".

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Claire Read, PhD's avatar

Been saying exactly that for months. I’d rather have the orange idiot there than Peter Thiel sponsored and trained Jump Dump Vance. However, I would focus on Thiel and Raskin (behind the scenes), Russ Vought and Steve Miller as the most dangerous and those who are building the current playbook. I am beginning to think that Elon is becoming more or less irrelevant. The ones to keep a close eye on are the ones who work in the shadows—Thiel and Vought. Most of the rest are executors. IMHO.

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Ruthy Wexler's avatar

And Steven (Stephen) Miller? ??

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Robert B. Elliott's avatar

How could I forget Steven Miller? He is a special case. His self-hatred and his zealotry in pursuit of sadism are unique. JD Vance and the others are probably more concerned about image and some pretense of an intellectual argument for their brutality and disregard for the Constitution and I suspect that without Trump he would be marginalized. But right now, he clearly does have immense influence. He is very scary.

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Becky O A's avatar

Vought the mastermind of Project 2025, Stephen Miller, Goebbels incarnate

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William Farrar's avatar

I totally agree Robert. MSNBC,evening hosts expose or try to expose these evil people, minions of the antichrist (there I, an atheist, said it, it is the best word available to describe them),but the only audience of MSNBC is old farts like myself.

I don't have a cell phone, don't do Facebook, but have no idea if there is any attempt on the part of democracy lovers to flood the social media like the theocratic , racist and misogynistic fascist apparently do.

As I understand it, the boomers who aren't liberal and Generation X watch Fox, Oann, Blaze and the other right wingers, but they and Gen Y and Especially Gen z don't even watch TV, it is either streaming or social media.

Question: If Gen Y and Z are so economically distressed, and living in their parents basement, how do they afford a cell phone, a provider and subscription.

My wife wastes $25 a month on Netflix, which offers shit for shows, and which I've watched maybe three movies and one documentary. And that is a waste but, hey she is the boss, retired and it makes her happy.

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Robot Bender's avatar

Humans don't need a supernatural Satan to be horrible. That's just a cop out to avoid responsibility. We're quite capable of incredible evil on our own.

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William Farrar's avatar

Correct Robot, the Dark Force resides in us all Zoroastrians, a religion that predates even Hebrew calls it Angra Mainyu. He is often referred to as Ahriman in Middle Persian.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

Midastouch claims they are No. 1 social media.https://meidasnews.com/

AI In March 2025, Playboard ranked MeidasTouch as the most popular news and politics YouTube channel for a few days. MeidasTouch boasts 4.3 million YouTube subscribers. In April 2025, MeidasTouch was recognized with the Podcast of the Year award at the 29th Annual Webby Awards.

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Robert B. Elliott's avatar

After the election, I tried to quit Facebook two or three times but was unsuccessful. I have become active there again though because there are many posts which are very well-written and constructed with liberal/progressive content. One has to be careful because there are all sorts of fake posts with nonsense such as bad reports and statistics for Rachel Maddow, claiming she is quitting MSNBC and such meant to discourage us. The younger crowd apparently find the money or get their parents to pay for I-Phones and services. Parents and grandparents such as myself pay because we are terrified of losing contact with them and the excuse is that they are applying for jobs on their devices.

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Linda schreiber's avatar

I have gone on Facebook and posted that these Rachel leaving articles are fake and untrue but they keep writing how they will leave MSNBC etc.

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Becky O A's avatar

I guess if we keep watching her, and she keeps broadcasting, they will realize eventually she isn't leaving, and go on to harass someone else.

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Robert B. Elliott's avatar

Today it was Lawrence O'Donnell. There are others which appear to be left-leaning until you read carefully between the lines. They use subtle trickery to create a false impression and create doubt. Always look at the source.

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William Farrar's avatar

Facebook is an addiction. My wife can't give it up, she started to stay in touch with family, but has expanded from there,and drives me up the wall because she has bought a lot of junk because she saw it on Facebook, Less now because we have had to cancel and replace our credit card three times, maybe four.

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Becky O A's avatar

They could put up a cardboard Trump in his place and they would not miss a beat, maybe even easier without his blabber. Check out Project 2025 and check off their plan, followed meticulously, as meticulously as Hitler's henchmen 9 decades ago.

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Tomonthebeach's avatar

The reason DeSantis is cooperating with Florida Citizen #1 is that the governor's time in office is soon to hit his term limit. Then what will an incompetent governor do for a living?

One thing to keep in mind is that Dachau existed because there was a Gestapo (German term for Secret State Police) to fill it full of inmates. Places like Alligator Alcatraz are being built so America's Gestapo - ICE - has a place to stash its inmates.

As Trump has said, he plans to put one of these prisons in every state, it seems rather clear that when they run out of genuine undocumented immigrants, they will make up the difference with people who dare criticize our Fuhrer. Trump could not do that without the billions in the new BBB.

Footnote: I hear the reason for the July 4th deadline is that ICE is due to run out of funds then.

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JP Connolly's avatar

Thank you for laying it out so clearly. It's too easy to think, oh, they'd never come for me. I'm naturalized. We shall see.

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Ruthy Wexler's avatar

HAH! No one’s thinking that anymore. No one I know, anyway.

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Robot Bender's avatar

I sure hope no one thinks they're immune.

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Jeffrey Hobbs's avatar

America's purpose as a nation has been converted to protecting and promoting major industries, like fossil fuels, pharmaceuticals, plastics, chemicals, weapons,... and of course, prisons. Promoting the prison industry means finding them "clients", meaning prisoners. "Liberty and justice for all" is just a sales pitch.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

Selling merch and extorting Trump's own cult followers, companies and even countries.

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Linda schreiber's avatar

Yep they have hats and T-shirts with an Alcatraz alligator on them. They seem very proud of them! Yuck!

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docrhw Weil's avatar

What they are doing is indeed blatant sadism. Looking at recent parallels, Stalin's gulag camps were advertised as places of "corrective labor" where prisoners could be "rehabilitated", and while Hitler's people made a nonsense film about the Theresienstadt concentration camp "showing" how good it was, otherwise they hid the death camps and said their victims were being "resettled in the East". Trump's gang seems to revel in saying how they are creating a hell on earth, even if without the mass murder aspect, though you know that just being in these places will kill people. Maybe the only modern parallel is the attempts by the US to justify the Japanese American internment camps. (Though Lange's photos of the worst situations were withheld from release.) I am so ashamed of this country.

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B S C's avatar

Don’t forget the Chinese Re-education camps. RFK jr has spoken of sending everyone who’s on anti depressants to camps. They can dream up other categories

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docrhw Weil's avatar

You are right! The Vietnamese had something similar after the war too. And let’s not forget that the whole idea of “concentrating” people in a camp goes back to the Spanish "reconcentrados" when in the 1890s those accused of aiding Cuban rebels were removed. It seems every modern dictatorship that doesn’t outright kill those it wants to be rid of has a similar idea. Their history is given here:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/concentration-camps-existed-long-before-Auschwitz-180967049/

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Mary Sundberg's avatar

Thanks again Thom for this excellent article. Could you send a copy to the House and Senate. It should wake them up. But then again, who knows.

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Dean Sigler's avatar

Hitler had his first "detainment camps"/"re-education centers" in place within months of his election. The comparison is too close for even remote comfort. At least the Nazis didn't peddle T-shirts and caps to celebrate their efforts.

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return to normalcy's avatar

And they didn't hide behind masks! They came at you in their spiffy uniforms designed by Hugo Boss, yes, that Hugo Boss who still designs clothing. He survived the war as dud other corporations that we have with us today.

As is usual, it's mostly the poor guy/gal down the ladder that got punished. Oh sure, there were high profile executions but how many literally got away with murder!

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Becky O A's avatar

I think they would have if they'd thought about it. They used uniforms and golden stars to their advantage though.

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alis's avatar

Being a soulless psycho, it is only a matter of time before TRump tells them to ramp it up down in Alligator Alcatraz. It is likely that he will want to see someone eaten.  That will make him and his Cult smile. If it is a guard (and that could happen), maybe they will even shed a few "crocodile tears".

Things will escalate---that is the moral of the Dachau story. I've said before what struck me about that horrible place was that it was a shockingly short ride from Munich.

As Thom said, hold that mirror up. Expose every ugly bit of the regime's cruelty, and DENOUNCE IT! Remember the 4th and 17th. See you in the streets.

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Sir Okie Doke's avatar

Why is the Dem party sucking one thumb and sitting on the other?

Meanwhile Fat Orange Bastard sh*ts in the middle of the Nation's Oval Office; then wipes-smears his anus with the crumpled-up Declaration and the Constitution. At the same time.

I expected orders of magnitude M-O-R-E from Dems.

They seem reduced to email-begging S-A-P-s.

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John M. Canteberry's avatar

I'm sick and tired of receiving pleas to contribute to the Democratic Party. Like the opposition parties to the rising tide of fascists in Germany today's Democratic Party is weak (fear? or incompetence? or both?) and poorly organized for reacting to the never ending threats to the Republic.

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Nancy Schimmel's avatar

I'm contributing to the few who speak up, not to the party.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

EVERY Dem in the sanate vorted against the budget, and expect the same in the House.

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Robot Bender's avatar

Same here.

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Claire Read, PhD's avatar

Pls let me know when you figure that out. I agree with the ashamed party. Totally.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

Psy ops works -- Dems are not the enemy.

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Sir Okie Doke's avatar

You are correct, sir.

But [to paraphrase Rumsfeld], one goes to war with the Army you have.

And we have Beetle Bailey and F Troop against the American SS.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

Bullshit.

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Sir Okie Doke's avatar

Happy 4th.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

You're encouraging MAGA.

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Robot Bender's avatar

I don't buy that. There's much going on at the state level, including non-government.

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Sir Okie Doke's avatar

Fingers crossed.

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Robot Bender's avatar

If you want to be completely accurate, these are concentration death camps. I think Trump and his regime are planning on building one in every state. Remember back when the far right was screaming about secret FEMA camps for Christians and conservatives? More projection.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

Within a few miles, in a simiar location, the state has prisons that contract chain gangs. Free labor. Think Cool Hand Luke.

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Nancy Schimmel's avatar

This is the article that convinced me to subscribe. Thanks for it.

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John M. Canteberry's avatar

"Those that don't learn from history are condemned to repeat it". So many Americans I've known over the years have often said their least favorite subject in school was "history" and therein lies one of today's problems, a willing and manufactured ignorance of history. I see it entirely possible, as implied by Thom, the potential is there, for this and the others "concentration camps" that may be built in the next 3.5 years to evolve into something other than an "Alcatraz" into what could be known as an American "Auschwitz". After all the "Final Solution" was a process that evolved over time. I do hope that all of today's fascist coup plotters and enablers are held accountable and that they face the same consequences of the original fascist perpetrators of Europe.

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return to normalcy's avatar

Except that not all the perpetrators were punished. Many of the scientists that we brought out of the dying Nazi state were guilty of crimes. And the Abwer, the secret police, well many of them were given new identities because they knew so much about the Communists in Germany. With the Cold War upon us they were very useful to us, hence, no prosecution.

And finally as Americans tend to do, we just got tired of it all & didn't pursue it any further.

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John M. Canteberry's avatar

True, but then many "average" Germans were guilty as well of the crimes of the 3rd Reich. Read "Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust" by Daniel Goldhagen. So not everyone that was guilty of the crimes of the 3rd Reich were held accountable. In today's world it would be unrealistic to hold every member of the maga movement accountable but the politicians that sowed hate and discord, their sycophants, the media enablers, the financial sponsors, the "agents" that enforced inhuman policies would be at the top of the list of those deserving of facing the consequences of their crimes. Punishment of these may be sufficient to drive the average maga fascist wannabe back under the rock from which they emerged.

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Becky O A's avatar

Kind of like the Lost Cause and celebrating the heroes of the Civil war, the Rebels/confederates who served the South after the states seceded over slavery. The Statues were meant to intimidate Blacks back to knowing their place. And the North pushed for reconciliation with the South, reunion, given eventually with little consequence to those who served. Getting tired seems to be an American habit.

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Feldman's avatar

The most dangerous thing about Alligator Alcatraz isn’t the alligators. It’s the message.

The message is that we have state after state of PIG PEOPLE who are willing and enabled to vote and vote again and vote again for all of this. The people of Florida are FOR this - that's why they vote the way they do. And the rest of us are told that we should take the high road in order not to be like them. Let's have a reality check - what does "sticks and stones can break my bones but names can never hurt me" say. They, the people of MAGATFlorida and the MAGAT U.S. gov't are willing to break our bones but we can't even call them names without our side getting huffy. These same pig people are in all the MAGAT states and this is the way they vote - over and over again. They are voting for Alligator Alcatraz over and over again. Sadly, this is the country we may have always been - and now it's completely out in the open.

What did the book say - All pigs are equal, but some pigs are more equal than others.

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Tom Halstead's avatar

We have met the enemy and he is us.

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Daniel Solomon's avatar

Speak for yourself.

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