Forget Jan 6th. Trump’s next move is smarter, and far more dangerous: use the courts, AI & right-wing militias to erase millions of Americans from the vote — legally. It’s not a theory. It’s a plan.
This is huge . No woman I know has her married name on her birth certificate . If someone has married after divorce there are two other names she may have used . My question is other than changing your name back to your name on B certificate, what can be done?
Seems to me that pardoned insurrectionists are becoming ICE agents. How much longer will we be able to protest before they start shooting us in the legs? We have to mobilize and get as many people as we can to get as many people as they can to show up at the polls properly registered....
Absolutely! A general strike needs to include a boycott of any company complicit in the usurpation of our rights. Passive aggressive companies included.
tRUMP and his many minions throughout many local and state governments , I believe, manipulated the votes of the last election through disenfranchisement of thousands of voters and other nefarious means...... I agree, this time time around they (the GOP & big money Corp. donors) are firmly putting in place "the plan" they have been trying to formulate for years, control the election.
Yes, Trump stated at his inauguration speech that Musk rigged the PA election. Hopefully our Election Truth Sleuths are investigating this. HOWEVER, the Orange Satan wouldn’t say that unless he knew that the evidence had already been destroyed. CRAZY IDEA: get a bunch of new car buyers to pledge to buy a Tesla if Musk would testify how he pulled off the Great Heist.
Yes, I've told my friends & family that there is no guarantee of elections in 2026. Even here in California I fear we will not be immune to the onslaught of Maga Magical Manipulation!
Think about it, many people can't even figure out how to use their phones or laptops, how are those people going to determine how to traverse this minefield of deception? And face it, so many people are not paying attention by the time they realize that they can't vote they may not be able to rectify the situation.
And what of a cyber attack? Sure there are hundreds of electoral precincts but you can't convince me that a cadre of "Big Balls" of DOGE fame can't be used to "dick around", to put it crudely, with the computers that are used in these precincts to manipulate the votes so that magically the Magats will win!
I have been a presiding judge in a precinct for four elections. My state is rated one of the best in the country for efficiency, fairness and checks and balances. The tabulators are not real computers in the sense that they are LANed to any other devices or each other. There is no wifi or bluetooth. They have a basic coded program that recognizes text blocks and two selection blocks. They read only the selection block. There is no AI or intelligence that links one block to the other. All data are on a type of flash drive. It is controlled by a custody chain, a verification chain of workers, a GPS locator, and the tapes printed at the end of voting are triple counted and triple verified by humans to match the tapes/ballots and signed off. Everyone worker takes an oath and signs it. That means potential criminal liability if cheating occurs. My state has same day registration, computer data base linked and verified via multiple ID factors, not just a carried ID. Every ballot is matched to a separate verification permit, no permit, no ballot. Permit is printed after ID is verified as a registered voter Permits are logged and saved, as are ballots. Every poll worker signs off on every detail of the ballot verification process. CHEATING is at the vote/voter suppression level, as Thom explains.
The software, as such, is verified via multiple tests for accuracy. And what difference would that make when the ballots and ballot permits have to match the software tapes? The ballot is the ultimate verification, because it can be read, so if tapes do not match ballots, something is off. Voters bribed? That is not part of the election voting process. That occurs outside of the process. Bribery is a current and ancient tactic, but that is not election tampering, it is voter tampering.
Many a person has been prosecuted for election tampering. There currently is a peron serving time in Colorado -- charges in several other states.
Here are some key areas of Pennsylvania election law violations:
Voter Intimidation:
Using any means to intimidate or attempt to intimidate voters, either inside or outside of polling locations.
This includes using threatening language, brandishing weapons, disrupting, following, or interrogating voters.
It's also illegal to block or attempt to block the entrance to the polls.
Voter Interference:
Sending out knowingly false information about the time, place, or manner of voting.
Pretending to be an election official or law enforcement.
Interfering with a voter's right to a secret ballot.
Vandalizing polling places or election equipment.
Fraudulent Voter Registration:
Investigations have been ongoing into potentially fraudulent voter registration applications in several Pennsylvania counties.
Confirmed indicators of fraud have included inaccurate addresses, fake personal identification information, false names, and forged signatures.
Other Potential Violations:
Election officials who fail to perform their duties or interfere with others carrying out their duties.
Unauthorized poll watching.
Failure to adhere to requirements related to mail-in ballots, such as the (now controversial) handwritten date requirement on ballot envelopes.
Consequences of Violating Pennsylvania Election Law:
Criminal Penalties: Voter intimidation can result in up to two years of imprisonment, while depriving someone of their right to vote can lead to up to five years. Violations like blocking access to polls or fraudulent voting can be classified as felonies, potentially leading to fines up to $15,000 and up to seven years in prison.
Loss of Voting Rights: Individuals convicted of violating election laws may have their voting rights restricted for a period of time
I tapped the ‘Like’ because of all the work you put into explaining what I now see is just a small part of what goes into elections, which of course translates into the health and happiness of our entire county. Thank you!
Cynicism is justified, when linked to facts that elicit the cynical. Why do I need to go to ETA? If verifiable data are brought into evidence, about anything, then those data should/must/probably are cause for great concern. The oath, if you had ever taken one, puts you in a statutory situation of credibility. Then if you are dishonest, and you get caught, you must answer via the statute(s). I have no big need, in my state, to do anything more than I do - go to all the trainings, review the entire system cover to cover, understand all the procedures, know my personnel, know the physical systems of checks and double/triple checks, do my job correctly, and let the process determine validity. I cannot speak for other states.
I just googled internet and voting machine. you can do the same. i dont have a half hour to explain to you what ETA found when you can take some initiative and do it yourself.
Here is a copy paste for your reading enjoyment. As a Judge i think you should be able to handle it.
<<It’s obvious that connecting voting machines directly to the Internet through wireless modems or other means increases the vulnerability of those systems to hacking. Though we have frequently been told that voting machines are not connected to the Internet[1] this is not always the case. Many states’ voting machines include wireless modems which transmit their unofficial results over the Internet. Some states allow their vote tabulation computers to be connected to the Internet.>>
Mr. Rubenstein, it is obvious that some of the respondents here have spent their entire adult lives as attorneys and magistrates. Consequently they are well versed in the statutory structure of our legal system. And they frequently present actual legal statutes and procedures in their responses here.
I thank them for taking the time to inform the rest of us about what the law says. But what they have apparently failed to understand, is that we are no longer a nation of laws. We are a nation of power, those who have it and those who do not.
Power, in the words of Mao, comes through the barrel of a gun. Who has most of the guns in the U.S.; and the men trained to use them in a coordinated fashion, under a strict hierarchy of orders? TRUMP!
I’m not so sure about that regarding who has the most guns. There are more guns than people in this country and we have the ability to make more.
That Second Amendment was put into the Constitution by men who had just fought a war to rid themselves of the abuse by a tyrannical monarch. They anticipated someone would try to seize the power of a king again. The Second Amendment is our protection against that tyrant.
The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution both say that the government operates by the “Consent of the Governed”.
Embrace that Second Amendment - no other country in the world has as population as heavily armed as the United States.
Mao was right and there are millions and millions more of us than there are of them - NEVER FORGET THAT
Our military took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States - not a Present and definitely not a mad king who would starve his own people to enrich himself and his buddies. A mad king who would cut the Veteran’s Benefits those serving in the military require. A mad king who would cut the food assistance to veterans - on a whim.
The military is made up of US.
Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. 2 Kings 6:16
God hates Liars and those who abuse the poor and vulnerable
There are no rules with this administration and the super rich donors who support it.
Thanks for the reply.
I find it interesting that our dear judge brought up the topic of tabulators when tabulators were not even mentioned. He is actively engaging in misinformation.
We shouldn’t assume that the things that the GOP is doing are just stupid or greedy or spiteful. We should think: “What does it benefit the top 1% to bankrupt the country?” The actions taken by this administration have been planned for years if not decades. Those involved are not necessarily within our borders.
IMHO the entire problem is that so many Repubikkan politicians are scared shitless of Trump. We only needed 2 in the House and 1 in the Senate to kill the entire Trump agenda.
Had we worked on diplomacy, might have easily gotten them. If I had been negotiating, would have offered them something.
Mr. Solomon, I have noticed that over the last several months, you have said this same thing. In almost the same words. I understand what you are saying, and you are correct. Unfortunately your thinking is similar to me saying: " I have always wanted to be a woman, and if only I had developed several different polypeptides when I was a zygote, I would be a woman."
What thawed out from a hard winter at Valley Forge turned out to be men of steel filled with resolve. It was one bad winter. We are there again. We know what to do. Wear them down. Wear them out. Vote’m Out! Block the concentration camps. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/concentration-camping?r=3m1bs
It's a coup, plain and simple and it has been in the works since they (GOP) were busted for trying to pull it off with Hitler's support in 1939. Remember Robert Taft? This is not t-Rump's coup. He's not smart eneough. He is the new face, just like Hitler was chosen for his rabble rousing strength in Germany, by the same oligrchy. The BBB taking food and healthcare away was the perfect diversion that kept all but a few from actully reading the legalese that removes any check on executive branch power. This version was started by the face of Ronnie Raygun, on GE Theater (GE? hmmm) the Powell memo and the reaction to the Free Speech Movement. They realized that an educated population, the one that built the strongest economy and military in the world, was the greatest threat they faced. Then came the dumbing down of education, starting in California with Gov.Reagan appointing Max Rafferty as Superintendent of Public Instrucion. This spread accross the coumtry with the Howard Jarvis "Taxpayer Revolt" and propelled Reagan to POTUS where he expedited Rupert Murdoch's citizenhip that allowed him to buy up US media companies and work with Roger Ailes to establish the propaganda network that manipulated the dumbed down population and after the next three decades they wanted t-Rump, the latest Fascist face to rouse the rabble. Life was good. We basked in our accomplishments since the Sixties, while forgetting that
RUST NEVER SLEEPS.
Sorry all, I was just reminded that I mixed up a Taft name. Senator Robert A.Taft
You mean Robert Taft, Jr.? 2004 Ohio Diebolt scandal?
Prior to the 2004 election, Blackwell tried to award a $100 million unbid contract to Diebold for electronic voting machines. A storm of public outrage and a series of lawsuits forced him to cancel the deal. But a substantial percentage of Ohio's 2004 votes were counted by Diebold software and Diebold Opti-scan machines which frequently malfunctioned in the Democratic stronghold of Toledo. It was revealed in 2006 that Blackwell owned Diebold stock. Diebold's GEMS election software was used in about half of Ohio counties in the 2004 election. Because of Blackwell's effort, 41 counties also used Diebold machines in Ohio's highly dubious 2005 election. Also in the Ohio 2004 election, a whistleblower leaked documents revealing that Diebold had allegedly used illegal, uncertified hardware and software during California election.
My poor old brain, Daniel. Senator Robert Taft. Early out here on the Left Coast. No coffee and reading while the water was boiling. A bit distracted too, after losing everything in the Jan. 7th fire in Altadena. I'm still a bit scrambled.
The coup that they were busted for ended in a mistrial and all documents and evidence put in the National Archive by Truman after telling the DOJ to not do a retrial to promote "healing", as the war ended.
It's all in Rachel Maddow's Ultra and her books. She dug through the documents themselves to create the podcast of eight episodes.
Their previos coup attempt was foiled by General Smedley Butler, CUSMC a couple of years earlier. They have been rabid about the New Deal since Roosevelt proposed it and they refere to it in their rantings today as the Communist yada yada.
The oligarchists want the serfs to keep working for free and now the BBB funding is there to build the concentration camps, starting now, to use LEGAL, by the 14th Ammendment, slave labor of criminals. SCOTUS gave POTUS the freedom to say anyone is a criminal, thus making hundreds of thousand of ALL of us available to put in tiny screws in all the new I-phones for free, thus keeping them. competeitive against Chinese phones yada yada again.
It is the same oligarchy that used Hitler for their control of world markets and resources.
It is unsettling to read Thom's litany of Trump's levers of power because they are true. SCOTUS has allowed Trump to justify abuses of immigrant civil rights by accepting his declaration of an invasion. D-Day was an invasion; decades of illegal immigration by unarmed civilians is no invasion. Our immigrants do work Americans consider beneath them - like harvesting our crops. Who will harvest our food once they are gone - techies displaced by AI?
For those of us familiar with the history of Hitler and Nazi fascism Trump is textbook. As I have pointed out, the BBB is mainly about obtaining funding to turn Bush's DHS into a Gestapo and a national chain of concentration camps in which they can incarcerate any citizen without trial who dares object to life in fascist America. The first concentration camp is the sweltering jungle cages Florida Governor DeSantis just erected and christened Alligator Alcatraz to please Trump enough to ensure he will give him a job when his term as governor ends in January 2027.
BBB also demonstrated that Congress is as cowardly as politicians get. As Thom pointed out, now all Trump needs to do is derail the 2026 mid-term elections - something he has already demonstrated he is good at. How do you stop crooked MAGA governors and legislators already busy redistricting Democrats out of power?
Heather Cox Richardson’s “Why MAGA wages War on History” on YouTube offers reasons for hope that Americans can resist & indeed overcome the current fascist onslaught.
Neal, I too listen to H.C. Richardson and always appreciate her words.
She believes that we are not lost, yet, because the U.S. is a huge, federated country. The central government in D.C. will be faced with a difficult task in attempting to take over all the state and local governments. This, she believes is what shall form the beginning of the resistance which can eventually save our democracy. I do not argue with her; but she does not go far enough.
First: she is ignoring two other huge countries where oligarchy won out, in spite of local provincial governments: China and Russia. We could possibly include Indonesia, India, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey.
Second: she is too young to remember, at the gut level, how Americans put an end to that long, losing war of empire in Viet Nam and the evil, mandatory, military draft system which went along with it.
A) Too many American mothers saw their sons return from Viet Nam in plastic bags at the airport in Dover Delaware.
B) Millions of young American men said "Hell no I won't go!" These young men suffered the consequences of their refusal. Their careers were hampered or ruined, educations were interrupted or ruined. Many became emigrants to Canada and European countries. They were viewed as shameful by many Americans who went along with the war hawks in D.C. It took a man of genuine compassion and honor to reach out and help them: President Jimmy Carter, who pardoned the draft resisters years later.
The only thing we as citizens can do to effectively resist this drift into Fascism is get into the streets by the millions every day and cause mayhem against the Proto-Fascist machine. We must, in the words of Mario Savio in 1964 "...throw your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon the apparatus, and make the Machine stop!" I recommend the book FREEDOM'S ORATOR by Robert cohen. Savio was instrumental in starting the Free Speech Movement at the University of California at Berkley. The movement also sprang up spontaneously on college campuses all over the country, with or without Savio. It was a real phenomenon, akin to the Civil Rights Movement. The movement helped end the Viet Nam War, scared hell out of the elite in this country, and helped keep alive the movement started by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Would you believe that Nevada and Pennsylvania had enough voting machine manipulations to switch the votes and results from Harris to Trump? It sure looks like it!
Yep, project 2025 and here we are. What a bummer. Here's hoping you are having a great vacation, Thom, and here's to all of your readers, have a good and Safe holiday weekend.💯👍
Every Tyrant's Playbook. Cynicism is the Enemy of Honesty. Ambition is the Enemy of Equality. Megalomania is the Enemy of Equal Citizen Representation. Nazi ubermen do not acknowledge citizens. All persons are either servants, enforcers, chattel, slaves, or riffraff, unworthy of life.
The human brain is a very old and worn out playbook of knee jerk responses to drama-traumas. This brain is not only aware of Fear, it is driven by and controlled and addicted to FEAR. Keyword is ADDICTION. A condition driven by bio-chemistry influencing various areas of the brain, endocrine system, immune system, and body nervous system separate from the brain. Addictions interrupt the connections between reasoning, correct logic, sensory experiences and their interpretations, and most importantly stimulate the endocrine system to make and employ chemicals that enhance addictive behaviors. Once influenced, the brain is incapable of independent discernment, and relies on facetious stimuli and memories to avoid the PAIN caused by FEAR.
What masks FEAR? Not eliminates, not diminishes, but masks/hides/obfuscates/deflects FEAR.
The LIE. Repeated constantly, with Lies to cover Lies that cover Lies, like an onion that grows exponentially. What do nihilists do best? They LIE. A LIE is a violent assault on reasoning, on trust, on compassion, on accuracy, on TRUTH. To a nihilist, nothing, absolutely NOTHING, has value, especially their own existence. Hence, no empathy, no shame, no consciousness, no recognition of 'the other.' This is where we are at right now. They have the guns, we have the numbers, we have the truths, they have the LIES. Kaboom!!
It would behoove all of us to monitor and contemplate and correlate all info against the template of some reasoned, verified truism before we believe/endorse/act upon any pronouncement from any govt., corporation, religion, philosophy, military, science, or chemical product that goes into our bodies via mouth, skin, nose, eyes, ears. Know thyself, then begin to know truth from fiction.
I firmly believe that the 2026 midterms will be the last federal election this country sees. Either through a declaration of national emergency, martial law or some other bogus scheme, no doubt bolstered by a friendly SCOTUS, the 28 elections will be indefinitely delayed. You know what they say about "justice delayed." It applies to elections, too.
Note how they cleverly drafted the fucking Bill so that its most odious changes don't kick in until January, 2027, safely after the 26 congressional elections.
The pretend "supreme" court that acts as an arm of one mafia cartel party means there is no real judicial justice system and no citizens' Bill of Rights preventing authoritarian abuse. We progressives (Carville is not one of us) are as likely to end up in Alligator Alcatraz as any "illegal" for expressing our dissent openly.
This is huge . No woman I know has her married name on her birth certificate . If someone has married after divorce there are two other names she may have used . My question is other than changing your name back to your name on B certificate, what can be done?
Google: how to legally change your name in (name of your state) after marriage
In my state, it was a bit complicated and there was a fee.
It's a crime that Republicans want to kill the 19th Amendment. They have already hi-jacked our Constitution using SCOTUS and the Justice Department.
Happy 4th, Patricia, and all you Patriots! See you in the streets today and on the 17th.
In most states, you can legally change your name to Trump. Then you can run for public office......
This is lunacy. Will you also have to bring your marriage certificate? My adopted daughter's name was changed upon adoption...now what?
Depends: https://www.justia.com/estate-planning/estate-planning-probate-forms-50-state-resources/name-change-forms/
Come to think of it, so was mine. Now she is married and it has been changed again.
We need massive protests now. A general strike!
Seems to me that pardoned insurrectionists are becoming ICE agents. How much longer will we be able to protest before they start shooting us in the legs? We have to mobilize and get as many people as we can to get as many people as they can to show up at the polls properly registered....
Absolutely! A general strike needs to include a boycott of any company complicit in the usurpation of our rights. Passive aggressive companies included.
tRUMP and his many minions throughout many local and state governments , I believe, manipulated the votes of the last election through disenfranchisement of thousands of voters and other nefarious means...... I agree, this time time around they (the GOP & big money Corp. donors) are firmly putting in place "the plan" they have been trying to formulate for years, control the election.
Plus, did Trump admit that Musk stole Pennsylvania?
Yes, Trump stated at his inauguration speech that Musk rigged the PA election. Hopefully our Election Truth Sleuths are investigating this. HOWEVER, the Orange Satan wouldn’t say that unless he knew that the evidence had already been destroyed. CRAZY IDEA: get a bunch of new car buyers to pledge to buy a Tesla if Musk would testify how he pulled off the Great Heist.
Yes, I've told my friends & family that there is no guarantee of elections in 2026. Even here in California I fear we will not be immune to the onslaught of Maga Magical Manipulation!
Think about it, many people can't even figure out how to use their phones or laptops, how are those people going to determine how to traverse this minefield of deception? And face it, so many people are not paying attention by the time they realize that they can't vote they may not be able to rectify the situation.
And what of a cyber attack? Sure there are hundreds of electoral precincts but you can't convince me that a cadre of "Big Balls" of DOGE fame can't be used to "dick around", to put it crudely, with the computers that are used in these precincts to manipulate the votes so that magically the Magats will win!
We've got a lot of work to do!
I have been a presiding judge in a precinct for four elections. My state is rated one of the best in the country for efficiency, fairness and checks and balances. The tabulators are not real computers in the sense that they are LANed to any other devices or each other. There is no wifi or bluetooth. They have a basic coded program that recognizes text blocks and two selection blocks. They read only the selection block. There is no AI or intelligence that links one block to the other. All data are on a type of flash drive. It is controlled by a custody chain, a verification chain of workers, a GPS locator, and the tapes printed at the end of voting are triple counted and triple verified by humans to match the tapes/ballots and signed off. Everyone worker takes an oath and signs it. That means potential criminal liability if cheating occurs. My state has same day registration, computer data base linked and verified via multiple ID factors, not just a carried ID. Every ballot is matched to a separate verification permit, no permit, no ballot. Permit is printed after ID is verified as a registered voter Permits are logged and saved, as are ballots. Every poll worker signs off on every detail of the ballot verification process. CHEATING is at the vote/voter suppression level, as Thom explains.
thank you for that information. I do hope that other states & precincts are as thorough in their adhernece to safety issues.
The judge is a troll of misinformation. You have been duped.
How do you know the sofware wasn't corrupted? Ans You don't.
How do you know whether the voters were bribed? Ans You don't.
The software, as such, is verified via multiple tests for accuracy. And what difference would that make when the ballots and ballot permits have to match the software tapes? The ballot is the ultimate verification, because it can be read, so if tapes do not match ballots, something is off. Voters bribed? That is not part of the election voting process. That occurs outside of the process. Bribery is a current and ancient tactic, but that is not election tampering, it is voter tampering.
I posted the Diebolt history elsewhere. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_United_States_election_voting_controversies
Many a person has been prosecuted for election tampering. There currently is a peron serving time in Colorado -- charges in several other states.
Here are some key areas of Pennsylvania election law violations:
Voter Intimidation:
Using any means to intimidate or attempt to intimidate voters, either inside or outside of polling locations.
This includes using threatening language, brandishing weapons, disrupting, following, or interrogating voters.
It's also illegal to block or attempt to block the entrance to the polls.
Voter Interference:
Sending out knowingly false information about the time, place, or manner of voting.
Pretending to be an election official or law enforcement.
Interfering with a voter's right to a secret ballot.
Vandalizing polling places or election equipment.
Fraudulent Voter Registration:
Investigations have been ongoing into potentially fraudulent voter registration applications in several Pennsylvania counties.
Confirmed indicators of fraud have included inaccurate addresses, fake personal identification information, false names, and forged signatures.
Other Potential Violations:
Election officials who fail to perform their duties or interfere with others carrying out their duties.
Unauthorized poll watching.
Failure to adhere to requirements related to mail-in ballots, such as the (now controversial) handwritten date requirement on ballot envelopes.
Consequences of Violating Pennsylvania Election Law:
Criminal Penalties: Voter intimidation can result in up to two years of imprisonment, while depriving someone of their right to vote can lead to up to five years. Violations like blocking access to polls or fraudulent voting can be classified as felonies, potentially leading to fines up to $15,000 and up to seven years in prison.
Loss of Voting Rights: Individuals convicted of violating election laws may have their voting rights restricted for a period of time
I tapped the ‘Like’ because of all the work you put into explaining what I now see is just a small part of what goes into elections, which of course translates into the health and happiness of our entire county. Thank you!
Oh, they take an oath. I feel so much better now. You have a big need to go to Election Truth Alliance.
Cynicism is justified, when linked to facts that elicit the cynical. Why do I need to go to ETA? If verifiable data are brought into evidence, about anything, then those data should/must/probably are cause for great concern. The oath, if you had ever taken one, puts you in a statutory situation of credibility. Then if you are dishonest, and you get caught, you must answer via the statute(s). I have no big need, in my state, to do anything more than I do - go to all the trainings, review the entire system cover to cover, understand all the procedures, know my personnel, know the physical systems of checks and double/triple checks, do my job correctly, and let the process determine validity. I cannot speak for other states.
I just googled internet and voting machine. you can do the same. i dont have a half hour to explain to you what ETA found when you can take some initiative and do it yourself.
Here is a copy paste for your reading enjoyment. As a Judge i think you should be able to handle it.
<<It’s obvious that connecting voting machines directly to the Internet through wireless modems or other means increases the vulnerability of those systems to hacking. Though we have frequently been told that voting machines are not connected to the Internet[1] this is not always the case. Many states’ voting machines include wireless modems which transmit their unofficial results over the Internet. Some states allow their vote tabulation computers to be connected to the Internet.>>
Have a nice day.
Mr. Rubenstein, it is obvious that some of the respondents here have spent their entire adult lives as attorneys and magistrates. Consequently they are well versed in the statutory structure of our legal system. And they frequently present actual legal statutes and procedures in their responses here.
I thank them for taking the time to inform the rest of us about what the law says. But what they have apparently failed to understand, is that we are no longer a nation of laws. We are a nation of power, those who have it and those who do not.
Power, in the words of Mao, comes through the barrel of a gun. Who has most of the guns in the U.S.; and the men trained to use them in a coordinated fashion, under a strict hierarchy of orders? TRUMP!
I’m not so sure about that regarding who has the most guns. There are more guns than people in this country and we have the ability to make more.
That Second Amendment was put into the Constitution by men who had just fought a war to rid themselves of the abuse by a tyrannical monarch. They anticipated someone would try to seize the power of a king again. The Second Amendment is our protection against that tyrant.
The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution both say that the government operates by the “Consent of the Governed”.
Embrace that Second Amendment - no other country in the world has as population as heavily armed as the United States.
Mao was right and there are millions and millions more of us than there are of them - NEVER FORGET THAT
Our military took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States - not a Present and definitely not a mad king who would starve his own people to enrich himself and his buddies. A mad king who would cut the Veteran’s Benefits those serving in the military require. A mad king who would cut the food assistance to veterans - on a whim.
The military is made up of US.
Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. 2 Kings 6:16
God hates Liars and those who abuse the poor and vulnerable
There are no rules with this administration and the super rich donors who support it.
Thanks for the reply.
I find it interesting that our dear judge brought up the topic of tabulators when tabulators were not even mentioned. He is actively engaging in misinformation.
We shouldn’t assume that the things that the GOP is doing are just stupid or greedy or spiteful. We should think: “What does it benefit the top 1% to bankrupt the country?” The actions taken by this administration have been planned for years if not decades. Those involved are not necessarily within our borders.
IMHO the entire problem is that so many Repubikkan politicians are scared shitless of Trump. We only needed 2 in the House and 1 in the Senate to kill the entire Trump agenda.
Had we worked on diplomacy, might have easily gotten them. If I had been negotiating, would have offered them something.
Mr. Solomon, I have noticed that over the last several months, you have said this same thing. In almost the same words. I understand what you are saying, and you are correct. Unfortunately your thinking is similar to me saying: " I have always wanted to be a woman, and if only I had developed several different polypeptides when I was a zygote, I would be a woman."
What thawed out from a hard winter at Valley Forge turned out to be men of steel filled with resolve. It was one bad winter. We are there again. We know what to do. Wear them down. Wear them out. Vote’m Out! Block the concentration camps. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/concentration-camping?r=3m1bs
George Washington. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzI_DMDgMd4
It's a coup, plain and simple and it has been in the works since they (GOP) were busted for trying to pull it off with Hitler's support in 1939. Remember Robert Taft? This is not t-Rump's coup. He's not smart eneough. He is the new face, just like Hitler was chosen for his rabble rousing strength in Germany, by the same oligrchy. The BBB taking food and healthcare away was the perfect diversion that kept all but a few from actully reading the legalese that removes any check on executive branch power. This version was started by the face of Ronnie Raygun, on GE Theater (GE? hmmm) the Powell memo and the reaction to the Free Speech Movement. They realized that an educated population, the one that built the strongest economy and military in the world, was the greatest threat they faced. Then came the dumbing down of education, starting in California with Gov.Reagan appointing Max Rafferty as Superintendent of Public Instrucion. This spread accross the coumtry with the Howard Jarvis "Taxpayer Revolt" and propelled Reagan to POTUS where he expedited Rupert Murdoch's citizenhip that allowed him to buy up US media companies and work with Roger Ailes to establish the propaganda network that manipulated the dumbed down population and after the next three decades they wanted t-Rump, the latest Fascist face to rouse the rabble. Life was good. We basked in our accomplishments since the Sixties, while forgetting that
RUST NEVER SLEEPS.
Sorry all, I was just reminded that I mixed up a Taft name. Senator Robert A.Taft
You mean Robert Taft, Jr.? 2004 Ohio Diebolt scandal?
Prior to the 2004 election, Blackwell tried to award a $100 million unbid contract to Diebold for electronic voting machines. A storm of public outrage and a series of lawsuits forced him to cancel the deal. But a substantial percentage of Ohio's 2004 votes were counted by Diebold software and Diebold Opti-scan machines which frequently malfunctioned in the Democratic stronghold of Toledo. It was revealed in 2006 that Blackwell owned Diebold stock. Diebold's GEMS election software was used in about half of Ohio counties in the 2004 election. Because of Blackwell's effort, 41 counties also used Diebold machines in Ohio's highly dubious 2005 election. Also in the Ohio 2004 election, a whistleblower leaked documents revealing that Diebold had allegedly used illegal, uncertified hardware and software during California election.
https://columbusfreepress.com/article/diebold-indicted-its-spectre-still-haunts-ohio-elections
Note the author of this study. https://people.csail.mit.edu/rivest/voting/press/WasThe2004ElectionStolen.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_United_States_election_voting_controversies
My poor old brain, Daniel. Senator Robert Taft. Early out here on the Left Coast. No coffee and reading while the water was boiling. A bit distracted too, after losing everything in the Jan. 7th fire in Altadena. I'm still a bit scrambled.
The coup that they were busted for ended in a mistrial and all documents and evidence put in the National Archive by Truman after telling the DOJ to not do a retrial to promote "healing", as the war ended.
It's all in Rachel Maddow's Ultra and her books. She dug through the documents themselves to create the podcast of eight episodes.
Their previos coup attempt was foiled by General Smedley Butler, CUSMC a couple of years earlier. They have been rabid about the New Deal since Roosevelt proposed it and they refere to it in their rantings today as the Communist yada yada.
The oligarchists want the serfs to keep working for free and now the BBB funding is there to build the concentration camps, starting now, to use LEGAL, by the 14th Ammendment, slave labor of criminals. SCOTUS gave POTUS the freedom to say anyone is a criminal, thus making hundreds of thousand of ALL of us available to put in tiny screws in all the new I-phones for free, thus keeping them. competeitive against Chinese phones yada yada again.
It is the same oligarchy that used Hitler for their control of world markets and resources.
Aha. He was "Mr. Conservative." Was Ike's chief competitor in '52 Republican primaries.
It is unsettling to read Thom's litany of Trump's levers of power because they are true. SCOTUS has allowed Trump to justify abuses of immigrant civil rights by accepting his declaration of an invasion. D-Day was an invasion; decades of illegal immigration by unarmed civilians is no invasion. Our immigrants do work Americans consider beneath them - like harvesting our crops. Who will harvest our food once they are gone - techies displaced by AI?
For those of us familiar with the history of Hitler and Nazi fascism Trump is textbook. As I have pointed out, the BBB is mainly about obtaining funding to turn Bush's DHS into a Gestapo and a national chain of concentration camps in which they can incarcerate any citizen without trial who dares object to life in fascist America. The first concentration camp is the sweltering jungle cages Florida Governor DeSantis just erected and christened Alligator Alcatraz to please Trump enough to ensure he will give him a job when his term as governor ends in January 2027.
BBB also demonstrated that Congress is as cowardly as politicians get. As Thom pointed out, now all Trump needs to do is derail the 2026 mid-term elections - something he has already demonstrated he is good at. How do you stop crooked MAGA governors and legislators already busy redistricting Democrats out of power?
The election monitoring must also include awareness of voting machines, which may have been tampered with in 2024 & 2020:
electiontruthalliance.org
Heather Cox Richardson’s “Why MAGA wages War on History” on YouTube offers reasons for hope that Americans can resist & indeed overcome the current fascist onslaught.
Neal, I too listen to H.C. Richardson and always appreciate her words.
She believes that we are not lost, yet, because the U.S. is a huge, federated country. The central government in D.C. will be faced with a difficult task in attempting to take over all the state and local governments. This, she believes is what shall form the beginning of the resistance which can eventually save our democracy. I do not argue with her; but she does not go far enough.
First: she is ignoring two other huge countries where oligarchy won out, in spite of local provincial governments: China and Russia. We could possibly include Indonesia, India, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey.
Second: she is too young to remember, at the gut level, how Americans put an end to that long, losing war of empire in Viet Nam and the evil, mandatory, military draft system which went along with it.
A) Too many American mothers saw their sons return from Viet Nam in plastic bags at the airport in Dover Delaware.
B) Millions of young American men said "Hell no I won't go!" These young men suffered the consequences of their refusal. Their careers were hampered or ruined, educations were interrupted or ruined. Many became emigrants to Canada and European countries. They were viewed as shameful by many Americans who went along with the war hawks in D.C. It took a man of genuine compassion and honor to reach out and help them: President Jimmy Carter, who pardoned the draft resisters years later.
The only thing we as citizens can do to effectively resist this drift into Fascism is get into the streets by the millions every day and cause mayhem against the Proto-Fascist machine. We must, in the words of Mario Savio in 1964 "...throw your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon the apparatus, and make the Machine stop!" I recommend the book FREEDOM'S ORATOR by Robert cohen. Savio was instrumental in starting the Free Speech Movement at the University of California at Berkley. The movement also sprang up spontaneously on college campuses all over the country, with or without Savio. It was a real phenomenon, akin to the Civil Rights Movement. The movement helped end the Viet Nam War, scared hell out of the elite in this country, and helped keep alive the movement started by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
AGREE. I sent your comments to families & friends👍
🤺 When someone "throws down the gauntlet," they're issuing a bold challenge, often publicly and provocatively.
The phrase comes from medieval times when knights would literally throw a metal glove (the gauntlet) to challenge another to combat.
Picking it up meant accepting the fight.
So, if a gauntlet'll be thrown, yet again . . . it means Trump's once more laid down his challenge.
The "Real" question is : Are Democrats ready to pick it up?
Or, do we speechify ad nauseum?
Let's GO !!!
Why are you not reporting the work of Election Truth Alliance? Your silence is a dereliction.
Wonderful work on the cheating in 2024.
Their URL is https://electiontruthalliance.org/
Would you believe that Nevada and Pennsylvania had enough voting machine manipulations to switch the votes and results from Harris to Trump? It sure looks like it!
Yep, project 2025 and here we are. What a bummer. Here's hoping you are having a great vacation, Thom, and here's to all of your readers, have a good and Safe holiday weekend.💯👍
Every Tyrant's Playbook. Cynicism is the Enemy of Honesty. Ambition is the Enemy of Equality. Megalomania is the Enemy of Equal Citizen Representation. Nazi ubermen do not acknowledge citizens. All persons are either servants, enforcers, chattel, slaves, or riffraff, unworthy of life.
The human brain is a very old and worn out playbook of knee jerk responses to drama-traumas. This brain is not only aware of Fear, it is driven by and controlled and addicted to FEAR. Keyword is ADDICTION. A condition driven by bio-chemistry influencing various areas of the brain, endocrine system, immune system, and body nervous system separate from the brain. Addictions interrupt the connections between reasoning, correct logic, sensory experiences and their interpretations, and most importantly stimulate the endocrine system to make and employ chemicals that enhance addictive behaviors. Once influenced, the brain is incapable of independent discernment, and relies on facetious stimuli and memories to avoid the PAIN caused by FEAR.
What masks FEAR? Not eliminates, not diminishes, but masks/hides/obfuscates/deflects FEAR.
The LIE. Repeated constantly, with Lies to cover Lies that cover Lies, like an onion that grows exponentially. What do nihilists do best? They LIE. A LIE is a violent assault on reasoning, on trust, on compassion, on accuracy, on TRUTH. To a nihilist, nothing, absolutely NOTHING, has value, especially their own existence. Hence, no empathy, no shame, no consciousness, no recognition of 'the other.' This is where we are at right now. They have the guns, we have the numbers, we have the truths, they have the LIES. Kaboom!!
It would behoove all of us to monitor and contemplate and correlate all info against the template of some reasoned, verified truism before we believe/endorse/act upon any pronouncement from any govt., corporation, religion, philosophy, military, science, or chemical product that goes into our bodies via mouth, skin, nose, eyes, ears. Know thyself, then begin to know truth from fiction.
I firmly believe that the 2026 midterms will be the last federal election this country sees. Either through a declaration of national emergency, martial law or some other bogus scheme, no doubt bolstered by a friendly SCOTUS, the 28 elections will be indefinitely delayed. You know what they say about "justice delayed." It applies to elections, too.
Note how they cleverly drafted the fucking Bill so that its most odious changes don't kick in until January, 2027, safely after the 26 congressional elections.
I don't think we will have midterms.
And I thought I was Mr. Pessimist.
The pretend "supreme" court that acts as an arm of one mafia cartel party means there is no real judicial justice system and no citizens' Bill of Rights preventing authoritarian abuse. We progressives (Carville is not one of us) are as likely to end up in Alligator Alcatraz as any "illegal" for expressing our dissent openly.