No matter how hard you try, the world won’t forget. The lies, the corruption, and the betrayal are etched into history, a stain that will follow your party for generations…
The thing that always drives me nuts, is why??? why, did they hook their horse to this wagon??? They could have gotten rid of him and he would be gone, and he would whine and complain, but the GOP would have remained intact. But, they sold their souls to this orange devil. Who, I hope drops dead!! They have capitulated to this orange menace, and for that very small group of MAGA supporters, what are they so afraid of. I think the silver lining for us here, is that his supporters only love Trump, why?? will be a study is psychology for decades to come, but they won't come out for anyone else, and they don't like Musk, that is evident in the Pennsylvania special election in a ruby red district that Trump won by 15 points, they went to the democrat!! Florida and Wisconsin will be the bell weather of where we are going and where the country is, if we are truly MAGA or are we sane!!
...because they are afraid of him, his bully tactics, and the network of thugs he can command. They are afraid of physical harm to themselves and their families, as well as political harm to their reelection chances if they cross him. Instructive is Liz Cheney's book. And Thom Hartmann's piece on Dark Enlightenment. It's no mystery, really.
If they're afraid of him and his MAGAs, who can be flattened by a tank, how will they react to a Russian, etc. takeover? The Founders, with the last line of the Declaration of Independence, "mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor".
https://michaelwsmith.com/the-sacrifices-made-by-the-declaration-signers/ Five were captured and tortured, others lost family members, lost their homes, lost their fortunes, etc. This crop of cowards are afraid of tweets and bullying. They selling not only their honor, but the country as well.
I think the Founders were in it for something other than themselves, a rare find these days in politics with the exception of a few. It's more about how much is in it for me. As for Trump, like Sarah Kendzior says "you can't vote out the Mafia", and unbelievably 77 million people voted for that.
I believe they support him because he supports their hatred for POC, for Jews, for anyone who isn't a white, Christian nationalist. The less educated support him because long go they were sucked into the cult. It doesn't take much to convince those lacking critical thinking skills that supporting him will make their lives better...just promise them what they don't have, i.e. money, jobs, healthcare, etc. And when the cult leader doesn't deliver they are too deep down the rabbit hole to see the light of day.
MOC are a different breed. Many have skeletons in their closets that the 🟠💩 uses to blackmail them into obedience. Others are drunk with power (many Dems are too, which is why the refuse to step aside for a new generation of leaders) and others are racists SOB's. And some, like MTG, don't realize how ignorant they really are. 222
America’s memory will depend on an unrelenting independent media. Unfettered capitalism driving an M$M that daily sanewashes and normalizes donvict’s and the repugnican’s ceaseless depredations will otherwise win out.
There are many on social media, which has really replaced corporate media who are calling out the lapses in the current regime. This is now where most people opposed to the raping of our government find a home, and read the truth.
Thom Hartmann, and many others are keeping the records of the treasonous actions by unqualified officials. The truth on the internet never goes away, it just spreads widely.
The problem is that social media and the internet is also what spreads the lies of MAGA, POS and Skum. Unlike written media and legitimate news outlets, there is very little accountability or regulation. Sadly, lies are easier to spread and believe.
The rest of the world may never forget the stench of tRump but Americans will. Faux News and rest of the right wing media will make sure of it. With help from the NYT and the WaPo, of course.
I agree, I truly believe that musk had something to do with the felon winning all 7 swing states. That is highly improbable considering he only won a plurality rather than a majority of votes.
We have? Mention Nixon and the first thing remembered is Watergate. That said, he, unlike POS, had actual accomplishments - rapport with China, the EPA, Clean Air Act, etc. Then he decided he was the king, and he paid for it.
This is a tour de force [TDF] . . . thru and thru !!!!
TDF's a French phrase meaning "feat of strength." It refers to an exceptional, masterful achievement that showcases extraordinary skill, creativity, or brilliance in a particular area.
One of your finest pieces, Thom. I'm sharing it- what a disgusting time we are living in and those who voted and continue to support this pig are as guilty as he for destroying our country and beyond.
SIGNALGATE Republicans care less about American National Security. Anti- our allies. Pro-Putin, owns Trump Vance Musk & Repub party. Republican’s god/ patron/boss.
I don't know. I'm in a discussion group with some influential Republicans, MAGATs. The idea that we threaten our allies, Canada, Mexico, EU, UK is important to them. People who served know it's a courtmarshal offense.
People in busines should be able tell which side of the bread bears butter.
I'm hoping that Wicker, Turner et al will rise to the occasion.
"...use of Signal violates the federal law that governs the preservation of government records, asking a federal judge to order the cabinet members to preserve the messages."
In the cobwebs of my memory I knew the Special Counsel of the US who lost his job and was suspended from the bar for destroying his emails under that statute
There will always be a market for their crude exploitation of fear, ignorance, and rage--it's built into human DNA. If we want democracy, we have to overcome our base instincts. Republicans exist as a reminder of our failure to do so.
The whole republican agenda is based on myths, half truths and false impressions as well as believing in entitlements for the rich. This so-called “conservative “ agenda has been fermenting for years-power and wealth at all costs based on a core of racism. They have succeeded at gaslighting a segment of our population aided by complicit billionaire owned media propaganda. They are people who don’t have critical thinking skills and tend to believe conspiracy theories ie. prosperity gospel grifting, anti vax , anti science and anti social programs. It’s a view and agenda that will not support progress or health for all in our country.
Thom, I fear the lack of a progressive social media that is as effective as the Republican noise machine may allow the stench to linger. Look at how many people still have not linked the cause of over one million covid deaths to Trump’s mismanagement of that epidemic. I have not given up, though. My family & I will be at the November Hands-off! March.
Excellent post (as usual) Everyone reading this post should make a personal commitment to forward this post to all their friends and relatives They should also copy it and support the USPS by maling it by REGISTERED mail, return receipt requested to their elected representatives who will have to have someone sign the receipt instead of their usual non-response or ignoring it. We send letters to Congress and get no reply. If their offices receive REGISTERED mail then they may get the message. We get no response at Town Halls. We can do this together. Do it before April 5th.
And if we bumble into a war with Iran then his tearing up the Iran nuclear deal because Obama made it will be another big mark. Meanwhile you can add his reviving Manifest Destiny by threatening to seize three independent territories, one being our best friend and nearest neighbor. Yet he still wants a Nobel Peace Prize. And I won't even get into the effects his war on science is having on public health and environmental science, particularly combating climate change. That damage will be with us for generations.
I will say though that we can distinguish between those followers who are genuinely hurting or scared and think he can help them and those who are in it for profit. My mother (1913-2012) saw the difference. Once when I asked her who was worse, Nixon or Reagan she said, "Nixon, because he knew what he was doing was wrong." Trump is worthless, but these enablers are worse.
I believe the so called "MSM" (owned by the ultra-wealthy) will continue to work to make the GOP a viable party, while denigrating Dems and any strain of liberalism for even minuscule infractions like a leader's stutter, pause, or mispronunciation.
... IMHO, I believe the endless attacks on Biden for these "incidents" is why we didn't see much of him on TV throughout his presidency. They always had to attack him.
Well, attack campaigns work.
BTW, This is what The Lincoln Project has done so well for years, while Dems don't seem strategically aware yet. "Attack" is what the 2 PhDs in Psychology (Plog, Holden) instructed and coached Reagan in his gubernatorial campaign in 1966. The Trump lunacy just begs for attack, Attack, and More ATTACKS to keep his admin in the public consciousness.
The GOP will always be Gangsters Obliterating Progress!
A thousand thanks from Germany, Thom, for your excellent reports on the attempt by Trump and his cronies to destroy American democracy. Voices like yours are desperately needed.
Much of this reminds me of what my parents told me about the time Hitler came to power in the 1930s; what they told me about the pervasive fear; about the beatings my mother endured as a young girl because she kept visiting Jewish groceries; about the emaciated concentration camp prisoners to whom my father secretly left food by the roadside at night, from where they were driven every morning to the places where they had to work until they were exhausted; about the interrogations by the Gestapo; about the despair at the sudden disappearance of friends, teachers, colleagues; about the hope that the Americans would come and bring back freedom.
All this returns to my mind when I read your reports. But the fact that you and others are speaking out gives me a spark of hope that the American people, unlike the Germans back then, might succeed in averting the worst and standing up against injustice, against contempt for all values, standing up for freedom and democracy, for respect and empathy.
Nevertheless, as a biologist, I have a single critical comment: please don't do the pig, which is a very intelligent species, the injustice of comparing it to a stupid, uneducated and unscrupulous human like DJT. It does not deserve that.
They were. But they didn't see it that way themselves. They did what had to be done, did what they felt was their duty as human beings. And never complained about what they themselves had to suffer.
I very much hope that it won't be as bad for you in the US. But I fear the clique around Dark Enlightenment, Longtermism, and Effective Accelerationism has a very precise plan to transform and abuse the American society according to their “vision”. It scares me.
It will take more than a few brave people to stop this.
Yes, it most certainly will. But the numbers for their side also are not there now. They have a few thousand militias that are not well coordinated, and have only small arms. They do not have state control that is ironclad in more than 15 states. TFG today tried to create a national order for everyone to re-register to vote with proof of citizenship, but it does not control every state. Elections are state by state, not federal. Its ranks are filled with incompetents. Many dozens of screw ups already. Where will the actual military be in all this? Will hundreds of thousands of Marines, Army, Air Force and Navy attack their own state's and country's citizens? It will take many millions of us, all across the country, beginning to work deep inside this monstrosity. On every front, the resistance and betrayals from us must begin. We needed, for many decades, to root out and destroy the rotten bastards in this nation. Now is the time to get this done.
The thing that always drives me nuts, is why??? why, did they hook their horse to this wagon??? They could have gotten rid of him and he would be gone, and he would whine and complain, but the GOP would have remained intact. But, they sold their souls to this orange devil. Who, I hope drops dead!! They have capitulated to this orange menace, and for that very small group of MAGA supporters, what are they so afraid of. I think the silver lining for us here, is that his supporters only love Trump, why?? will be a study is psychology for decades to come, but they won't come out for anyone else, and they don't like Musk, that is evident in the Pennsylvania special election in a ruby red district that Trump won by 15 points, they went to the democrat!! Florida and Wisconsin will be the bell weather of where we are going and where the country is, if we are truly MAGA or are we sane!!
...because they are afraid of him, his bully tactics, and the network of thugs he can command. They are afraid of physical harm to themselves and their families, as well as political harm to their reelection chances if they cross him. Instructive is Liz Cheney's book. And Thom Hartmann's piece on Dark Enlightenment. It's no mystery, really.
If they're afraid of him and his MAGAs, who can be flattened by a tank, how will they react to a Russian, etc. takeover? The Founders, with the last line of the Declaration of Independence, "mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor".
https://michaelwsmith.com/the-sacrifices-made-by-the-declaration-signers/ Five were captured and tortured, others lost family members, lost their homes, lost their fortunes, etc. This crop of cowards are afraid of tweets and bullying. They selling not only their honor, but the country as well.
I think the Founders were in it for something other than themselves, a rare find these days in politics with the exception of a few. It's more about how much is in it for me. As for Trump, like Sarah Kendzior says "you can't vote out the Mafia", and unbelievably 77 million people voted for that.
Easy answer to your why? Powe and money at first. Now as many have pointed out, fear of losing that power and money.
Some, the Christian Nationalists, Cruz, Johnson, are in it to replace the Constitution with the Bible.
I believe they support him because he supports their hatred for POC, for Jews, for anyone who isn't a white, Christian nationalist. The less educated support him because long go they were sucked into the cult. It doesn't take much to convince those lacking critical thinking skills that supporting him will make their lives better...just promise them what they don't have, i.e. money, jobs, healthcare, etc. And when the cult leader doesn't deliver they are too deep down the rabbit hole to see the light of day.
MOC are a different breed. Many have skeletons in their closets that the 🟠💩 uses to blackmail them into obedience. Others are drunk with power (many Dems are too, which is why the refuse to step aside for a new generation of leaders) and others are racists SOB's. And some, like MTG, don't realize how ignorant they really are. 222
WOW!! What an overwhelming narrative and survey. If American history is ever taught in our schools again. . . ?
America’s memory will depend on an unrelenting independent media. Unfettered capitalism driving an M$M that daily sanewashes and normalizes donvict’s and the repugnican’s ceaseless depredations will otherwise win out.
There are many on social media, which has really replaced corporate media who are calling out the lapses in the current regime. This is now where most people opposed to the raping of our government find a home, and read the truth.
Thom Hartmann, and many others are keeping the records of the treasonous actions by unqualified officials. The truth on the internet never goes away, it just spreads widely.
The problem is that social media and the internet is also what spreads the lies of MAGA, POS and Skum. Unlike written media and legitimate news outlets, there is very little accountability or regulation. Sadly, lies are easier to spread and believe.
The rest of the world may never forget the stench of tRump but Americans will. Faux News and rest of the right wing media will make sure of it. With help from the NYT and the WaPo, of course.
I don't agree. IMHO history will accept that he stole the election on top of everything else. Worse than Nixon.
I agree, I truly believe that musk had something to do with the felon winning all 7 swing states. That is highly improbable considering he only won a plurality rather than a majority of votes.
Daniel! I agree! Trump likely stole votes in Pennsylvania in 2024! It appears Musk used crypto remote gimmicks!
How will we ever prove this?
More importantly, Musk could use these vote-stealing tactics in Wisconsin and Florida!
DEMAND PAPER-TRAILS FOR ALL ELECTIONS!
And yet we’ve still elevated Nixon to the status of elder statesman along with Kissinger. We have very selective memories.
We have? Mention Nixon and the first thing remembered is Watergate. That said, he, unlike POS, had actual accomplishments - rapport with China, the EPA, Clean Air Act, etc. Then he decided he was the king, and he paid for it.
Actually, NYT seems to have learned their lesson - they're breaking a lot of news against POS. Even the WSJ is now calling out the lies.
This is a tour de force [TDF] . . . thru and thru !!!!
TDF's a French phrase meaning "feat of strength." It refers to an exceptional, masterful achievement that showcases extraordinary skill, creativity, or brilliance in a particular area.
Thank you, Mr. Hartmann.
1,000 times.
One of your finest pieces, Thom. I'm sharing it- what a disgusting time we are living in and those who voted and continue to support this pig are as guilty as he for destroying our country and beyond.
Morning Joe and the Atlantic are reporting a massive coverup of the massive security breach.
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2025/03/jeffrey-goldberg-group-chat-broke-internet/682161/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_content=edit-promo
What do Wicker and Turner say?
https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
Thank you!
SIGNALGATE Republicans care less about American National Security. Anti- our allies. Pro-Putin, owns Trump Vance Musk & Repub party. Republican’s god/ patron/boss.
I don't know. I'm in a discussion group with some influential Republicans, MAGATs. The idea that we threaten our allies, Canada, Mexico, EU, UK is important to them. People who served know it's a courtmarshal offense.
People in busines should be able tell which side of the bread bears butter.
I'm hoping that Wicker, Turner et al will rise to the occasion.
Flash. Wicker, R MS, chair of Senate inelligence committee, is saying that based on his experience, the material shoud be classified.
Flash. A case ws filed in USDC DC under the records Act against the entire crew what can't shoot straight and wagged the dog. Boasburg caught the case. https://abcnews.go.com/US/lawsuit-trump-administrations-signal-group-chat-assigned-judge/story?id=120175517
"...use of Signal violates the federal law that governs the preservation of government records, asking a federal judge to order the cabinet members to preserve the messages."
In the cobwebs of my memory I knew the Special Counsel of the US who lost his job and was suspended from the bar for destroying his emails under that statute
There will always be a market for their crude exploitation of fear, ignorance, and rage--it's built into human DNA. If we want democracy, we have to overcome our base instincts. Republicans exist as a reminder of our failure to do so.
The whole republican agenda is based on myths, half truths and false impressions as well as believing in entitlements for the rich. This so-called “conservative “ agenda has been fermenting for years-power and wealth at all costs based on a core of racism. They have succeeded at gaslighting a segment of our population aided by complicit billionaire owned media propaganda. They are people who don’t have critical thinking skills and tend to believe conspiracy theories ie. prosperity gospel grifting, anti vax , anti science and anti social programs. It’s a view and agenda that will not support progress or health for all in our country.
Thom, I fear the lack of a progressive social media that is as effective as the Republican noise machine may allow the stench to linger. Look at how many people still have not linked the cause of over one million covid deaths to Trump’s mismanagement of that epidemic. I have not given up, though. My family & I will be at the November Hands-off! March.
Subscribed. And stole two elections with help from anti-democracy Republican Party, Putin, (and others, Netanyahu/Israel, etal)
Great article, Thom. It needs to be published in the history books. Better yet....required reading for first time voters, lol.
Excellent post (as usual) Everyone reading this post should make a personal commitment to forward this post to all their friends and relatives They should also copy it and support the USPS by maling it by REGISTERED mail, return receipt requested to their elected representatives who will have to have someone sign the receipt instead of their usual non-response or ignoring it. We send letters to Congress and get no reply. If their offices receive REGISTERED mail then they may get the message. We get no response at Town Halls. We can do this together. Do it before April 5th.
And if we bumble into a war with Iran then his tearing up the Iran nuclear deal because Obama made it will be another big mark. Meanwhile you can add his reviving Manifest Destiny by threatening to seize three independent territories, one being our best friend and nearest neighbor. Yet he still wants a Nobel Peace Prize. And I won't even get into the effects his war on science is having on public health and environmental science, particularly combating climate change. That damage will be with us for generations.
I will say though that we can distinguish between those followers who are genuinely hurting or scared and think he can help them and those who are in it for profit. My mother (1913-2012) saw the difference. Once when I asked her who was worse, Nixon or Reagan she said, "Nixon, because he knew what he was doing was wrong." Trump is worthless, but these enablers are worse.
Amen, brother. That stink stinks to high heaven. Which is where those pseudo Christians ain’t never going.
I believe the so called "MSM" (owned by the ultra-wealthy) will continue to work to make the GOP a viable party, while denigrating Dems and any strain of liberalism for even minuscule infractions like a leader's stutter, pause, or mispronunciation.
... IMHO, I believe the endless attacks on Biden for these "incidents" is why we didn't see much of him on TV throughout his presidency. They always had to attack him.
Well, attack campaigns work.
BTW, This is what The Lincoln Project has done so well for years, while Dems don't seem strategically aware yet. "Attack" is what the 2 PhDs in Psychology (Plog, Holden) instructed and coached Reagan in his gubernatorial campaign in 1966. The Trump lunacy just begs for attack, Attack, and More ATTACKS to keep his admin in the public consciousness.
The GOP will always be Gangsters Obliterating Progress!
A thousand thanks from Germany, Thom, for your excellent reports on the attempt by Trump and his cronies to destroy American democracy. Voices like yours are desperately needed.
Much of this reminds me of what my parents told me about the time Hitler came to power in the 1930s; what they told me about the pervasive fear; about the beatings my mother endured as a young girl because she kept visiting Jewish groceries; about the emaciated concentration camp prisoners to whom my father secretly left food by the roadside at night, from where they were driven every morning to the places where they had to work until they were exhausted; about the interrogations by the Gestapo; about the despair at the sudden disappearance of friends, teachers, colleagues; about the hope that the Americans would come and bring back freedom.
All this returns to my mind when I read your reports. But the fact that you and others are speaking out gives me a spark of hope that the American people, unlike the Germans back then, might succeed in averting the worst and standing up against injustice, against contempt for all values, standing up for freedom and democracy, for respect and empathy.
Nevertheless, as a biologist, I have a single critical comment: please don't do the pig, which is a very intelligent species, the injustice of comparing it to a stupid, uneducated and unscrupulous human like DJT. It does not deserve that.
Your parents were heroes.
They were. But they didn't see it that way themselves. They did what had to be done, did what they felt was their duty as human beings. And never complained about what they themselves had to suffer.
I very much hope that it won't be as bad for you in the US. But I fear the clique around Dark Enlightenment, Longtermism, and Effective Accelerationism has a very precise plan to transform and abuse the American society according to their “vision”. It scares me.
It will take more than a few brave people to stop this.
Yes, it most certainly will. But the numbers for their side also are not there now. They have a few thousand militias that are not well coordinated, and have only small arms. They do not have state control that is ironclad in more than 15 states. TFG today tried to create a national order for everyone to re-register to vote with proof of citizenship, but it does not control every state. Elections are state by state, not federal. Its ranks are filled with incompetents. Many dozens of screw ups already. Where will the actual military be in all this? Will hundreds of thousands of Marines, Army, Air Force and Navy attack their own state's and country's citizens? It will take many millions of us, all across the country, beginning to work deep inside this monstrosity. On every front, the resistance and betrayals from us must begin. We needed, for many decades, to root out and destroy the rotten bastards in this nation. Now is the time to get this done.