Trump is a puppet and Elon is the puppet master. This is what ELON wants as he claws his way to our Constitution so that his dream of being President is realized and Congress is no more than a rubber stamp along with the Senate. This is what is happening, a quiet revolution run by his teen followers. What boggles me is that those who are getting fired are DOING IT. UH folks your departments are overseen by Congress not Elon or Donald. Stay at your jobs - there aren't enough police to arrest you all. It's not even civil disobedience as Elon and Co. have no right to be there telling people what to do. Frankly they should all return to their jobs and keep on working.
You're correct, but part of the equation is that Musk has also become a Putin puppet - it serves his purposes with Trump, and the pursuit of world power to echo and conform to Putin's directives. Strongmen across the globe are uniting and amplifying their fascist messages. I hope I am wrong in seeing this like an epidemic that seeps into populations and spreads. This one could be as deadly as covid, and its deadliness could last much longer.
"On November 14, 2024, president-elect Donald Trump announced that Elon Musk would lead a new Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE for short, an acronym that shares the name of Dogecoin. The price of Dogecoin spiked soon after." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogecoin
The Doge of Venice (/doʊdʒ/ DOHJ)[2][a] was the doge or highest role of authority within the Republic of Venice (697 CE to 1797 CE).[3] The word Doge derives from the Latin Dux, meaning "leader," and Venetian Italian for “duke”, highest official of the republic of Venice for over 1,000 years (wikipedia)
Now we see the real meaning behind DOGE
Hitler's 3rd Reich was suppose to last 1,000 years
Musks 4th Reich of the Rich ruled by the Doge, another 1,000 years..
I strongly agree with you! Those leaving government jobs because they were "fired", are enabling the fascists. Yes, as Barbara says, "STAY AT YOUR JOBS."
A nation of sheep. Since Trump has no legal authority to fire people without DOCUMENTED cause, those who resign are cowards, and fools if they expect Trump to honor his promises.
And even if he tried, Congress would have to pass a bill and appropriate the money to pay those who resigned on his demand and promise.
I am quite concerned about the effect that Muskian Trump will have on myself, but I take solace in the fact that he is raining down hell on those who voted for him, farmers, truck drivers, right wing denizens of all states, especially red states.. Muslims, women who voted for him. minorities that voted for him
Trump asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fire Hampton Dellinger, head of the US Office of Special Counsel. A federal judge in Washington DC issued a temporary order on Wednesday allowing Dellinger to hold on to his position while the case is being considered.
What do you know about what the fired civil servants have been told and are going through? What do you know about what they can do if they try to show up at their offices? From what I've read, Musg has people there preventing them from going back to their desks.
I know this. That career civil servants know the rules. They know they can't be fired without cause. They should know better to rely on Trumps word that in they will get 8 months serverance pay. It doesn't matter what they can do if they return to their desks, Trump can't do anything so long as they sit at their desk.
He bluffed them and now he is going to shaft them.
Musk does not have people preventing them from returning to their desks.
He needs a private army, there are over 70,000 people affected.
And we need to boycott every product and service provided by the ultra wealthy that support trump.
During the covid epidemic Trump mandated that essential workers had to work to keep the economy going. The only way to stop Trump is to shut down the economy by encouraging essential workers to stay home. This would take great courage and sacrifice by those opposing trump's facist takeover of our country. But throughout our history our brave men are women fought and died to protect our Nation. Think about the sacrifices our brave soldiers took to storm the beaches of Normandy during WWll to get rid of Hitler.
Our country is running out of time and out of options. Every day that Trump signs another executive order it becomes more difficult to stop him than the day before. We need our essential workers to call in ill on a predetermined date. They are sick and tired of trump. And will periodically get sick until he is stopped.
This is a much better solution than sending your loved one to fight in our second Civil War.
We know trump's historical knowledge and literacy skills are severely lacking. So who came up with that quote for him? We can rule out his offspring and the Slavonic Slut first lady. Stephen Miller is my first guess.
I think the issue we face is that RWNJs do not fear that "liberals" will resort to violence to stop the complete totalitarian takeover of the nation. So far, they've been correct. When we are still operating within the norms of the prior era, lawsuits were sufficient to stop anti-constitutional action by elected officials. The mistake liberals make is that we're still, somehow, operating under the old order.
As Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation put it, "The revolution will be bloodless if the Left allows it." These ideologues are not playing. They're done with democracy, religious freedom, freedom of speech, and equality under the law for women, LGBTQ+, and other undesirables. The "broligarchy" has finally achieved what they set out to do even before the infamous Powell memo was written.
I do not want to sound like I am making a call to arms, but when one political party has openly stated that violence is legitimate political discourse, we are engaged in an asymmetric political war. We who abhor violence will either have to bow to our overlords or we will have to start making them very afraid of us.
Save for a handful, politics is simply a career choice, mostly by inept and lazy lawyers.
Look at Hakeem Jeffries, whining that they are ineffective because they have no leverage, when he could be throwing sand in the gears, at the least, and Chuck Schumer who has sat on is ass for decades because he slops at the same trough as the Republicans, And a day late and a dollar short stands up and makes a fool of himself screaming, ineffectually , into a microphone
The Republicans have always been the party or rich, racist, Christian nationalists, We who read substack, we in the know, have been aware of that.
The rich, racist, misogynistic, Christian nationalists now have complete control of the U.S. because the so called opposition, took the high road and have done nothing to stop the onslaught.
And unfortunately our open handed eqalitarian values have worked to enable, even pour gas on the fascists.
Hitler's Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels, said:
"It will always remain one of democracy's best jokes that it provided its deadly enemies with the means by which it was destroyed."
Quoted in Richard Evans, "The Coming of the Third Reich", p. 451.
We needed to be reasonable, thoughtful and examine, but no we were absolutist, ideological purists, our way or the hiway
The first inklings were the revolt against political correctness, then the cancel culture (now they are cancelling us).
The immigration problem in Europe is not the same and has different causes than immigration in the US, but we treat them the same, to our chagrin.
Americans have myopia, they see the world through their own eyes, and the American experience is unique, insular, and American chauvinism does not permit or encourage us to walk in some else's shoes, nor consider the culture, needs and fears of anyone else.
An Americans can travel in Europe without learning the language of the culture, and indeed in many countries, but if you want to visit America you better speak English.
And we are so arrogant, despite the fact that we lag, in all metrics, save imprisonment and death penalty, all advanced nations, save perhaps Russia which is not an advanced but a medieval nation, we think we are the best
Muskian Trump believes that it can uses its economic, financial and military might to terrorize and dominate the free world and our neighbors, but it contains the seeds of it's own destruction.
It will live, for awhile off the fat built up since 1945, but will quickly burn up that fat with it's bigotry,policies, ations and ideology.
The Federal agencies which kept the engine running have been dismantled.
There is no one to shovel coal into the boiler, no one to grease the gears, no one to fill the tinder box.
The Federal Government is the sum of its parts, a working Federal Government is what has kept America the preferred customer of the world and the preferred destination of people.
That America died on Jan 20, 2025. We are now living on borrowed time.as the full effect of the wreckage done is felt throughout the nation and the economy.
And that is just the start, the people, the groups, the factions that enabled and created this autocracy will be vying for recognition, primacy and power., and that is when the real battle starts.
The fascist Christians, libertarians, racists, patricians and patriarchs are having an orgasm, they finally have owned the hated libtards.
That euphoria will wear off, when they find that they are competing for attention, recognition and resources with other factions of the same ilk.
I do not understand the point of what Musk's programmers are doing to the softwsre they have hacked into. They have identified progrms funded by USAID that they do not approve of but no real fraud. What purpose does firing thousands of people accomplish? Are they sijmpoly burning the country down to rule over the ashes? Destroying 10s of millions of lives in USA and 100s of millions around the world accomplishes what? Once one person owns the entire board the game of Monopoly is over. I am cheering for the asteroid
They are disassembling the Federal Government, everything except the departments that benefit Musk., which also empowers Putin with whom Musk and Trump have a standing agreement
10th grade -- a little knowledge is a dangerous thing -- Alexander Pope. I know about 10 guys who went to Wharton, came home and took their family businesses into bankruptcy.
I've been aruing that Treasyry can arbitrage -- borrow from our "ally" Japan which owns more debt than anyone at Japanese rates -- 1% -- to retire some of our debt.
I've also been arguing we should endow our trust funds just like the Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, etc. Deductions to charity do not go into the general funds of the US. I've been concentrating on SS, but it can ap;ply to all the trust funds.
Threats of “bankruptcy” of the two Social Security Trust funds abound in the media, and Trump Administration budgets have cut operational funding. There is reason to worry.
If Social Security is sliding toward a "default" it is because Congress and a succession of presidents would sell their families for a few votes. The default of Trust Funds is supposed to apex in 2034 due to the increase of birth rates of baby boomers. After 2034, birth rates of later generations flatten and the funds can be solvent.
Social Security protects workers, widow(er)s, orphans and disabled people and is a major investment for many of us.
Please donate to create an endowment to slow down the rate. If everyone who donates to say, universities, which aren't really charities, the trust funds would be secure.
My suspicion is that 'when the USA is completely ruined, it will be easy for BRICS to take charge, putting their own currency in place of the $ and running the global trade their way. China appears to be very technologically advanced with better, cheaper EVs already. Hope I live long enough to see how it will play out.
TS Eliot was a racist bastard. But that's for another day.....
Terror. The immediate terror is the coup. We have a common denominator, even with most Republicans in Congress: Treason. I think the sell out re Ukraine, Vance meeting with the Nazis, etc has to shake up even Senate Republcans. This may be a window of oppotunity....
From Meidas....… Republican Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker isn’t thrilled with Pete Hegseth’s job performance so far: “He wasn’t my choice for the job. He made a rookie mistake in Brussels and he’s walked back some of what he said but not that line. I don’t know who wrote the speech — it is the kind of thing Tucker Carlson could have written, and Carlson is a fool."
… Wicker said he also disagreed with Trump’s comments that NATO provoked Russia to invade by considering Ukraine for NATO membership: ““There are good guys and bad guys in this war, and the Russians are the bad guys. They invaded, contrary to almost every international law, and they should be defeated. And Ukraine is entitled to the promises that the world made to it.”
… Trump was asked again today who he blamed for the war, Ukraine or Russia: “There are a lot of people to blame.”
… Trump was asked about Wicker’s comments about Hegseth: “I haven’t heard that. I mean, Roger is a very good friend of mine, and Pete is doing a great job. So, I’ll speak to Roger. I’ll speak to Pete. I’ll find out.”
Thom - I believe with a warning like this, you have a responsibility to give a call to action. WHAT DO WE AS ENLIGHTENED CITIZENS *DO* ABOUT THIS THREAT?
MAGA thugs everywhere are feeling empowered to do as they like, with immunity to prosecution for it. The book 'God, Guns, and Sedition: Far-Right Terrorism in America' by Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware is a terrifying look at these hate groups and the dark history of American extremism. The openly avowed goal of these groups is to foment a violent race war in America. Quoting from the book:
". . . according to American University scholar Cynthia Miller-Idriss's 'best estimate' at least 75,000 to 100,000 individuals are actively involved with white supremacist extremist groups, in addition to the 15,000 to 20,000 people who belong to armed militia organizations comprising some three hundred different groups, the threat of wide-spread acts of domestic terrorism -- perhaps leading to a sustained insurgency campaign and even civil war -- is not hyperbolic."
In earlier days, the DOJ and the FBI tracked the activities of these groups and worked to head off their violent plots. Now, however, with our current DOJ, exactly who can we count on to stop them? These groups represent nothing short of Trump's own personal, unofficial "SS" in waiting, eager to follow his lead and do his bidding. Legitimate reasons for deep concern/fear.
And then there is the Constitutional Sheriff and Peace officers Association. They believe that the county sheriff is the supreme law in the country, and it is they that decide the Constitution.
Here is how that happened. The Constitution acknowledges that each state is sovereign, and that means that it is actually the owner of all and within it's boundaries, that unless the state has given its authority to the Federal Government, it's own laws prevail. That is why each state has it's own voting laws, marriage laws, property laws, criminal laws, commerce laws and tax laws.
When the volunteered to join the union, and were accepted by act of congress, they retained all sovereign rights, not given by majority rule, to the Federal Government.
The Sovereign state is not able to rule every corner of the state, so it delegates to an instrument called "county", the ability to administer and enforce the laws of the state.
Back when travel was by horse, the states quickly learned that effective administration required that the center of power should be about a 24 hour ride from the state capitol, and thus quite a few states kept moving their capitol,until it became expensive and inconvenient.
With Sovereignty lying with the several states,and the counties being administrative representatives of the sovereign, the county sheriff believes that he, and he alone represents the sovereign., and that is why it is he, and he alone, that can evict people and confiscate property that is held in fee simple and titled.
That last needs an exposition on the reality and history of fee simple., Beyond the scope of this comment.
Things are not as the appear to be, and not as simple as we think that they are
Amy Coney Barrett has the most to lose if Trump destroys America. As a mother with a family her children will not get to grow up in the free Country that provided her with opportunities. As for the entire Supreme Court, they are cutting of their noses… by supporting a Tyrant who will kick them to the curb at the first opportunity.
Trump didn't create them. Going on three decades now, we have watched them do what Breivik did.
This quote gives them purpose. The guns are already in their hands thanks to Republicans.
Trump is a psychopath and basic. The people around him, the Project 2025 authors and zealots believe the end justifies the means. They know how to use entitled sick men and so does Putin and Musk.
They have found the perfect idiot as a means to try to end democracy. This sick message is THEIR justification. America isn't the country they want to save.
"He who saves his country, violates no law". Would that apply to another Luigi Mangione who saved us from Trump? Or Musk? Exonerated of any crime committed in the act?
If acting on the premise that what one does to "save one's country" breaks no law, then there is no law, and therefore no country. It is all-out nihilism.
Our foreign policy lacks adult leadership. The world is dumbfounded by your dummies going abroad. At least our leaders are not yet shooting our citizens, but they will crack skulls and shoot us. We need to be ready for that fork in the road. https://bit.ly/4b5wkL4
Rarely do I inject my own articles in your commentary, Mr. Hartmann as I find it rather tasteless to do so. However I, like most of your readers, find this piece so chilling I would like to share a link to "Trumptown" which is a slightly different take on exactly that of which you so disturbingly speak. As a Black Man in the United States, I am already seeing it. If not careful, the "US" has one foot in the grave, and the other on a wet banana peel. I hope your audience realizes the impending peril.
OMG, Rohn, this article of yours is brilliant and chilling. The parallels are too numerous to discount what type of person Trump is. My hands are shaking, reliving Jonestown, and the utter horror that the people he targeted had no protection from him, like Trump is laying the groundwork for the graves of those who oppose him.
An associate of mine and I have come up with a rather grim game. We are making projections on how many Trump will kill; both domestically and abroad. I don't just mean the obvious low hanging fruit (i.e. Palestine, Iran, domestic imprisonments and turmoil) but more esoteric things like deaths from deregulation and privatization. There will be thousands, so we have, pursuant to this ghoulishly grim game, placed limits as to whether it will be tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or thousands of thousands.
We need a balanced political, economic, and social movement that all Americans can believe in to overcome both our current challenges, as well as the challenges that led us here. Neither the Republican nor Democratic party will be able to do so. Please consider the Informed Citizens Party as that potential movement. See www.informedcitizens.com
Political influence is what is providing Trump with control over congress. If we create sufficient political influence to overcome his, we can put out the fire.
You could be right about that, but is trying to create a new political party out of whole cloth the best way to do it? Strikes me as not the best way. That's like working on building the airplane while we try to fly it.
It's a way for us to let politicians know what we want, regardless of party. If we can agree on the ICP Principles and use those to evaluate and determine which candidates to vote for, then we can create the political influence necessary to overcome Trump and the issues that led to him.
Our current elected leaders are responding to Trump's threats to use his political influence aganist them. If we build sufficient counter-political influence they will be able to stand up to him. As daunthing a task as that seems, I don't see an alternative.
Congressional Republicans (and Democrats) will do what's in their self-interest as we all do. We have the political power to demand what is in our collective self-interest. It's up to us to decide what that is and to collectively demand it.
Here we go again. Everyone who has a bright idea, sets up a web page, and has a solution.
So many saviors so little time, and the worst thing is, and we should have learned this from COINTEL Pro, is that they set up their own resistance
An organized resistance is easily compromised, infiltrated and co opted.
I've known two agent provocateurs. One worked within the American NAZI party of George Lincoln Rockwell, the other with the American Indian Movement (AIM). The latter was so disgusted by Wounded Knee Massacre II, that he converted to Islam and moved to NW Washington State.
The white Rose Society was taken down when one of their own was caught distributing flyers, then it wasn't long before Sophie Scholl, her brother and others were caught and beheaded.
Disorganized resistance, with small cells and sabotage.
The fascists built their movement from the bottom up, by preying on fears,needs, bias and top down with money from the billionaires., the corporations, the lazy rich like Andrew Mellon who inherited his wealth, or techbro oligarchs who basically stole their wealth, like Gates stole DOS.
America today is both the greatest country in the world, with the potential to be an even greater country, as well as a country in decline with the risk of not being able to realize that potential.
America’s founders defined the purpose of the government and economy in the founding documents:
• The purpose of government is to establish justice, to ensure the blessings of liberty for us and our children and grandchildren, and to promote general welfare through regulations.
• The purpose of America’s economy is to provide for the general welfare.
America’s challenges today are fundamental to fulfilling those purposes in a fair way for all citizens.
People can’t individually, or even as a group or groups, solve the issues facing government, business, and society; however, collectively people can require that political and business leaders solve the issues balanced for the best interest of all people. We each need to do everything we can for the development of our best government, economy, and society. America’s best opportunity for success is a balanced sharing of information.
An Informed Citizens Commission is the foundation for the Informed Citizens Principles. It would require corporations, candidates, and representatives to provide adequate and accurate information to all citizens. See www.informedcitizens.com
Rick when you look at stats where we stand in the world in infant mortality, maternal mortality, literacy, poverty, health care, quality, costs and availability and imprisonment it is a stretch to say that we are the greatest in he world.
From a purely selfish point of view, I agree. I live very well, very comfortable and have a lot of liquidity. I don't have any debts, not even mortgage yet I own 5 acres and rent out apartment, I buy everything that I want and need, I probably spend more on cat food in a month that a migrant family does on food
I don't have a cell phone because I don't need or want one, but wife has a cell phone a ta blet, and a computer. Her computer mine and our Smart TV are hooked up to a router.
My computer is a military rehab that I bought two decades ago, it runs Windows 7, hers runs Windows 10. I have no need to upgrade, as it fulfills my need, and is less vulnerable to hacking or malware.
The point is that America is indeed great FOR ME, but not for the woman that cleans my house, or the women she hires to help her, and not great for so many hundreds of millions, that don't have the excellent health care that I have.
So maybe for you, America is the greatest nation on Earth,but not fo hundreds of millions..
Rick and William, These are all excellent points. But think about the moniker 'America is the greatest nation on earth. That is a coverup like Make America Great Again, both employed to cover the desire for ascendency vis a vie corruption, going into other countries to change regimes, killing thousands in the process, and raping other countries of their natural resources and those stats William begins his comment with. The bloated military makes it possible for the US to behave this way.
It is all in perspective and relative. We have the largest economy and strongest military of any country in history. We also have significant shortcomings that must be overcome.
Income inequity is the primary cause of the middle class unrest and mistrust of the establishment that has led to Donald Trump.
America still has the greatest potential of any country in history, but will require significant effort by us all to realize that potential.
Rick, the largest economy and strongest military does not make the greatest nation. The same could be said of Germany in 1939,
As regards overcoming our shortcomings, I keep hearing "must" and "need" as if they were solutions. There a lot of things people and this nation must do, there is a lot of things we need,
The problem is, Rick, that on the present course of the ship of state, USA Inc, the musts won't happen and the needs will be unfulfilled, unless something drastic happens to rid us of this tyranny.
Whatever potential we had is moot, water under the bridge, over the dam, it flowed into the ocean on January 20th, do you expect Muskiantrump to fulfill that potential?
William, I refuse to give up. I am asking others to join my Informed Citizens Party/Movement. I am also seeking other opportunitites to make a difference.
I think Elon has been given way too much power and he is the actual dictator. Our government has all but given him absolute power. These are not benevolent leaders. I’m convinced that every single person who represents us is truly afraid for their own safety and lives. The grift of the grift?
Trump is a puppet and Elon is the puppet master. This is what ELON wants as he claws his way to our Constitution so that his dream of being President is realized and Congress is no more than a rubber stamp along with the Senate. This is what is happening, a quiet revolution run by his teen followers. What boggles me is that those who are getting fired are DOING IT. UH folks your departments are overseen by Congress not Elon or Donald. Stay at your jobs - there aren't enough police to arrest you all. It's not even civil disobedience as Elon and Co. have no right to be there telling people what to do. Frankly they should all return to their jobs and keep on working.
He has at least 2 puppet masters, Musk and Putin.
You're correct, but part of the equation is that Musk has also become a Putin puppet - it serves his purposes with Trump, and the pursuit of world power to echo and conform to Putin's directives. Strongmen across the globe are uniting and amplifying their fascist messages. I hope I am wrong in seeing this like an epidemic that seeps into populations and spreads. This one could be as deadly as covid, and its deadliness could last much longer.
Grift Inc.
"On November 14, 2024, president-elect Donald Trump announced that Elon Musk would lead a new Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE for short, an acronym that shares the name of Dogecoin. The price of Dogecoin spiked soon after." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogecoin
"Musk has confirmed he wants to put the U.S. Treasury on a blockchain, the technology that underpins bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies—including Musk’s pet project dogecoin." https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2025/02/02/this-needs-to-stop-now-elon-musk-confirms-radical-doge-us-treasury-plan/
The Doge of Venice (/doʊdʒ/ DOHJ)[2][a] was the doge or highest role of authority within the Republic of Venice (697 CE to 1797 CE).[3] The word Doge derives from the Latin Dux, meaning "leader," and Venetian Italian for “duke”, highest official of the republic of Venice for over 1,000 years (wikipedia)
Now we see the real meaning behind DOGE
Hitler's 3rd Reich was suppose to last 1,000 years
Musks 4th Reich of the Rich ruled by the Doge, another 1,000 years..
https://newrepublic.com/post/191543/how-much-money-trump-made-presidency
https://www.opensecrets.org/trump/trump-properties
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKSfk6Cx1ss&t=323s
I strongly agree with you! Those leaving government jobs because they were "fired", are enabling the fascists. Yes, as Barbara says, "STAY AT YOUR JOBS."
A nation of sheep. Since Trump has no legal authority to fire people without DOCUMENTED cause, those who resign are cowards, and fools if they expect Trump to honor his promises.
And even if he tried, Congress would have to pass a bill and appropriate the money to pay those who resigned on his demand and promise.
I am quite concerned about the effect that Muskian Trump will have on myself, but I take solace in the fact that he is raining down hell on those who voted for him, farmers, truck drivers, right wing denizens of all states, especially red states.. Muslims, women who voted for him. minorities that voted for him
Trump asked the Supreme Court to allow him to fire Hampton Dellinger, head of the US Office of Special Counsel. A federal judge in Washington DC issued a temporary order on Wednesday allowing Dellinger to hold on to his position while the case is being considered.
Always a Temporary order, and SCOTUS hasn't rule yet
What do you know about what the fired civil servants have been told and are going through? What do you know about what they can do if they try to show up at their offices? From what I've read, Musg has people there preventing them from going back to their desks.
I know this. That career civil servants know the rules. They know they can't be fired without cause. They should know better to rely on Trumps word that in they will get 8 months serverance pay. It doesn't matter what they can do if they return to their desks, Trump can't do anything so long as they sit at their desk.
He bluffed them and now he is going to shaft them.
Musk does not have people preventing them from returning to their desks.
He needs a private army, there are over 70,000 people affected.
And we need to boycott every product and service provided by the ultra wealthy that support trump.
During the covid epidemic Trump mandated that essential workers had to work to keep the economy going. The only way to stop Trump is to shut down the economy by encouraging essential workers to stay home. This would take great courage and sacrifice by those opposing trump's facist takeover of our country. But throughout our history our brave men are women fought and died to protect our Nation. Think about the sacrifices our brave soldiers took to storm the beaches of Normandy during WWll to get rid of Hitler.
Our country is running out of time and out of options. Every day that Trump signs another executive order it becomes more difficult to stop him than the day before. We need our essential workers to call in ill on a predetermined date. They are sick and tired of trump. And will periodically get sick until he is stopped.
This is a much better solution than sending your loved one to fight in our second Civil War.
We know trump's historical knowledge and literacy skills are severely lacking. So who came up with that quote for him? We can rule out his offspring and the Slavonic Slut first lady. Stephen Miller is my first guess.
I think the issue we face is that RWNJs do not fear that "liberals" will resort to violence to stop the complete totalitarian takeover of the nation. So far, they've been correct. When we are still operating within the norms of the prior era, lawsuits were sufficient to stop anti-constitutional action by elected officials. The mistake liberals make is that we're still, somehow, operating under the old order.
As Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation put it, "The revolution will be bloodless if the Left allows it." These ideologues are not playing. They're done with democracy, religious freedom, freedom of speech, and equality under the law for women, LGBTQ+, and other undesirables. The "broligarchy" has finally achieved what they set out to do even before the infamous Powell memo was written.
I do not want to sound like I am making a call to arms, but when one political party has openly stated that violence is legitimate political discourse, we are engaged in an asymmetric political war. We who abhor violence will either have to bow to our overlords or we will have to start making them very afraid of us.
Donald is a deeply crazy manchild.
His veneer is nearly, but NOT quite, sane adjacent.
JD does not even rate the title sidekick, like Mitch and Cruz, he failed to defend his wife.
Musk is an autistic parasite whose religion is the so-called "dark enlightenment" (See Nick Land).
They are both hardcore imposters, running amok . . . for now.
They are nothing if not a governmental virus. I call them COVID-25
Where's the vax, Ds? For cryin' out loud !!
This happened because we have a flawed Constitution.
And a lack of leadership within the Democratic Party.
Right on both accounts Terry.
Save for a handful, politics is simply a career choice, mostly by inept and lazy lawyers.
Look at Hakeem Jeffries, whining that they are ineffective because they have no leverage, when he could be throwing sand in the gears, at the least, and Chuck Schumer who has sat on is ass for decades because he slops at the same trough as the Republicans, And a day late and a dollar short stands up and makes a fool of himself screaming, ineffectually , into a microphone
The Republicans have always been the party or rich, racist, Christian nationalists, We who read substack, we in the know, have been aware of that.
The rich, racist, misogynistic, Christian nationalists now have complete control of the U.S. because the so called opposition, took the high road and have done nothing to stop the onslaught.
And unfortunately our open handed eqalitarian values have worked to enable, even pour gas on the fascists.
Hitler's Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels, said:
"It will always remain one of democracy's best jokes that it provided its deadly enemies with the means by which it was destroyed."
Quoted in Richard Evans, "The Coming of the Third Reich", p. 451.
We needed to be reasonable, thoughtful and examine, but no we were absolutist, ideological purists, our way or the hiway
The first inklings were the revolt against political correctness, then the cancel culture (now they are cancelling us).
The immigration problem in Europe is not the same and has different causes than immigration in the US, but we treat them the same, to our chagrin.
Americans have myopia, they see the world through their own eyes, and the American experience is unique, insular, and American chauvinism does not permit or encourage us to walk in some else's shoes, nor consider the culture, needs and fears of anyone else.
An Americans can travel in Europe without learning the language of the culture, and indeed in many countries, but if you want to visit America you better speak English.
And we are so arrogant, despite the fact that we lag, in all metrics, save imprisonment and death penalty, all advanced nations, save perhaps Russia which is not an advanced but a medieval nation, we think we are the best
Muskian Trump believes that it can uses its economic, financial and military might to terrorize and dominate the free world and our neighbors, but it contains the seeds of it's own destruction.
It will live, for awhile off the fat built up since 1945, but will quickly burn up that fat with it's bigotry,policies, ations and ideology.
The Federal agencies which kept the engine running have been dismantled.
There is no one to shovel coal into the boiler, no one to grease the gears, no one to fill the tinder box.
The Federal Government is the sum of its parts, a working Federal Government is what has kept America the preferred customer of the world and the preferred destination of people.
That America died on Jan 20, 2025. We are now living on borrowed time.as the full effect of the wreckage done is felt throughout the nation and the economy.
And that is just the start, the people, the groups, the factions that enabled and created this autocracy will be vying for recognition, primacy and power., and that is when the real battle starts.
The fascist Christians, libertarians, racists, patricians and patriarchs are having an orgasm, they finally have owned the hated libtards.
That euphoria will wear off, when they find that they are competing for attention, recognition and resources with other factions of the same ilk.
I do not understand the point of what Musk's programmers are doing to the softwsre they have hacked into. They have identified progrms funded by USAID that they do not approve of but no real fraud. What purpose does firing thousands of people accomplish? Are they sijmpoly burning the country down to rule over the ashes? Destroying 10s of millions of lives in USA and 100s of millions around the world accomplishes what? Once one person owns the entire board the game of Monopoly is over. I am cheering for the asteroid
They are disassembling the Federal Government, everything except the departments that benefit Musk., which also empowers Putin with whom Musk and Trump have a standing agreement
He wants to put the U.S. Treasury on a blockchain. A predicate to outright theft of the Treasury?
Sacred feces Daniel that is what I thought. I imagine that is the basis of Trumps American Sovereign Fund.
On no other good adjective or noun, Sacred Feces.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/02/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-orders-plan-for-a-united-states-sovereign-wealth-fund/
10th grade -- a little knowledge is a dangerous thing -- Alexander Pope. I know about 10 guys who went to Wharton, came home and took their family businesses into bankruptcy.
I've been aruing that Treasyry can arbitrage -- borrow from our "ally" Japan which owns more debt than anyone at Japanese rates -- 1% -- to retire some of our debt.
I've also been arguing we should endow our trust funds just like the Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, etc. Deductions to charity do not go into the general funds of the US. I've been concentrating on SS, but it can ap;ply to all the trust funds.
Threats of “bankruptcy” of the two Social Security Trust funds abound in the media, and Trump Administration budgets have cut operational funding. There is reason to worry.
If Social Security is sliding toward a "default" it is because Congress and a succession of presidents would sell their families for a few votes. The default of Trust Funds is supposed to apex in 2034 due to the increase of birth rates of baby boomers. After 2034, birth rates of later generations flatten and the funds can be solvent.
Social Security protects workers, widow(er)s, orphans and disabled people and is a major investment for many of us.
Please donate to create an endowment to slow down the rate. If everyone who donates to say, universities, which aren't really charities, the trust funds would be secure.
https://www.ssa.gov/agency/donations.html
Why doesn't SSA advertise that donations can flatten the curve and extend the default date beyond 2034?
Apparently thie concept (and even the neme) is taken from the Saudi Wealth Fund, which in part, has been undermining our economy since 1973.
OPEC has been dictsting enegrgy prices, which is like a tax on all of us. I've been arguing thaty the USTreasury should sue and recoup lost profits. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/678/text
Nor=te that Grassely is the sponsor. This used to be a bipartisan issue.
Damages can fund our economy.
My suspicion is that 'when the USA is completely ruined, it will be easy for BRICS to take charge, putting their own currency in place of the $ and running the global trade their way. China appears to be very technologically advanced with better, cheaper EVs already. Hope I live long enough to see how it will play out.
You will Victoria, live long enough, I foresee the world reserve currency being the Yuan.
And if you gave me a choice of having to live under the Trumpianmusk version of a Christian taliban or under China. I choose China.
Yes, I was thinking of BRICS too. I see a new currency developing as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M13Q8FIHYDA
Yeah, the Constitution is in need of some serious "tweaking"!
TS Eliot was a racist bastard. But that's for another day.....
Terror. The immediate terror is the coup. We have a common denominator, even with most Republicans in Congress: Treason. I think the sell out re Ukraine, Vance meeting with the Nazis, etc has to shake up even Senate Republcans. This may be a window of oppotunity....
I keep sayin' we need Republicans to object -- pressure the Senate Republicans who voted for the Ukraine package https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4464791-here-are-the-senate-republicans-who-voted-for-the-ukraine-package/
Here are all 22 Senate Republicans who voted in support of the spending bill:
Sen. John Boozman (Ark.)
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (W.Va.)
Sen. Bill Cassidy (La.)
Sen. Susan Collins (Maine)
Sen. John Cornyn (Texas)
Sen. Kevin Cramer (N.D.)
Sen. Mike Crapo (Idaho)
Sen. Joni Ernst (Iowa)
Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa)
Sen. John Hoeven (N.D.)
Sen. John Kennedy (La.)
Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.)
Sen. Jerry Moran (Kan.)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska)
Sen. James Risch (Idaho)
Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah)
Sen. Mike Rounds (S.D.)
Sen. Dan Sullivan (Alaska)
Sen. John Thune (S.D.)
Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.)
Sen. Roger Wicker (Miss.)
Sen. Todd Young (Ind.)
From Meidas....… Republican Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker isn’t thrilled with Pete Hegseth’s job performance so far: “He wasn’t my choice for the job. He made a rookie mistake in Brussels and he’s walked back some of what he said but not that line. I don’t know who wrote the speech — it is the kind of thing Tucker Carlson could have written, and Carlson is a fool."
… Wicker said he also disagreed with Trump’s comments that NATO provoked Russia to invade by considering Ukraine for NATO membership: ““There are good guys and bad guys in this war, and the Russians are the bad guys. They invaded, contrary to almost every international law, and they should be defeated. And Ukraine is entitled to the promises that the world made to it.”
… Trump was asked again today who he blamed for the war, Ukraine or Russia: “There are a lot of people to blame.”
… Trump was asked about Wicker’s comments about Hegseth: “I haven’t heard that. I mean, Roger is a very good friend of mine, and Pete is doing a great job. So, I’ll speak to Roger. I’ll speak to Pete. I’ll find out.”
Thom - I believe with a warning like this, you have a responsibility to give a call to action. WHAT DO WE AS ENLIGHTENED CITIZENS *DO* ABOUT THIS THREAT?
No Ginny, you have a responsibility, we all do, were you raised to believe that you could only be saved by some Knight on a horse or a savior.
Organize, resist, sabotage
How about sit in every Republican Congress' office? Thier homes?
MAGA thugs everywhere are feeling empowered to do as they like, with immunity to prosecution for it. The book 'God, Guns, and Sedition: Far-Right Terrorism in America' by Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware is a terrifying look at these hate groups and the dark history of American extremism. The openly avowed goal of these groups is to foment a violent race war in America. Quoting from the book:
". . . according to American University scholar Cynthia Miller-Idriss's 'best estimate' at least 75,000 to 100,000 individuals are actively involved with white supremacist extremist groups, in addition to the 15,000 to 20,000 people who belong to armed militia organizations comprising some three hundred different groups, the threat of wide-spread acts of domestic terrorism -- perhaps leading to a sustained insurgency campaign and even civil war -- is not hyperbolic."
In earlier days, the DOJ and the FBI tracked the activities of these groups and worked to head off their violent plots. Now, however, with our current DOJ, exactly who can we count on to stop them? These groups represent nothing short of Trump's own personal, unofficial "SS" in waiting, eager to follow his lead and do his bidding. Legitimate reasons for deep concern/fear.
And then there is the Constitutional Sheriff and Peace officers Association. They believe that the county sheriff is the supreme law in the country, and it is they that decide the Constitution.
Here is how that happened. The Constitution acknowledges that each state is sovereign, and that means that it is actually the owner of all and within it's boundaries, that unless the state has given its authority to the Federal Government, it's own laws prevail. That is why each state has it's own voting laws, marriage laws, property laws, criminal laws, commerce laws and tax laws.
When the volunteered to join the union, and were accepted by act of congress, they retained all sovereign rights, not given by majority rule, to the Federal Government.
The Sovereign state is not able to rule every corner of the state, so it delegates to an instrument called "county", the ability to administer and enforce the laws of the state.
Back when travel was by horse, the states quickly learned that effective administration required that the center of power should be about a 24 hour ride from the state capitol, and thus quite a few states kept moving their capitol,until it became expensive and inconvenient.
Here is what Texas looked like in 1845 when it became a state (yellow part) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_annexation#/media/File:Wpdms_republic_of_texas.svg
With Sovereignty lying with the several states,and the counties being administrative representatives of the sovereign, the county sheriff believes that he, and he alone represents the sovereign., and that is why it is he, and he alone, that can evict people and confiscate property that is held in fee simple and titled.
That last needs an exposition on the reality and history of fee simple., Beyond the scope of this comment.
Things are not as the appear to be, and not as simple as we think that they are
Amy Coney Barrett has the most to lose if Trump destroys America. As a mother with a family her children will not get to grow up in the free Country that provided her with opportunities. As for the entire Supreme Court, they are cutting of their noses… by supporting a Tyrant who will kick them to the curb at the first opportunity.
Unfortunately you can't kick SC justices to the curb.
Entitled. Sick. Men.
Trump didn't create them. Going on three decades now, we have watched them do what Breivik did.
This quote gives them purpose. The guns are already in their hands thanks to Republicans.
Trump is a psychopath and basic. The people around him, the Project 2025 authors and zealots believe the end justifies the means. They know how to use entitled sick men and so does Putin and Musk.
They have found the perfect idiot as a means to try to end democracy. This sick message is THEIR justification. America isn't the country they want to save.
Thank you,Thom. We must teach and learn.
"He who saves his country, violates no law". Would that apply to another Luigi Mangione who saved us from Trump? Or Musk? Exonerated of any crime committed in the act?
If acting on the premise that what one does to "save one's country" breaks no law, then there is no law, and therefore no country. It is all-out nihilism.
Our foreign policy lacks adult leadership. The world is dumbfounded by your dummies going abroad. At least our leaders are not yet shooting our citizens, but they will crack skulls and shoot us. We need to be ready for that fork in the road. https://bit.ly/4b5wkL4
Rarely do I inject my own articles in your commentary, Mr. Hartmann as I find it rather tasteless to do so. However I, like most of your readers, find this piece so chilling I would like to share a link to "Trumptown" which is a slightly different take on exactly that of which you so disturbingly speak. As a Black Man in the United States, I am already seeing it. If not careful, the "US" has one foot in the grave, and the other on a wet banana peel. I hope your audience realizes the impending peril.
https://rohnkenyatta.substack.com/p/trumptown
OMG, Rohn, this article of yours is brilliant and chilling. The parallels are too numerous to discount what type of person Trump is. My hands are shaking, reliving Jonestown, and the utter horror that the people he targeted had no protection from him, like Trump is laying the groundwork for the graves of those who oppose him.
An associate of mine and I have come up with a rather grim game. We are making projections on how many Trump will kill; both domestically and abroad. I don't just mean the obvious low hanging fruit (i.e. Palestine, Iran, domestic imprisonments and turmoil) but more esoteric things like deaths from deregulation and privatization. There will be thousands, so we have, pursuant to this ghoulishly grim game, placed limits as to whether it will be tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or thousands of thousands.
I appreciate your comment and thank you.
We need a balanced political, economic, and social movement that all Americans can believe in to overcome both our current challenges, as well as the challenges that led us here. Neither the Republican nor Democratic party will be able to do so. Please consider the Informed Citizens Party as that potential movement. See www.informedcitizens.com
We are burning....
Political influence is what is providing Trump with control over congress. If we create sufficient political influence to overcome his, we can put out the fire.
Oy. Fire in the hole. He who hesitates is lost.
You could be right about that, but is trying to create a new political party out of whole cloth the best way to do it? Strikes me as not the best way. That's like working on building the airplane while we try to fly it.
It's a way for us to let politicians know what we want, regardless of party. If we can agree on the ICP Principles and use those to evaluate and determine which candidates to vote for, then we can create the political influence necessary to overcome Trump and the issues that led to him.
We may never have a vote.
Our current elected leaders are responding to Trump's threats to use his political influence aganist them. If we build sufficient counter-political influence they will be able to stand up to him. As daunthing a task as that seems, I don't see an alternative.
Not my gospel but the tax collector Saul was on his way to Damascus when SHAZZAM.
Ask Congressional Republicans to repent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyiGHFGCf2U
Congressional Republicans (and Democrats) will do what's in their self-interest as we all do. We have the political power to demand what is in our collective self-interest. It's up to us to decide what that is and to collectively demand it.
MAGATS vote contrary to their self interest.
Here we go again. Everyone who has a bright idea, sets up a web page, and has a solution.
So many saviors so little time, and the worst thing is, and we should have learned this from COINTEL Pro, is that they set up their own resistance
An organized resistance is easily compromised, infiltrated and co opted.
I've known two agent provocateurs. One worked within the American NAZI party of George Lincoln Rockwell, the other with the American Indian Movement (AIM). The latter was so disgusted by Wounded Knee Massacre II, that he converted to Islam and moved to NW Washington State.
The white Rose Society was taken down when one of their own was caught distributing flyers, then it wasn't long before Sophie Scholl, her brother and others were caught and beheaded.
Disorganized resistance, with small cells and sabotage.
The fascists built their movement from the bottom up, by preying on fears,needs, bias and top down with money from the billionaires., the corporations, the lazy rich like Andrew Mellon who inherited his wealth, or techbro oligarchs who basically stole their wealth, like Gates stole DOS.
America today is both the greatest country in the world, with the potential to be an even greater country, as well as a country in decline with the risk of not being able to realize that potential.
America’s founders defined the purpose of the government and economy in the founding documents:
• The purpose of government is to establish justice, to ensure the blessings of liberty for us and our children and grandchildren, and to promote general welfare through regulations.
• The purpose of America’s economy is to provide for the general welfare.
America’s challenges today are fundamental to fulfilling those purposes in a fair way for all citizens.
People can’t individually, or even as a group or groups, solve the issues facing government, business, and society; however, collectively people can require that political and business leaders solve the issues balanced for the best interest of all people. We each need to do everything we can for the development of our best government, economy, and society. America’s best opportunity for success is a balanced sharing of information.
An Informed Citizens Commission is the foundation for the Informed Citizens Principles. It would require corporations, candidates, and representatives to provide adequate and accurate information to all citizens. See www.informedcitizens.com
Rick when you look at stats where we stand in the world in infant mortality, maternal mortality, literacy, poverty, health care, quality, costs and availability and imprisonment it is a stretch to say that we are the greatest in he world.
From a purely selfish point of view, I agree. I live very well, very comfortable and have a lot of liquidity. I don't have any debts, not even mortgage yet I own 5 acres and rent out apartment, I buy everything that I want and need, I probably spend more on cat food in a month that a migrant family does on food
I don't have a cell phone because I don't need or want one, but wife has a cell phone a ta blet, and a computer. Her computer mine and our Smart TV are hooked up to a router.
My computer is a military rehab that I bought two decades ago, it runs Windows 7, hers runs Windows 10. I have no need to upgrade, as it fulfills my need, and is less vulnerable to hacking or malware.
The point is that America is indeed great FOR ME, but not for the woman that cleans my house, or the women she hires to help her, and not great for so many hundreds of millions, that don't have the excellent health care that I have.
So maybe for you, America is the greatest nation on Earth,but not fo hundreds of millions..
Rick and William, These are all excellent points. But think about the moniker 'America is the greatest nation on earth. That is a coverup like Make America Great Again, both employed to cover the desire for ascendency vis a vie corruption, going into other countries to change regimes, killing thousands in the process, and raping other countries of their natural resources and those stats William begins his comment with. The bloated military makes it possible for the US to behave this way.
William,
It is all in perspective and relative. We have the largest economy and strongest military of any country in history. We also have significant shortcomings that must be overcome.
Income inequity is the primary cause of the middle class unrest and mistrust of the establishment that has led to Donald Trump.
America still has the greatest potential of any country in history, but will require significant effort by us all to realize that potential.
Rick, the largest economy and strongest military does not make the greatest nation. The same could be said of Germany in 1939,
As regards overcoming our shortcomings, I keep hearing "must" and "need" as if they were solutions. There a lot of things people and this nation must do, there is a lot of things we need,
The problem is, Rick, that on the present course of the ship of state, USA Inc, the musts won't happen and the needs will be unfulfilled, unless something drastic happens to rid us of this tyranny.
Whatever potential we had is moot, water under the bridge, over the dam, it flowed into the ocean on January 20th, do you expect Muskiantrump to fulfill that potential?
William, I refuse to give up. I am asking others to join my Informed Citizens Party/Movement. I am also seeking other opportunitites to make a difference.
I think Elon has been given way too much power and he is the actual dictator. Our government has all but given him absolute power. These are not benevolent leaders. I’m convinced that every single person who represents us is truly afraid for their own safety and lives. The grift of the grift?