Based on the posts of Thom and many others, it is looking as if Congress (both sides) are ignoring the history of 1930s Germany and letting Trump turn the country into a fascist dictatorship without even setting the Reichstag on fire. Although, his stormtrooper militia might set a few Teslas on fire to justify his 'emergency." LOL
I'm hoping at least a few Congressional Republicans don't want us to be part of the axis of evil.
Yesterday Heather Cox Richardson documented that Mike Turner (R.AL) and Roger Wicker (R. MS) complained about National Security. Lots more have called Trump a liar on Putin/Ukraine. I published the letter I got from Rick Scott. Thom Tillis. Murkowski. Many more.
They are still Republicans. The main issue is National Security. Jerry Weiss has identified a number ofHouse Republicans who say they want to talk, and we have 3 Cuban American MAGATs here who have recently discovered they are DEI and many of their donors and consituents are upset. We have more Canadians here that some Canadian provinces -- most with dual citizenship.
Hopefully behind the scenes there is discussion about shared government. Only takes 3 in the House. Hakim Jeffries can offer chairmanships of key committees to Republicans.
Thom sez "Lock Them Up? Trump Officials Face Jail Time for Stonewalling." The way it worls is that Boasburg will have to offer offending parties an opportunity to "purge" themselves.
A quirlyque is the allegation of a violation of the Secrets Act. In the old days, peadings had to be "verified" by a sworn statement. Not true anymore. What Boasburg can do is hold an "in camera" hearing, and seal it, keep it from public view. According to DOJ we are at war, and thus the court should not have intervened. You'd think that every lawyer would call that allegation frivolous, worthy of sanctions.
Where and when are Americans going to stop these fascists movements /comments. We need to organize on a national scale get police and x military ready. These people will not be civil or follow rule of law, what options? And while the courts try to play this out with rule of law all the king has to do is build his criminal fascist enterprise and goon squads ready to mo us down or ship us out to some huge detention camps. I wouldn't be surprised if he plans to use his wall to drop off all of us dissenters, disagree with him/.
Consider that Eric Prince's Private Military Company -- our analogue to Wagner -- is accountable to nobody and is fully experienced at performing occupation duties on a hostile populace, having been trained in Bush's Iraq.
So don't count on patriotic soldiers to refuse to shoot civilians, or cosplaying militia dorks to be hapless amateurs.
Cosplaying amateurs with guns are dangerous,especially when artfully employed.
Gen Morgan knew how to use, to effect, untrained militia at the battle of the Cowspen.
Not too long ago I remember comments deriding Meal Team Six. Big mistake, Napoleon and Clausewitz and Sun Yat Sen told us to never underestimate the enemy.
"Artfully employed" is the key, and for that they have Erik Prince's mercenary soldiers of fortune. The helicopter pilot needs be expert; the wraparound-sunglassed thug firing from the open door need only not fall out.
Two of my subordinates, they were really into cosplay, when going on exercise they did their faces with camoflauge like they were doing make up for a movie, well they decided to make more money, so they went to work for Wakenhut, then for Blackwater, the both died years ago, well before their time, from brain cancer.
I have no idea what their job was but it involved exposure to DU or a a toxic chemical.
A guy I knew as a major, retired as a colonel, spec ops big shot, went to work for a French merc company, died in a helicopter crash.
Another dude I know, hired out in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and is stuck on oxicontin for the rest of his life, he goes off and has excruciating back pain.
We pay for our choices. I'm paying for mine, compressed disk at T-7 andT-11, a cervical hemlilaminectomy at C-6, C-7 and all that in Sam's service.not a merc.
Yep Eric has his thugs in wrap a rounds, swaggering macho dudes, until the shit really hits the fan. they too will pay the price, if only when they get old like me.
The dude firing from the door of the chopper is strapped in, his problem is not falling out, but having the chopper fall out of the sky.. maintenance, pilot or enemy fire.
It's good to be king---at least on the days when major law firms and universities compromise their morals for you.
Don't think boycotts or spray paint will work on them for becoming members of the Trump Fascist Regime. I hope people in the resistance are careful, because there are cameras everywhere. The fascists will try to turn your protest into terrorism.
Now they want 500,000 people given parole status to "self-deport" in the next 30 days.Thirty days to wrap-up your life before Kristi Noem shows up at your door in one of her cosplay outfits. The furries don't have a thing on her!
And it is all to please the psychopath that THINKS he is king.
Musk and his fellow millionaires/billionaires/plutocrats/oligarchs
from our perspective seem to be chasing money for the sake of money.
Maybe it isn’t pertinent, Someone told me aens ago, it is the behavior not the motive that matters.
Well I disagree, do something about the motive and you change the behavior
Is this pursuit of money simply an addiction. In many cases yes. It is an addiction like gambling.
But there are also other ulterior motives.
Trump has an inferiority complex, which he compensates for by being a bully and having people bend the knee, but above all he values his self worth in dollars. When he was younger,he would call into the NYT and other papers and pretend that he was John Barron and brag on Trump and his wealth and attractiveness.
Musk has a different motivation, Inspired by his namesake, the NAZI like leader of Mars the Elon, he is using the financial and human resources of America, and the world if he can, to achieve his goal of being the Elon on Mars, that is why he wants to Occupy Mars.
The goals of Musk and Trump are mutually supporting.
What I would like to crawl into is the motives of Peter Thiel, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Andrew Mellon, the Mercers, the Addelsons, the Wynns. and all of the billionaire sponsors of fascism.
Is it simple addiction to money or is it something else.
Peter Thiel is most interesting. Here is married to a man, with kids, and JD Vance once said that he was gay, he certainly uses eye liner, he is either bisexual, gender dysphoric or both.His wife is Indian and his kids biracial.
Yet they have cast their lot with homophobic, white Christian nationalists. What is going on. Some say it doesn’t matter, focus on the behavior, but it does matter, to change behavior you have to get at motive.
Will Trump declare Martial law, you bet he will, all he needs is a pretext. He wanted to during the BLM protests, and would have on Jan 6th, if he could have got the media to believe it was “the radical left”
That secret service agent with whom Trump fought for the steering wheel, did him a favor, for if Trump had appeared at the Capitol in support of his troops, then he would have been guilty of treason,and not able to invoke martial law.All he needs is an excuse, a pretext and if we don’t give him one, then he has the Proud Boys to act as agent provocateurs
Furry alert, how much more proof do we need, besides the existence of MAGAts that there is scant evidence of intelligent life on on Earth, much less in the Universe
(a) It is the primary role and mission of the United States Marshals Service to provide for the security and to obey, execute, and enforce all orders of the United States District Courts, the United States Courts of Appeals, the Court of International Trade, and the United States Tax Court, as provided by law.
(b) The United States marshal of each district is the marshal of the district court and of the court of appeals when sitting in that district, and of the Court of International Trade holding sessions in that district, and may, in the discretion of the respective courts, be required to attend any session of court.
(c) Except as otherwise provided by law or Rule of Procedure, the United States Marshals Service shall execute all lawful writs, process, and orders issued under the authority of the United States, and shall command all necessary assistance to execute its duties.
(d) Each United States marshal, deputy marshal, and any other official of the Service as may be designated by the Director may carry firearms and make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in his or her presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if he or she has reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony.
(e)(1) The United States Marshals Service is authorized to—
(A) provide for the personal protection of Federal jurists, court officers, witnesses, and other threatened persons in the interests of justice where criminal intimidation impedes on the functioning of the judicial process or any other official proceeding;
(B) investigate such fugitive matters, both within and outside the United States, as directed by the Attorney General;
(C) issue administrative subpoenas in accordance with section 3486 of title 18, solely for the purpose of investigating unregistered sex offenders (as defined in such section 3486); and
(D) assist State, local, and other Federal law enforcement agencies, upon the request of such an agency, in locating and recovering missing children.
(2) Nothing in paragraph (1)(B) shall be construed to interfere with or supersede the authority of other Federal agencies or bureaus.
(f) In accordance with procedures established by the Director, and except for public money deposited under section 2041 of this title, each United States marshal shall deposit public moneys that the marshal collects into the Treasury, subject to disbursement by the marshal. At the end of each accounting period, the earned part of public moneys accruing to the United States shall be deposited in the Treasury to the credit of the appropriate receipt accounts.
(g) Prior to resignation, retirement, or removal from office—
(1) a United States marshal shall deliver to the marshal's successor all prisoners in his custody and all unserved process; and
(2) a deputy marshal shall deliver to the marshal all process in the custody of the deputy marshal.
(h) The United States marshals shall pay such office expenses of United States Attorneys as may be directed by the Attorney General.
(i) The Director of the United States Marshals Service shall consult with the Judicial Conference of the United States on a continuing basis regarding the security requirements for the judicial branch of the United States Government, to ensure that the views of the Judicial Conference regarding the security requirements for the judicial branch of the Federal Government are taken into account when determining staffing levels, setting priorities for programs regarding judicial security, and allocating judicial security resources. In this paragraph, the term "judicial security" includes the security of buildings housing the judiciary, the personal security of judicial officers, the assessment of threats made to judicial officers, and the protection of all other judicial personnel. The United States Marshals Service retains final authority regarding security requirements for the judicial branch of the Federal Government.
(Added Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, §7608(a)(1), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4514; amended Pub. L. 110–177, title I, §§101(a), 102(a), Jan. 7, 2008, 121 Stat. 2534, 2535; Pub. L. 112–206, §4(b), Dec. 7, 2012, 126 Stat. 1492; Pub. L. 114–22, title VI, §605, May 29, 2015, 129 Stat. 260.
Daniel my friend, You put a lot of stock,in the law, process and the institutions, but have you noticed that Trusk has thrown all of that in the round file, and they do not apply anymore.
He's still stuck wiith the NY judgmdents. I don't know whether I'd trust Boasburg, and I don't trust SCOTUS, but the Trump administration is setting records for TROs and other judicial orders.
I worked with many reactionary Republicans. As we used to say at the NJC, when they put on the roibes and took the oath, they were just like everone else.
As #45 many of the dxecisions against him were made by people he appointed.
I know that the Democratic party and man liberals celebrate TRO's as some kind of victory and proof that the system still works. People, after all, see what they want to see.
But not me because the problem is the T in TRO, it means Temporary and usually is just a stay, giving the government more time to do the work to document their case
Yep, Daniel, thats what the org chart says, that what the Marshall duties are, but here is the problem, the Marshalls work for DOJ, currently run by Pam Bondi, and she does damn well as she pleases.
She has even said that judges who obstruct Trump are guilty of treason.
So what if ththe primary role and mission of the United States Marshals Service to provide for the security and to obey, execute, and enforce all orders of the United States District Courts, the United States Courts of Appeals, the Court of International Trade, and the United States Tax Court, as provided by law.
They work for Pam Bondi and unless they want to be fired for insubordination, they better do what she says.
I've explained this to you....funding does not mean they are employees of DOJ..... I was "housed" at DOL but they couldn't direct me, rate me, and I had judicial independence.
The pocket book is the controlling authority. I know that you want to believe in the Justice Department and that the institutions will hold, that has been your experience and career. But Daniel this is a new world that we are living in the old order, expectations, rules are kaput. Trusk has provided ample evidence.
The Air Force is a budgeting category for the Dept of Defense, they have a job, and that job is in the air, but the Air force has battlefield airmen. Navy's budgeting category is the seas, but the Navy has SEALS that operate deep in land far from the waters edge.
US Marshalls work for DOJ, it says nothing on the website about them being a budgeting category. They are a tool of Pam Bondi (the AG) just like the FBI and do what they are told.
The same with the military. Many have said in response to me, that the military will never turn against its people, and yet we have a foreshadow of what is to be, troops on the border and the Navy patrolling the Gulf of Mexico with destroyers,
I posted their job duties. They service the courts. They cqan't be forced to disregard that duty.
We have this all the time in government service --- not supposed to perform other than stautory duties. The secretary of an agency can't force an SES person to be a clerk.
Come on Daniel, I am aware that your personal experience, leads you to believe that the institutions will hold. There is a difference between having a Marshall perform police duties and being a clerk, though filling out reports is in fact clerical work.
The Marshals are law enforcement, they work for the AG, the AG is the gun she pulls the trigger and the bullets ignite and fly out of the barrel, The DOJ has many bullets, the FBI and the Marshals, DEA, ATF service.
When you work for the government, draw a government check you follow orders or file for unemployment, If there is a dispute in civil service, then the laws allow you for to file a dispute and a grievance if you are assigned duties outside of your responsibility. A traffic manager can not be forced to do the work of a personnel clerk or pronouncement clerk.
That was then, back when I supervised civilian employees, and I supervised many at the end of my service when I rode a desk. That is not today though.
Have a grievance file a grievance, see what that gets you NOW.
And having a cop do cop work is not having do clerks work. And a US Marshal escorting someone inside of a building is cops work. Armed escort is in fact in the job description of a US Marshal.I
I am a regular commissioned officer, I am bound by my oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Nothing in it about the President, Congress or judiciary.
Enlisted persons take an oath to obey the orders of the President and all Officers appointed over them.
There are, however, careerists in the officer ranks, that would sell their wives and mothers to a Generals star, or even a promotion. I've known quite a few. They will gladly become a lackeyto Hegseth and Trump, if it means a promotion or even a career..
This is especially true of Air Force Academy (AFA) graduates, the Academy was infected with Dominionism almost the minute it opened it's doors, and like a virus it has spread to other service academies
And it is worse now Trump appoints 5 new members to USAFA Board of Visitors
Just an FYI. Beware of ANY data or statistics quoted by Trumpsk/MAGA from EPIC, Economic Policy Innovation Center. A "think" tank created just last year by Paul Winfree, the author of the Project 2025 Policy Agenda chapter for the Federal Reserve. My MAGA Rep Bill Huizenga quoted absolute bullshit numbers for the amount of fraud in Medicare and Medicaid payments made to justify DOGE's work the GOP cutting $880 billion from the Medicare and Medicaid budgets.
The more you use the term, Dark Enlightenment, the more people will start to understand the most serious trouble the country is in. Thank you! I watched a lecture by Columbia U. Professor Jeffery Sachs this morning on YT. His knowledge of what's really going on with US politics under the control of Netanyahu is scary, and depressing. Food for additional treatment here. Keep up the excellent work.
As far as Trump knows he is the Dictator of the United Stares! The only way to stop him is impeachment. The courts and the media can slow him down. But only Congress can get him out.
They could do it but only if their jobs are at risk. Your job, your social security , your medical care are not reason enough for your elected congress men and women to take action.
Congress want take action, there is a chance in 2026 with the mid terms if Democrats can recapture the house, but the Democratic party is lost in space. But given a miracle they can impeach Trump a fourth time, but then it will face thesame problem as before only this time it is worse, The Republicans control the Senate, last time it was he Democrats and we still couldn't remove him
I am not hopeful about the 2026 Election it is over a year off, and Trump has that time to turn this country into a full blown autocracy.
He has already shredded the Constitution, one more step is minor
The fact that congress will take no action dose not mean they can't. That is the point. They have chosen not to. Impeachment is the bad taste medicine they don't want. But as it gets worse for all of us people need to know the option is there if their representative's are willing to act.
Trump,Musk,Vance believe that social programs (SS) Medicare serving the needs of seniors should be dismantled. Musk in 2022 uttered the phrase" Old People should just die" Since seniors are living longer,by destroying the Social programs they depend upon,seniors lives will be shortened. Their is a rumor that Trump-Musk-Hedseth are considering bringing back the crermatoriums that Hitler used in 1943 to kill 7 million jews.They would be used against any and all perceived enemies. I don't think this out of the question,their is little doubt that Trump is following Hitler's playbook.
My great granddaughter who was about 3 stayed with me all day when her parents were moving from one apartmet to another. Late that afternoon she declared that she was a dog and a good dog too and deserved to go for a walk. So she put on my dog's harness, I attached a leash and took my good dog for a walk. (She didn't releve herself in the grass.) She is now 12 and doesn't even want to hear the story. She was so cute and inventive when she was little.
Just yesterday I was on a local social media and someone had shared something about the cuts that were being made in school lunches and other services for the people, which had been reported in mainstream news, and it was shocking how many people simply wouldn’t believe that these cuts in spending were really happening.
I even found a screen shot of the newspaper column reporting on the cuts for Farm to schools program. This raised questions about whether the source was trustworthy.
Personally I’d prefer people to be skeptical, and to look for evidence that reports of what is happening in the government are accurate or not being slanted for partisan reasons (although it does seem that the skepticism is less an issue when they recite their favorite pro-MAGA source, or, to be completely fair, their favorite not-so-maga source)
I will admit that I would like to see more of the independent journalist who report here in Substack to provide citations, not just for me, but so I can use them when sharing some of the tidbits I find posted here with my more skeptical Republican neighbors.
I understand that frequently, sources are the writers professional contacts in the field, but any details that can help legitimate the story would be helpful. But too often, even I’m left wondering where information is coming from and how much I can trust. I suppose part of the problem is that I’m not very familiar with many of writers here in Substack. I’m an academic so I’m more accustomed to scholarly citations.
Any advise on how to verify some of reports here would be great ie story about sarcastic head of Social Security who thinks people should give up privacy to receive their own money in payments. I looked but I didn’t see the source for that piece- if I try to share it with people, especially w/folks who voted for Trump, its going to be more easily accepted if I can tell them how we know that.
FYI - I haven’t really had a problem talking about current events or conditions with Trump supporters face to face. It’s most likely because I don’t approach topics by framing them as partisan issues, but rather issues that affect all Americans regardless of party. Frankly, I believe that more of us need to learn how to have these conversations without making them about political parties or personalities - I think it’s the only way we will be able to save our country.
Thom, The recent release of the Kennedy unredacted report brings to mind a 2021 book by Josiah Thompson, "Last Second in Dallas". The book documents forensic audio evidence compiled from law enforcements open radio transmissions that detail that there were 5 shots in Dealy Plaza that day and Kennedy was actually caught in a crossfire.
Interesting read if you can find the time which from your reports show you don't have. LOL
More stuff coming out of the firehose of the cascading catastrophes
Some European central banking and supervisory officials are questioning whether they can still rely on the U.S. Federal Reserve to provide dollar funding in times of market stress, six people familiar with the matter said, casting some doubt over what has been a bedrock of financial stability.
The sources told Reuters they consider it highly unlikely the Fed would not honour its funding backstops — and the U.S. central bank itself has given no signals to suggest that.
AND
But the European officials have held informal discussions about this possibility - which Reuters is reporting for the first time - because their trust in the United States government has been shaken
In some European forums where participants assess potential risks to the financial system, these officials have discussed scenarios under which the U.S. government might pressure the Fed to suspend the dollar backstops, two of the sources said.
A major winner is Europe. For the first time since 2021, eurozone stocks are seeing big inflows. Investors seem to see better value in European companies. They also expect stronger earnings growth, helped by government spending in places like Germany.
Bull Crash”: Big Money Is Leaving U.S. Stocks at a Pace Never Seen Before
A new survey from BofA Global Research shows that investors have cut their U.S. stock holdings more than ever. The shift is so big that some experts call it a “bull crash.”
LSEG Lipper data showed that U.S. equity funds generated a net $2.25 billion in sales during the week as investors divested out of these funds for a fifth out of six weeks.
Agents reassigned: Thousands of federal agents are being enlisted to take on new work as immigration enforcers, pulling crime-fighting resources away from other areas — including drug trafficking, terrorism, sexual abuse and fraud.
Migrant 'parole': pinocchio administration will revoke the temporary legal status of 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans in the US, according to a Federal Register notice, the latest expansion of his crackdown on immigration.
It started, IIRC correctly with QAnon. Some yahoo of a mother saw kids dressed up in costumes, who knows one of them could have even carried a litter box to complete the act, and from that we get Furries.
How did pizza gate start? How does any of this shit start? In the irrational mind of MAGAts.
Based on the posts of Thom and many others, it is looking as if Congress (both sides) are ignoring the history of 1930s Germany and letting Trump turn the country into a fascist dictatorship without even setting the Reichstag on fire. Although, his stormtrooper militia might set a few Teslas on fire to justify his 'emergency." LOL
I'm hoping at least a few Congressional Republicans don't want us to be part of the axis of evil.
Yesterday Heather Cox Richardson documented that Mike Turner (R.AL) and Roger Wicker (R. MS) complained about National Security. Lots more have called Trump a liar on Putin/Ukraine. I published the letter I got from Rick Scott. Thom Tillis. Murkowski. Many more.
They are still Republicans. The main issue is National Security. Jerry Weiss has identified a number ofHouse Republicans who say they want to talk, and we have 3 Cuban American MAGATs here who have recently discovered they are DEI and many of their donors and consituents are upset. We have more Canadians here that some Canadian provinces -- most with dual citizenship.
Hopefully behind the scenes there is discussion about shared government. Only takes 3 in the House. Hakim Jeffries can offer chairmanships of key committees to Republicans.
I'm also hoping that a few Congressional Republicans who are lawyers will stand for the rule of law.
I'm disppointed that there are law firms like Paul Weiss. What Trump did is extortion. Most lawyers are aware that they have a duty, at least in civil cases, to he honest with the court. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_3_3_candor_toward_the_tribunal/comment_on_rule_3_3/
Thom sez "Lock Them Up? Trump Officials Face Jail Time for Stonewalling." The way it worls is that Boasburg will have to offer offending parties an opportunity to "purge" themselves.
A quirlyque is the allegation of a violation of the Secrets Act. In the old days, peadings had to be "verified" by a sworn statement. Not true anymore. What Boasburg can do is hold an "in camera" hearing, and seal it, keep it from public view. According to DOJ we are at war, and thus the court should not have intervened. You'd think that every lawyer would call that allegation frivolous, worthy of sanctions.
The DOJ cannot declare war, only congress can, so any utterance by Pam Bondi is just noise and has no effect on Boasberg or any judge
William,I agree that is the case.Trump and Co have decided they can do whatever,they like,Congress has lost it's power.
Where and when are Americans going to stop these fascists movements /comments. We need to organize on a national scale get police and x military ready. These people will not be civil or follow rule of law, what options? And while the courts try to play this out with rule of law all the king has to do is build his criminal fascist enterprise and goon squads ready to mo us down or ship us out to some huge detention camps. I wouldn't be surprised if he plans to use his wall to drop off all of us dissenters, disagree with him/.
They allege it. She didn't declare war, she said the US did.
I know Daniel, that was the gist of my comment. I said the DOJ can't declare war.
Consider that Eric Prince's Private Military Company -- our analogue to Wagner -- is accountable to nobody and is fully experienced at performing occupation duties on a hostile populace, having been trained in Bush's Iraq.
So don't count on patriotic soldiers to refuse to shoot civilians, or cosplaying militia dorks to be hapless amateurs.
Cosplaying amateurs with guns are dangerous,especially when artfully employed.
Gen Morgan knew how to use, to effect, untrained militia at the battle of the Cowspen.
Not too long ago I remember comments deriding Meal Team Six. Big mistake, Napoleon and Clausewitz and Sun Yat Sen told us to never underestimate the enemy.
"Artfully employed" is the key, and for that they have Erik Prince's mercenary soldiers of fortune. The helicopter pilot needs be expert; the wraparound-sunglassed thug firing from the open door need only not fall out.
Two of my subordinates, they were really into cosplay, when going on exercise they did their faces with camoflauge like they were doing make up for a movie, well they decided to make more money, so they went to work for Wakenhut, then for Blackwater, the both died years ago, well before their time, from brain cancer.
I have no idea what their job was but it involved exposure to DU or a a toxic chemical.
A guy I knew as a major, retired as a colonel, spec ops big shot, went to work for a French merc company, died in a helicopter crash.
Another dude I know, hired out in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and is stuck on oxicontin for the rest of his life, he goes off and has excruciating back pain.
We pay for our choices. I'm paying for mine, compressed disk at T-7 andT-11, a cervical hemlilaminectomy at C-6, C-7 and all that in Sam's service.not a merc.
Yep Eric has his thugs in wrap a rounds, swaggering macho dudes, until the shit really hits the fan. they too will pay the price, if only when they get old like me.
The dude firing from the door of the chopper is strapped in, his problem is not falling out, but having the chopper fall out of the sky.. maintenance, pilot or enemy fire.
We know that the militias are itching to start shooting.
It's good to be king---at least on the days when major law firms and universities compromise their morals for you.
Don't think boycotts or spray paint will work on them for becoming members of the Trump Fascist Regime. I hope people in the resistance are careful, because there are cameras everywhere. The fascists will try to turn your protest into terrorism.
Now they want 500,000 people given parole status to "self-deport" in the next 30 days.Thirty days to wrap-up your life before Kristi Noem shows up at your door in one of her cosplay outfits. The furries don't have a thing on her!
And it is all to please the psychopath that THINKS he is king.
You can’t be too cynical with these people. Trump announced during his campaign that we wouldn’t have to vote again.
Musk and his fellow millionaires/billionaires/plutocrats/oligarchs
from our perspective seem to be chasing money for the sake of money.
Maybe it isn’t pertinent, Someone told me aens ago, it is the behavior not the motive that matters.
Well I disagree, do something about the motive and you change the behavior
Is this pursuit of money simply an addiction. In many cases yes. It is an addiction like gambling.
But there are also other ulterior motives.
Trump has an inferiority complex, which he compensates for by being a bully and having people bend the knee, but above all he values his self worth in dollars. When he was younger,he would call into the NYT and other papers and pretend that he was John Barron and brag on Trump and his wealth and attractiveness.
Musk has a different motivation, Inspired by his namesake, the NAZI like leader of Mars the Elon, he is using the financial and human resources of America, and the world if he can, to achieve his goal of being the Elon on Mars, that is why he wants to Occupy Mars.
The goals of Musk and Trump are mutually supporting.
What I would like to crawl into is the motives of Peter Thiel, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Andrew Mellon, the Mercers, the Addelsons, the Wynns. and all of the billionaire sponsors of fascism.
Is it simple addiction to money or is it something else.
Peter Thiel is most interesting. Here is married to a man, with kids, and JD Vance once said that he was gay, he certainly uses eye liner, he is either bisexual, gender dysphoric or both.His wife is Indian and his kids biracial.
Yet they have cast their lot with homophobic, white Christian nationalists. What is going on. Some say it doesn’t matter, focus on the behavior, but it does matter, to change behavior you have to get at motive.
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Lock them up? Who exactly is going to lock them up. Pam Bondi? Trumps chain dog, her welps control all of the Federal law enforcement and prisons.
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Will Trump declare Martial law, you bet he will, all he needs is a pretext. He wanted to during the BLM protests, and would have on Jan 6th, if he could have got the media to believe it was “the radical left”
That secret service agent with whom Trump fought for the steering wheel, did him a favor, for if Trump had appeared at the Capitol in support of his troops, then he would have been guilty of treason,and not able to invoke martial law.All he needs is an excuse, a pretext and if we don’t give him one, then he has the Proud Boys to act as agent provocateurs
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Furry alert, how much more proof do we need, besides the existence of MAGAts that there is scant evidence of intelligent life on on Earth, much less in the Universe
Marshals' duty is to enforce judges' orders.
28 USC §566. Powers and duties
(a) It is the primary role and mission of the United States Marshals Service to provide for the security and to obey, execute, and enforce all orders of the United States District Courts, the United States Courts of Appeals, the Court of International Trade, and the United States Tax Court, as provided by law.
(b) The United States marshal of each district is the marshal of the district court and of the court of appeals when sitting in that district, and of the Court of International Trade holding sessions in that district, and may, in the discretion of the respective courts, be required to attend any session of court.
(c) Except as otherwise provided by law or Rule of Procedure, the United States Marshals Service shall execute all lawful writs, process, and orders issued under the authority of the United States, and shall command all necessary assistance to execute its duties.
(d) Each United States marshal, deputy marshal, and any other official of the Service as may be designated by the Director may carry firearms and make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in his or her presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if he or she has reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony.
(e)(1) The United States Marshals Service is authorized to—
(A) provide for the personal protection of Federal jurists, court officers, witnesses, and other threatened persons in the interests of justice where criminal intimidation impedes on the functioning of the judicial process or any other official proceeding;
(B) investigate such fugitive matters, both within and outside the United States, as directed by the Attorney General;
(C) issue administrative subpoenas in accordance with section 3486 of title 18, solely for the purpose of investigating unregistered sex offenders (as defined in such section 3486); and
(D) assist State, local, and other Federal law enforcement agencies, upon the request of such an agency, in locating and recovering missing children.
(2) Nothing in paragraph (1)(B) shall be construed to interfere with or supersede the authority of other Federal agencies or bureaus.
(f) In accordance with procedures established by the Director, and except for public money deposited under section 2041 of this title, each United States marshal shall deposit public moneys that the marshal collects into the Treasury, subject to disbursement by the marshal. At the end of each accounting period, the earned part of public moneys accruing to the United States shall be deposited in the Treasury to the credit of the appropriate receipt accounts.
(g) Prior to resignation, retirement, or removal from office—
(1) a United States marshal shall deliver to the marshal's successor all prisoners in his custody and all unserved process; and
(2) a deputy marshal shall deliver to the marshal all process in the custody of the deputy marshal.
(h) The United States marshals shall pay such office expenses of United States Attorneys as may be directed by the Attorney General.
(i) The Director of the United States Marshals Service shall consult with the Judicial Conference of the United States on a continuing basis regarding the security requirements for the judicial branch of the United States Government, to ensure that the views of the Judicial Conference regarding the security requirements for the judicial branch of the Federal Government are taken into account when determining staffing levels, setting priorities for programs regarding judicial security, and allocating judicial security resources. In this paragraph, the term "judicial security" includes the security of buildings housing the judiciary, the personal security of judicial officers, the assessment of threats made to judicial officers, and the protection of all other judicial personnel. The United States Marshals Service retains final authority regarding security requirements for the judicial branch of the Federal Government.
(Added Pub. L. 100–690, title VII, §7608(a)(1), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4514; amended Pub. L. 110–177, title I, §§101(a), 102(a), Jan. 7, 2008, 121 Stat. 2534, 2535; Pub. L. 112–206, §4(b), Dec. 7, 2012, 126 Stat. 1492; Pub. L. 114–22, title VI, §605, May 29, 2015, 129 Stat. 260.
Daniel my friend, You put a lot of stock,in the law, process and the institutions, but have you noticed that Trusk has thrown all of that in the round file, and they do not apply anymore.
He's still stuck wiith the NY judgmdents. I don't know whether I'd trust Boasburg, and I don't trust SCOTUS, but the Trump administration is setting records for TROs and other judicial orders.
I worked with many reactionary Republicans. As we used to say at the NJC, when they put on the roibes and took the oath, they were just like everone else.
As #45 many of the dxecisions against him were made by people he appointed.
I know that the Democratic party and man liberals celebrate TRO's as some kind of victory and proof that the system still works. People, after all, see what they want to see.
But not me because the problem is the T in TRO, it means Temporary and usually is just a stay, giving the government more time to do the work to document their case
Yep, Daniel, thats what the org chart says, that what the Marshall duties are, but here is the problem, the Marshalls work for DOJ, currently run by Pam Bondi, and she does damn well as she pleases.
She has even said that judges who obstruct Trump are guilty of treason.
So what if ththe primary role and mission of the United States Marshals Service to provide for the security and to obey, execute, and enforce all orders of the United States District Courts, the United States Courts of Appeals, the Court of International Trade, and the United States Tax Court, as provided by law.
They work for Pam Bondi and unless they want to be fired for insubordination, they better do what she says.
I've explained this to you....funding does not mean they are employees of DOJ..... I was "housed" at DOL but they couldn't direct me, rate me, and I had judicial independence.
Ichecked out the Marshal service on their website, They fall under the DOJ.The DOJ is Pam Bondi.
Trump, by the way, does damn well what he wants to do.
They do not report to her. It's not the military. Just budgeting category.
The pocket book is the controlling authority. I know that you want to believe in the Justice Department and that the institutions will hold, that has been your experience and career. But Daniel this is a new world that we are living in the old order, expectations, rules are kaput. Trusk has provided ample evidence.
The Air Force is a budgeting category for the Dept of Defense, they have a job, and that job is in the air, but the Air force has battlefield airmen. Navy's budgeting category is the seas, but the Navy has SEALS that operate deep in land far from the waters edge.
US Marshalls work for DOJ, it says nothing on the website about them being a budgeting category. They are a tool of Pam Bondi (the AG) just like the FBI and do what they are told.
The same with the military. Many have said in response to me, that the military will never turn against its people, and yet we have a foreshadow of what is to be, troops on the border and the Navy patrolling the Gulf of Mexico with destroyers,
I posted their job duties. They service the courts. They cqan't be forced to disregard that duty.
We have this all the time in government service --- not supposed to perform other than stautory duties. The secretary of an agency can't force an SES person to be a clerk.
Come on Daniel, I am aware that your personal experience, leads you to believe that the institutions will hold. There is a difference between having a Marshall perform police duties and being a clerk, though filling out reports is in fact clerical work.
The Marshals are law enforcement, they work for the AG, the AG is the gun she pulls the trigger and the bullets ignite and fly out of the barrel, The DOJ has many bullets, the FBI and the Marshals, DEA, ATF service.
When you work for the government, draw a government check you follow orders or file for unemployment, If there is a dispute in civil service, then the laws allow you for to file a dispute and a grievance if you are assigned duties outside of your responsibility. A traffic manager can not be forced to do the work of a personnel clerk or pronouncement clerk.
That was then, back when I supervised civilian employees, and I supervised many at the end of my service when I rode a desk. That is not today though.
Have a grievance file a grievance, see what that gets you NOW.
And having a cop do cop work is not having do clerks work. And a US Marshal escorting someone inside of a building is cops work. Armed escort is in fact in the job description of a US Marshal.I
I am a regular commissioned officer, I am bound by my oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Nothing in it about the President, Congress or judiciary.
Enlisted persons take an oath to obey the orders of the President and all Officers appointed over them.
There are, however, careerists in the officer ranks, that would sell their wives and mothers to a Generals star, or even a promotion. I've known quite a few. They will gladly become a lackeyto Hegseth and Trump, if it means a promotion or even a career..
This is especially true of Air Force Academy (AFA) graduates, the Academy was infected with Dominionism almost the minute it opened it's doors, and like a virus it has spread to other service academies
And it is worse now Trump appoints 5 new members to USAFA Board of Visitors
(Air & Space Forces Magazine) The U.S. Air Force Academy is getting a new slate of members for its Board of Visitors, a Congressionally directed oversight committee that monitors issues ranging from morale and discipline to curriculum financial matters.https://link.militarytimes.com/click/39100991.76713/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYWlyYW5kc3BhY2Vmb3JjZXMuY29tL3VzYWZhLWJvYXJkLW9mLXZpc2l0b3JzLWFwcG9pbnRtZW50LXRydW1wLz91dG1fc291cmNlPXNhaWx0aHJ1JnV0bV9tZWRpdW09ZW1haWwmdXRtX2NhbXBhaWduPW1pbC1lYmI/5ff8a396d72f7e28440d97f2C93cf6c72
Just an FYI. Beware of ANY data or statistics quoted by Trumpsk/MAGA from EPIC, Economic Policy Innovation Center. A "think" tank created just last year by Paul Winfree, the author of the Project 2025 Policy Agenda chapter for the Federal Reserve. My MAGA Rep Bill Huizenga quoted absolute bullshit numbers for the amount of fraud in Medicare and Medicaid payments made to justify DOGE's work the GOP cutting $880 billion from the Medicare and Medicaid budgets.
The more you use the term, Dark Enlightenment, the more people will start to understand the most serious trouble the country is in. Thank you! I watched a lecture by Columbia U. Professor Jeffery Sachs this morning on YT. His knowledge of what's really going on with US politics under the control of Netanyahu is scary, and depressing. Food for additional treatment here. Keep up the excellent work.
As far as Trump knows he is the Dictator of the United Stares! The only way to stop him is impeachment. The courts and the media can slow him down. But only Congress can get him out.
They could do it but only if their jobs are at risk. Your job, your social security , your medical care are not reason enough for your elected congress men and women to take action.
Congress want take action, there is a chance in 2026 with the mid terms if Democrats can recapture the house, but the Democratic party is lost in space. But given a miracle they can impeach Trump a fourth time, but then it will face thesame problem as before only this time it is worse, The Republicans control the Senate, last time it was he Democrats and we still couldn't remove him
I am not hopeful about the 2026 Election it is over a year off, and Trump has that time to turn this country into a full blown autocracy.
He has already shredded the Constitution, one more step is minor
The fact that congress will take no action dose not mean they can't. That is the point. They have chosen not to. Impeachment is the bad taste medicine they don't want. But as it gets worse for all of us people need to know the option is there if their representative's are willing to act.
It doesn't have to be done that way. If Dems control the House, controlls the purse. This budget becomes a pumkin Oct. 1.
However IMHOI the key is national security, the military. Many House Republicans think they own those issues and Trump has ursurped their authority..
Totally agree John, There is, by my count, at most five spines in all of congress, both houses.
John,Congress has no balls,no legitimacy.Someone has to become a martyr.
Trump,Musk,Vance believe that social programs (SS) Medicare serving the needs of seniors should be dismantled. Musk in 2022 uttered the phrase" Old People should just die" Since seniors are living longer,by destroying the Social programs they depend upon,seniors lives will be shortened. Their is a rumor that Trump-Musk-Hedseth are considering bringing back the crermatoriums that Hitler used in 1943 to kill 7 million jews.They would be used against any and all perceived enemies. I don't think this out of the question,their is little doubt that Trump is following Hitler's playbook.
My great granddaughter who was about 3 stayed with me all day when her parents were moving from one apartmet to another. Late that afternoon she declared that she was a dog and a good dog too and deserved to go for a walk. So she put on my dog's harness, I attached a leash and took my good dog for a walk. (She didn't releve herself in the grass.) She is now 12 and doesn't even want to hear the story. She was so cute and inventive when she was little.
Just yesterday I was on a local social media and someone had shared something about the cuts that were being made in school lunches and other services for the people, which had been reported in mainstream news, and it was shocking how many people simply wouldn’t believe that these cuts in spending were really happening.
I even found a screen shot of the newspaper column reporting on the cuts for Farm to schools program. This raised questions about whether the source was trustworthy.
Personally I’d prefer people to be skeptical, and to look for evidence that reports of what is happening in the government are accurate or not being slanted for partisan reasons (although it does seem that the skepticism is less an issue when they recite their favorite pro-MAGA source, or, to be completely fair, their favorite not-so-maga source)
I will admit that I would like to see more of the independent journalist who report here in Substack to provide citations, not just for me, but so I can use them when sharing some of the tidbits I find posted here with my more skeptical Republican neighbors.
I understand that frequently, sources are the writers professional contacts in the field, but any details that can help legitimate the story would be helpful. But too often, even I’m left wondering where information is coming from and how much I can trust. I suppose part of the problem is that I’m not very familiar with many of writers here in Substack. I’m an academic so I’m more accustomed to scholarly citations.
Any advise on how to verify some of reports here would be great ie story about sarcastic head of Social Security who thinks people should give up privacy to receive their own money in payments. I looked but I didn’t see the source for that piece- if I try to share it with people, especially w/folks who voted for Trump, its going to be more easily accepted if I can tell them how we know that.
FYI - I haven’t really had a problem talking about current events or conditions with Trump supporters face to face. It’s most likely because I don’t approach topics by framing them as partisan issues, but rather issues that affect all Americans regardless of party. Frankly, I believe that more of us need to learn how to have these conversations without making them about political parties or personalities - I think it’s the only way we will be able to save our country.
Thom, The recent release of the Kennedy unredacted report brings to mind a 2021 book by Josiah Thompson, "Last Second in Dallas". The book documents forensic audio evidence compiled from law enforcements open radio transmissions that detail that there were 5 shots in Dealy Plaza that day and Kennedy was actually caught in a crossfire.
Interesting read if you can find the time which from your reports show you don't have. LOL
More stuff coming out of the firehose of the cascading catastrophes
Some European central banking and supervisory officials are questioning whether they can still rely on the U.S. Federal Reserve to provide dollar funding in times of market stress, six people familiar with the matter said, casting some doubt over what has been a bedrock of financial stability.
The sources told Reuters they consider it highly unlikely the Fed would not honour its funding backstops — and the U.S. central bank itself has given no signals to suggest that.
AND
But the European officials have held informal discussions about this possibility - which Reuters is reporting for the first time - because their trust in the United States government has been shaken
In some European forums where participants assess potential risks to the financial system, these officials have discussed scenarios under which the U.S. government might pressure the Fed to suspend the dollar backstops, two of the sources said.
A major winner is Europe. For the first time since 2021, eurozone stocks are seeing big inflows. Investors seem to see better value in European companies. They also expect stronger earnings growth, helped by government spending in places like Germany.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-european-officials-weigh-rely-091457687.html
AND
Bull Crash”: Big Money Is Leaving U.S. Stocks at a Pace Never Seen Before
A new survey from BofA Global Research shows that investors have cut their U.S. stock holdings more than ever. The shift is so big that some experts call it a “bull crash.”
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/DB/pressreleases/31452808/bull-crash-big-money-is-leaving-us-stocks-at-a-pace-never-seen-before/
AND
Investors pull out of US equity funds
LSEG Lipper data showed that U.S. equity funds generated a net $2.25 billion in sales during the week as investors divested out of these funds for a fifth out of six weeks.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/investors-pull-out-us-equity-funds-second-successive-week-2025-02-14/
AND
Agents reassigned: Thousands of federal agents are being enlisted to take on new work as immigration enforcers, pulling crime-fighting resources away from other areas — including drug trafficking, terrorism, sexual abuse and fraud.
Migrant 'parole': pinocchio administration will revoke the temporary legal status of 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans in the US, according to a Federal Register notice, the latest expansion of his crackdown on immigration.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/thousands-agents-diverted-trump-immigration-crackdown-2025-03-22/
Thom, How did the "Furries" BS get pushed around the right-wing echo chamber? Define r-w echo chamber. Where does it start?
I'm pretty sure I know but would like you to clarify it.
It started, IIRC correctly with QAnon. Some yahoo of a mother saw kids dressed up in costumes, who knows one of them could have even carried a litter box to complete the act, and from that we get Furries.
How did pizza gate start? How does any of this shit start? In the irrational mind of MAGAts.