We are no longer a democratic Republic, and we do ourselves no favor by sticking out head in the sand and pretending. The only chance we have now is a full scale national uprising.
Trump will suspend habeas corpus, it is not a matter of if. Trump sweeps aside anything that stands in his way.
We need a Mutiny on the Bounty event... anybody in the senate or congress up for it? No, wait... shhhsh, don’t let the cat, ooops I mean cajones, out of the bag
I guess you haven't been following the Jerry Weiss scenario -- shared government. Only takes a few Congressional Rerpublicans. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
Many Congressional Repubicans are mutining over budget reconciliation. Nobody is reporting on it....
"... a bloc of moderate Republicans is demanding no reductions in Medicaid benefits – a requirement experts say would be impossible to meet while achieving Republicans' spending-cut goals and other GOP priorities.
"Then there’s the blue-state Republicans who will go to the mat for lifting tax deduction limits that would benefit their constituents, but would increase the bill’s price tag, further complicating the fiscal math.
"Each group has outsized influence because of Republicans' narrow majorities in both chambers. As few as four lawmakers rebelling in the House or Senate could derail the final package, as no Democrats are expected to support the legislation.
"Their demands may be irreconcilable. But Republican leaders say failure is not an option: If they don't pass something by the end of the year, Trump's 2017 tax cuts will expire, and renewing them is a major priority for the president. There's an additional incentive to get it done, as the bill would raise the debt ceiling and avoid default without requiring negotiations with Democrats – another top goal for the party."
Repugnicans have repeatedly shown us who they are, and their willingness to embrace donvict’s crypto scam just underscores their love of unimpeded corruption. They must never, ever, be trusted again.
Sweden and Europe are my new heroes for that and for this: Tesla sales have dropped 81% there. Netherlands it is 74%, Denmark 67%, UK 62%, and on and on. Is there a market for Elon tears and are they worth more?
It's amusing to think that someone watching TV in Chicago saw the new Pope walk out and was able to exclaim "It's Bob!". Not Catholic or religious, but I am delighted to know Pope Leo XIV is trolling JD Vance. Let's see what he decides to focus on.
Veterans are steamed about vets losing their jobs while President Bone Spurs plans his birthday parade. Throw in the money wasted on Alcatraz and the ballroom and you have the frosting on the cake. That grifter says he will pay for the ballroom---right! We know he won't pay the contractors.
Corruptest ends with "test". We are being tested to see how far the regime can go. Making money (literally) off the presidency, giving immigrants life sentences without due process, and now toying with all of us about a habeas corpus suspension, they mean it. RESIST, IMPEACH, AND HIT THE STREETS!
Trump is burning down the house, which happens to be the title of a song by David Byrne and "The Talking Heads." It is one of my favorites. Today Jonathan Capehart said this about Trump saying it was a good thing container ships coming into our harbors half empty was a good thing: "You know, and what he [Trump] does is he burns down the house and then he comes in and says, 'Oh, the market went up.' Well, no."
The current resistance movement must take a page from the non-violent civil rights movement. Any hint of anything other than peaceful resistance will be used by this regime to justify civil unrest and thus provide a rationale for suspending Habeas Corpus.
It was the brutal response to nonviolent protests that lead finally to the shift of public opinion in favor of the passage of the Civil Rights Laws in the 60s.
Trump’s chaotic 100+ days rollout of the Project 2025 agenda is creating the momentum of the growing resistance movement. The threat of this movement is becoming increasingly clear and thus as we wake up to the reality that what “could never be here” is HAPPENING, the resistance is HAPPENING also. Keep it civil and peaceful.
The corruption in this Administration is horrific and gets worse every day. When are our elected officials going to stop wringing their hands while asking for donations going to do something? Except for Bernie Sanders, AOC, Tim Waltz and a few others, it doesn't seem like the Democratic Party is doing anything but waiting for the next election which may never come if trump gets his way.
Re Trump/Musk self enrichment. The extortionist in chief and his Shreriff of Robbinghood.
Trump is abusing the office of the president to enrich himself and his family, including via assorted crypto ventures and/or scams.
From Public Citizen
"Before Inauguration Day, federal agencies had at least 32 open investigations into Musk’s companies. Since then, Trump has appointed Musk as a special government employee to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is slashing government programs and jobs and targeting many agencies that are investigating his companies. His actions in this role have led to the end of many, if not all, of these investigations. The end of these investigations will not only boost Musk’s bottom line, but they will also make U.S. workers less safe. The following are examples of how Musk has benefited from the Trump administration halting investigations into Tesla, Neuralink, and SpaceX.
"The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) began auditing Tesla in 2024 to ensure adherence to equal employment laws for federal contractors. Tesla has been widely cited as creating a hostile work environment, with rampant racial bias and instances of sexual harassment. The OFCCP can levy fines of millions of dollars if they find wrongdoing and even ban contractors from bidding on future projects—an important enforcement mechanism because federal taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be going to companies that break the law and exploit workers. However, Trump signed an executive order effectively eliminating the OFCCP during his first week in office, effectively halting their investigation into Tesla and ensuring that U.S. workers will be subject to unlawful treatment.
"In 2022, the inspector general at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched an investigation into Neuralink, a Musk-owned company developing brain-computer interfaces. But one of Trump’s first executive actions included illegally firing inspectors general from 17 federal agencies, including at the USDA. Though the content of the investigation was unclear, it was most likely due to the botched experiments that led to the deaths of multiple mammals, including monkeys. Numerous employees have complained that Musk has pressured the company into moving too quickly, not only leading to the unnecessary deaths but also compromising the research.
"One of the first agencies the Trump administration attempted to dismantle is the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). While at first it was unclear why Musk and DOGE had their sights set on eliminating an agency focused on foreign aid, recent reports have shed light on Musk’s connection with USAID. In May 2024, the USAID inspector general announced it was investigating USAID’s relationship with Starlink (a subsidiary of SpaceX), which it had paid to provide internet services to Ukraine civilians. While the details of the investigation are not public, there is evidence Russia had access to Starlink, which was not supposed to be possible. However, the investigation will likely be dropped as the Trump administration moves forward with shutting down USAID.
"Just before Trump took office, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced it was investigating Tesla over its self-driving technology. Tesla has the largest number of crashes per driver of any car on the road—making it one of the least safe cars in America. Musk has frequently said that Tesla’s software and AI technology is its most valuable part, and a government investigation demonstrating that the software was not as good as advertised could have had far-reaching consequences for the company and for Musk’s wealth. Now, instead of being investigated, Trump is loosening rules on self-driving cars, benefiting Tesla and putting other U.S. drivers and pedestrians at risk.
"These are just a few of the many examples of how the Trump administration has sided with billionaires at the expense of working people. Musk stands to gain significantly from Trump shutting down investigations into his various businesses, and it seems very clear new investigations will not be opened into Musk’s activities. This means that if workers in his factories are discriminated against, if his rockets continue to pollute the environment, or if he continues to violate election law, he will not face any consequences. Further, as head of DOGE, Musk has unfettered access to Americans’ sensitive and personal data, potentially giving him an advantage to future federal government contracts. While Musk’s days as a special government employee are numbered, it’s clear that U.S. workers, the environment, and the rule of law have all suffered to line the pockets of the richest man in modern history."
Free Speech For People and RootsAction call upon Congress to open an investigation to determine whether there are sufficient grounds to impeach President Trump, including:
1. conspiring with others to: (a) commit crimes against the United States involving the solicitation and intended receipt by the Donald J. Trump campaign of things of value from a foreign government and other foreign nationals; and (b) conceal those violations;
advocating illegal violence, giving aid and comfort to white supremacists and neo-Nazis, and undermining constitutional protections of equal protection under the law;
abusing the pardon power;
2. recklessly threatening nuclear war against foreign nations, undermining and subverting the essential diplomatic functions and authority of federal agencies, including the United States Department of State, and engaging in other conduct that grossly and wantonly endangers the peace and security of the United States, its people and people of other nations, by heightening the risk of hostilities involving weapons of mass destruction, with reckless disregard for the risk of death and grievous bodily harm;
3. directing or endeavoring to direct law enforcement, including the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to investigate and prosecute political adversaries and others, for improper purposes not justified by any lawful function of his office, thereby eroding the rule of law, undermining the independence of law enforcement from politics, and compromising the constitutional right to due process of law;
undermining the freedom of the press;
4.cruelly and unconstitutionally imprisoning children and their families; and
making and directing illegal payments to influence the 2016 election.
I add many national security issues -- E.G SIGNALgate. Giving away national secrets.
Narcissists, sadists and perverts live in the toxic swirl of transactional nihilism. Taking is the only form of winning, because it requires no contest, just a manipulation/theft.
Transactions cannot operate without possession/owning/controlling. All reality is assessed with pricing, valuing, taking, owning. Always, always, always, Follow the Money. Now there are two new alternatives to 'money.' AI jabberwockey AND crypto-fake.
Please, do NOT fall for this. There are many trillions in actual currency, property, product, energy stores/reserves, raw materials tagged to world currencies. TFG manipulators like Theil, Miller, Navarro et. al. know they are tanking the world's stable currency. They still want all of it, but they also want to control everything, as Naomi Klein says, they want all of it, so they are ginning up this fake money to cover their bets. It costs to buy crypto, a 'thing' made from megawatts of electricity. To make megawatts takes dollars, lots of dollars.
Absolutely another grift, on top of all the other grifts. Imagine the inability of CPAs or other accounting strategies to succinctly value this 'delusional' transaction maker.
Watch. They need to spread the world thin, but in doing so are spreading themselves thin as well. Their infrastructure is mostly illusion - their superstructure is based almost entirely upon terrorism, using deportations, arrests, withdrawal of govt. support, assault on habeas corpus, new sales taxes called tariffs. contract breaking, harassment of students, educators, lawyers, courts, schools, NGOs, etc.
You can, if you visualize several hundred million citizen fingers, poking into and shredding this superstructure of plastic wrap, the entire charade falling apart. The key corner brick in this fiasco is the billionaire class and their hold on corporate energies. But they have borrowed heavily, bought back way too much stock, are now leveraging assets that are losing value by the minute, and growling at the Fed to once again give them QE (print money) so they can do What?
Buy crypto-crap. Internationally, they can tie up detractors, but not for long. Europe is having none of it. Australia just threw out the Murdoch-controlled political infrastructure. Carney may be a banker, but he does not have to bank in 'murka. Canada is NOT becoming 'murka, and soon they will see how infected their country is with 'murkan corporate hegemony.
Resist, resist, be uncooperative, refuse to purchase anything not absolutely needed, shop locally, make new friends, speak up locally, challenge fascistic policies/practices, support/protect judges and courts, do not fear the mercenaries, stand up to them, they are also being betrayed, big time.
Learn to love the life you have, courtesy of your local planet and its failing ecology. Stand for something other than 'stuff' you can own and then discard when you find out how unsatisfying it is and how much damage it cost to 'own' it. We outnumber them at least a thousand to one, if not more. Their loyalties are always failing, their support is circling their wagons into tighter nooses.
I grew up with Dragnet. And a father and gpa who dealt in reality, daily, almost hourly. I became, almost at once, a journalist, educator and scientist. Just the facts, and their many contexts and connections to other facts. We have been manipulate, for many decades, into buying into capitalist ownership of US by THEM. They create distractions, dangle them in front of us, ties them to some 'need' that really they invent, and then sell them to us as 'absolutely necessary and vital to our life.' I rejected much of this long ago, beginning in 1970 with Viet Nam. I became heavily influenced by The Doors. As one song says, 'break on through to the other side.' Also, 'there's a killer on the road, its brain is squirming like a toad.' The group was rad, but right on. Eat up, and enjoy the energy of resistance.
Horrified is putting it mildly. We do have to have a rebellion to get these vampires out of office. But in the most strategic way possible. We need major strikes and shutdowns and more commodification of dissent with the foul corporations who have bought into the grift. It's encouraging that with dissent, Tesla is being taken down and Elon has had to face some music and the notion of being fired from his own company. If Trump gets away with this we are truly in the weeds.
Thom, IT will take the Power the People to save you from visiting a Venezuelan prison and you're not going to be there to do a documentary, you and everyone like you, including myself, are going to be there as inmates unless we can stop Trump's destructive path for our government. An American Civil War ll won't stop Trump because he is in charge of the military. He can even outlaw peaceful protests by declaring
Martial Law. No armed resistance would have any chance against any of the USA Military Forces.
The only thing that will cause the Trump administration to crumble and fail will be to shut down the country, shut down the government, shut down the economy.
You only have to look at the history of Mexico to see what happened there is happening here, now. The Mexican government was run by totally corrupt politicians. You couldn't tell the difference between the police and the bandidos that ravaged the country killing, stealing, and terrorizing the good people of Mexico. A foreign country, France, even placed Maximilian as the new emperor of the Mexican government. It even became unsafe for the Mexican people to leave their homes to go to work. The effect of this was essentially a total shutdown of the country. And out of the ashes of all this destruction and despair that people wrote a constitution, elected Benito Juarez as president (affectionately known as the Abraham Lincoln of Mexico) and a democratic nation emerged that promised peace and prosperity for the MEXICAN people.
The only way to shut down our country is for essential workers to organize a call in sick stay at home protest against all that Trump is doing to destroy our country. This type of protest will shut down the schools, close airports, and stop the delivery of mail by United Postal Workers. When other groups of essential workers join this protest, all people, even people of power, our representatives to Congress, and members of the Supreme Court will be effective by the mass shutdowns. They will blame Trump for the closures caused by these protests. And out of the ashes and despair caused by the Trump administration, our Constitution will be restored, a new president will be elected, and a new path for our country will emerge that will represent We the Good People of America and our democracy will ensure peace and prosperity for ALL people of America.
Since Trump’s FoxNews celeb Clowncar government (23 and growing) was installed by vote of the Johnson MAGA toadies, America has watched helplessly as the DOGE Boys have taken a chainsaw to an already understaffed government. Since Trump2, the MSM is reporting a small plane crash or airport near collision almost daily. In addition, we are reading about unruly passengers aboard commercial aircraft attacking flight crews and fellow passengers on a daily basis. Where are the federal air marshals that used to be on these flights to prevent drunks and lunatics from putting passenger lives at risk? Arresting illegal immigrants? FAA is just a high-profile example of Trump’s government inefficiency.
Trump is the stellar case of the ignorant GOP goal of running government like a business.
Government is NOT a business, and running it like it is a business has always led to disaster. A major reason is that the primary metric businesspeople rely upon to gauge efficiency is company profits. But governments are not about making money. They are about spending money - on services to the citizens. As the ignorant DOGE Boys demonstrated, they could barely find any significant waste in government. They cut staffing and services anyway, hoping to show a profit by reducing the deficit.
Business execs look at the national debt like business debt - OMG we are going to go broke! So, they focus on reducing government costs - because that is how you increase profits. The only way to do that in government is to raise taxes or cut services. But taxes reduce profits – so cut services. However, as economists Stephanie Kelton and Randy Wray showed, almost every time an administration zeroed the national debt, and the treasury’s spreadsheet showed a government surplus - ya know - like a profit, it triggered a recession - just like the one we are facing today.
“Boom, Bust, Quit” is what capitalism does. The ecological crises it causes, the social crises it causes, the productivity crises it causes are not perverse outcomes of the system. They are the system.
Monbiot, George; Hutchison, Peter. Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism (p. 11). Crown. Kindle Edition.
Wow, some crazy stuff happening Thom.I , just think I’m not like them. Import more white people Right. I am so outraged and so are others who don’t like racism either. We are so far gone now Thom. Busting down doors near you soon too. Heck, it might be you. Hold your family tight with all your might. Crazy stuff Thom! This is Us Now! Wow!
You got to wonder about Repubs. They know they are doing wrong. They just do not care. As long as they do not think anything can go wrong for themselves they are just fine for what happens to others Jesus be damned. That is what the males in Germany thought that nothing bad would happen to them until half of them were dead leaving only the very young and old to pick up after the mess of WWII. Reminds me of the talk before the Civil War that the amount of blood shed was going to be as much as one handkerchief could pick up. Turned out to be barrels and barrels. They just do not care until the consequences are so dire they begin to blame everybody else for it but themselves. They will even tell everybody they were against it when they LOSE. Losers all.
Assuming it actually happens, this is the consequence of inaction but it is not going to be his last usurpation of power if he isn't challenged now. Like a rock rolling down a hill, the best time to stop it is at the beginning; when sufficient momentum is achieved there will be no stopping our collapse into technofascism: Don't forget that they know every harsh word we have ever written on the Internet and, if they are interested, they probably know where we are.. At least when we "visit" Libya we won't need a passport.
We are no longer a democratic Republic, and we do ourselves no favor by sticking out head in the sand and pretending. The only chance we have now is a full scale national uprising.
Trump will suspend habeas corpus, it is not a matter of if. Trump sweeps aside anything that stands in his way.
That's just what he says via Miller/Goebbels. Most of what he says is utter bullshit.
We should have (already) started legal processes.....
The Suspension Clause in the U.S. Constitution permits this suspension only in cases of rebellion or invasion when the public safety requires it.
Article I, Section 9, Clause 2:
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
Two courts have already ruled that the Trump use of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (AEA) to allege war or public safety is unconstitutional.
The courts have ruled and Trump ignores. Regardless of rulings he is pressing on arresting people and confining them in concentration camps.
Trump is amassing more power, with the jet assist of SCOTUS, when he gets enough, it is full bore ahead.
We need a Mutiny on the Bounty event... anybody in the senate or congress up for it? No, wait... shhhsh, don’t let the cat, ooops I mean cajones, out of the bag
I guess you haven't been following the Jerry Weiss scenario -- shared government. Only takes a few Congressional Rerpublicans. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
Many Congressional Repubicans are mutining over budget reconciliation. Nobody is reporting on it....
"... a bloc of moderate Republicans is demanding no reductions in Medicaid benefits – a requirement experts say would be impossible to meet while achieving Republicans' spending-cut goals and other GOP priorities.
"Then there’s the blue-state Republicans who will go to the mat for lifting tax deduction limits that would benefit their constituents, but would increase the bill’s price tag, further complicating the fiscal math.
"Each group has outsized influence because of Republicans' narrow majorities in both chambers. As few as four lawmakers rebelling in the House or Senate could derail the final package, as no Democrats are expected to support the legislation.
"Their demands may be irreconcilable. But Republican leaders say failure is not an option: If they don't pass something by the end of the year, Trump's 2017 tax cuts will expire, and renewing them is a major priority for the president. There's an additional incentive to get it done, as the bill would raise the debt ceiling and avoid default without requiring negotiations with Democrats – another top goal for the party."
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/09/trump-bill-medicaid-spending-congress/83196723007/
USA today is not putting it all together. 7 senate republicans are cosponsors to gut Trump tariff authority.
Even more object to Trump re national security, SIGNALgate....
Repugnicans have repeatedly shown us who they are, and their willingness to embrace donvict’s crypto scam just underscores their love of unimpeded corruption. They must never, ever, be trusted again.
When they lose, it's an opportunity....
I don't know this as a fact, but I bet that his top donors get insider tips. Watch the shorts!
He sells access openly. E.G. May 22 Trump's dinner for schmucks. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/watch-white-house-weighs-in-on-why-trump-plans-to-attend-memecoin-dinner
Sweden and Europe are my new heroes for that and for this: Tesla sales have dropped 81% there. Netherlands it is 74%, Denmark 67%, UK 62%, and on and on. Is there a market for Elon tears and are they worth more?
It's amusing to think that someone watching TV in Chicago saw the new Pope walk out and was able to exclaim "It's Bob!". Not Catholic or religious, but I am delighted to know Pope Leo XIV is trolling JD Vance. Let's see what he decides to focus on.
Veterans are steamed about vets losing their jobs while President Bone Spurs plans his birthday parade. Throw in the money wasted on Alcatraz and the ballroom and you have the frosting on the cake. That grifter says he will pay for the ballroom---right! We know he won't pay the contractors.
Corruptest ends with "test". We are being tested to see how far the regime can go. Making money (literally) off the presidency, giving immigrants life sentences without due process, and now toying with all of us about a habeas corpus suspension, they mean it. RESIST, IMPEACH, AND HIT THE STREETS!
Thanks Thom and everyone.
Trump is burning down the house, which happens to be the title of a song by David Byrne and "The Talking Heads." It is one of my favorites. Today Jonathan Capehart said this about Trump saying it was a good thing container ships coming into our harbors half empty was a good thing: "You know, and what he [Trump] does is he burns down the house and then he comes in and says, 'Oh, the market went up.' Well, no."
This prompted me to write this Substack: "Trump lit the fire and is burning down the house. Now he's sitting there happily roasting marshmallows." Link: https://halbrown.substack.com/p/trump-lit-the-fire-and-is-burning
The current resistance movement must take a page from the non-violent civil rights movement. Any hint of anything other than peaceful resistance will be used by this regime to justify civil unrest and thus provide a rationale for suspending Habeas Corpus.
It was the brutal response to nonviolent protests that lead finally to the shift of public opinion in favor of the passage of the Civil Rights Laws in the 60s.
Trump’s chaotic 100+ days rollout of the Project 2025 agenda is creating the momentum of the growing resistance movement. The threat of this movement is becoming increasingly clear and thus as we wake up to the reality that what “could never be here” is HAPPENING, the resistance is HAPPENING also. Keep it civil and peaceful.
Not only will it provide yet another excuse for suspension, it will also allow him to militarize his response.
The corruption in this Administration is horrific and gets worse every day. When are our elected officials going to stop wringing their hands while asking for donations going to do something? Except for Bernie Sanders, AOC, Tim Waltz and a few others, it doesn't seem like the Democratic Party is doing anything but waiting for the next election which may never come if trump gets his way.
When I see these kinds of responses, it reminds me how effectve psy ops is.
Re Trump/Musk self enrichment. The extortionist in chief and his Shreriff of Robbinghood.
Trump is abusing the office of the president to enrich himself and his family, including via assorted crypto ventures and/or scams.
From Public Citizen
"Before Inauguration Day, federal agencies had at least 32 open investigations into Musk’s companies. Since then, Trump has appointed Musk as a special government employee to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is slashing government programs and jobs and targeting many agencies that are investigating his companies. His actions in this role have led to the end of many, if not all, of these investigations. The end of these investigations will not only boost Musk’s bottom line, but they will also make U.S. workers less safe. The following are examples of how Musk has benefited from the Trump administration halting investigations into Tesla, Neuralink, and SpaceX.
"The Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) began auditing Tesla in 2024 to ensure adherence to equal employment laws for federal contractors. Tesla has been widely cited as creating a hostile work environment, with rampant racial bias and instances of sexual harassment. The OFCCP can levy fines of millions of dollars if they find wrongdoing and even ban contractors from bidding on future projects—an important enforcement mechanism because federal taxpayer dollars shouldn’t be going to companies that break the law and exploit workers. However, Trump signed an executive order effectively eliminating the OFCCP during his first week in office, effectively halting their investigation into Tesla and ensuring that U.S. workers will be subject to unlawful treatment.
"In 2022, the inspector general at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched an investigation into Neuralink, a Musk-owned company developing brain-computer interfaces. But one of Trump’s first executive actions included illegally firing inspectors general from 17 federal agencies, including at the USDA. Though the content of the investigation was unclear, it was most likely due to the botched experiments that led to the deaths of multiple mammals, including monkeys. Numerous employees have complained that Musk has pressured the company into moving too quickly, not only leading to the unnecessary deaths but also compromising the research.
"One of the first agencies the Trump administration attempted to dismantle is the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). While at first it was unclear why Musk and DOGE had their sights set on eliminating an agency focused on foreign aid, recent reports have shed light on Musk’s connection with USAID. In May 2024, the USAID inspector general announced it was investigating USAID’s relationship with Starlink (a subsidiary of SpaceX), which it had paid to provide internet services to Ukraine civilians. While the details of the investigation are not public, there is evidence Russia had access to Starlink, which was not supposed to be possible. However, the investigation will likely be dropped as the Trump administration moves forward with shutting down USAID.
"Just before Trump took office, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced it was investigating Tesla over its self-driving technology. Tesla has the largest number of crashes per driver of any car on the road—making it one of the least safe cars in America. Musk has frequently said that Tesla’s software and AI technology is its most valuable part, and a government investigation demonstrating that the software was not as good as advertised could have had far-reaching consequences for the company and for Musk’s wealth. Now, instead of being investigated, Trump is loosening rules on self-driving cars, benefiting Tesla and putting other U.S. drivers and pedestrians at risk.
"These are just a few of the many examples of how the Trump administration has sided with billionaires at the expense of working people. Musk stands to gain significantly from Trump shutting down investigations into his various businesses, and it seems very clear new investigations will not be opened into Musk’s activities. This means that if workers in his factories are discriminated against, if his rockets continue to pollute the environment, or if he continues to violate election law, he will not face any consequences. Further, as head of DOGE, Musk has unfettered access to Americans’ sensitive and personal data, potentially giving him an advantage to future federal government contracts. While Musk’s days as a special government employee are numbered, it’s clear that U.S. workers, the environment, and the rule of law have all suffered to line the pockets of the richest man in modern history."
https://www.epi.org/blog/corruption-in-plain-sight-how-elon-musk-has-benefited-from-the-first-100-days-of-the-trump-administration/
Thus....
Free Speech For People and RootsAction call upon Congress to open an investigation to determine whether there are sufficient grounds to impeach President Trump, including:
Grounds for impeachment (From https://impeachdonaldtrumpnow.org/case-for-impeachment/why-impeachment/)
1. conspiring with others to: (a) commit crimes against the United States involving the solicitation and intended receipt by the Donald J. Trump campaign of things of value from a foreign government and other foreign nationals; and (b) conceal those violations;
advocating illegal violence, giving aid and comfort to white supremacists and neo-Nazis, and undermining constitutional protections of equal protection under the law;
abusing the pardon power;
2. recklessly threatening nuclear war against foreign nations, undermining and subverting the essential diplomatic functions and authority of federal agencies, including the United States Department of State, and engaging in other conduct that grossly and wantonly endangers the peace and security of the United States, its people and people of other nations, by heightening the risk of hostilities involving weapons of mass destruction, with reckless disregard for the risk of death and grievous bodily harm;
3. directing or endeavoring to direct law enforcement, including the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to investigate and prosecute political adversaries and others, for improper purposes not justified by any lawful function of his office, thereby eroding the rule of law, undermining the independence of law enforcement from politics, and compromising the constitutional right to due process of law;
undermining the freedom of the press;
4.cruelly and unconstitutionally imprisoning children and their families; and
making and directing illegal payments to influence the 2016 election.
I add many national security issues -- E.G SIGNALgate. Giving away national secrets.
Narcissists, sadists and perverts live in the toxic swirl of transactional nihilism. Taking is the only form of winning, because it requires no contest, just a manipulation/theft.
Transactions cannot operate without possession/owning/controlling. All reality is assessed with pricing, valuing, taking, owning. Always, always, always, Follow the Money. Now there are two new alternatives to 'money.' AI jabberwockey AND crypto-fake.
Please, do NOT fall for this. There are many trillions in actual currency, property, product, energy stores/reserves, raw materials tagged to world currencies. TFG manipulators like Theil, Miller, Navarro et. al. know they are tanking the world's stable currency. They still want all of it, but they also want to control everything, as Naomi Klein says, they want all of it, so they are ginning up this fake money to cover their bets. It costs to buy crypto, a 'thing' made from megawatts of electricity. To make megawatts takes dollars, lots of dollars.
Absolutely another grift, on top of all the other grifts. Imagine the inability of CPAs or other accounting strategies to succinctly value this 'delusional' transaction maker.
Watch. They need to spread the world thin, but in doing so are spreading themselves thin as well. Their infrastructure is mostly illusion - their superstructure is based almost entirely upon terrorism, using deportations, arrests, withdrawal of govt. support, assault on habeas corpus, new sales taxes called tariffs. contract breaking, harassment of students, educators, lawyers, courts, schools, NGOs, etc.
You can, if you visualize several hundred million citizen fingers, poking into and shredding this superstructure of plastic wrap, the entire charade falling apart. The key corner brick in this fiasco is the billionaire class and their hold on corporate energies. But they have borrowed heavily, bought back way too much stock, are now leveraging assets that are losing value by the minute, and growling at the Fed to once again give them QE (print money) so they can do What?
Buy crypto-crap. Internationally, they can tie up detractors, but not for long. Europe is having none of it. Australia just threw out the Murdoch-controlled political infrastructure. Carney may be a banker, but he does not have to bank in 'murka. Canada is NOT becoming 'murka, and soon they will see how infected their country is with 'murkan corporate hegemony.
Resist, resist, be uncooperative, refuse to purchase anything not absolutely needed, shop locally, make new friends, speak up locally, challenge fascistic policies/practices, support/protect judges and courts, do not fear the mercenaries, stand up to them, they are also being betrayed, big time.
Learn to love the life you have, courtesy of your local planet and its failing ecology. Stand for something other than 'stuff' you can own and then discard when you find out how unsatisfying it is and how much damage it cost to 'own' it. We outnumber them at least a thousand to one, if not more. Their loyalties are always failing, their support is circling their wagons into tighter nooses.
Wow! Your post is certainly a delicious mouthful...
I grew up with Dragnet. And a father and gpa who dealt in reality, daily, almost hourly. I became, almost at once, a journalist, educator and scientist. Just the facts, and their many contexts and connections to other facts. We have been manipulate, for many decades, into buying into capitalist ownership of US by THEM. They create distractions, dangle them in front of us, ties them to some 'need' that really they invent, and then sell them to us as 'absolutely necessary and vital to our life.' I rejected much of this long ago, beginning in 1970 with Viet Nam. I became heavily influenced by The Doors. As one song says, 'break on through to the other side.' Also, 'there's a killer on the road, its brain is squirming like a toad.' The group was rad, but right on. Eat up, and enjoy the energy of resistance.
Horrified is putting it mildly. We do have to have a rebellion to get these vampires out of office. But in the most strategic way possible. We need major strikes and shutdowns and more commodification of dissent with the foul corporations who have bought into the grift. It's encouraging that with dissent, Tesla is being taken down and Elon has had to face some music and the notion of being fired from his own company. If Trump gets away with this we are truly in the weeds.
See my comments re the Jerry Weiss scenario.
I can't be the only person getting the joke. Stablecoins + GENIUS Act = payoff for the "Stable Genius". They're not even trying to be subtle anymore.
Thom, IT will take the Power the People to save you from visiting a Venezuelan prison and you're not going to be there to do a documentary, you and everyone like you, including myself, are going to be there as inmates unless we can stop Trump's destructive path for our government. An American Civil War ll won't stop Trump because he is in charge of the military. He can even outlaw peaceful protests by declaring
Martial Law. No armed resistance would have any chance against any of the USA Military Forces.
The only thing that will cause the Trump administration to crumble and fail will be to shut down the country, shut down the government, shut down the economy.
You only have to look at the history of Mexico to see what happened there is happening here, now. The Mexican government was run by totally corrupt politicians. You couldn't tell the difference between the police and the bandidos that ravaged the country killing, stealing, and terrorizing the good people of Mexico. A foreign country, France, even placed Maximilian as the new emperor of the Mexican government. It even became unsafe for the Mexican people to leave their homes to go to work. The effect of this was essentially a total shutdown of the country. And out of the ashes of all this destruction and despair that people wrote a constitution, elected Benito Juarez as president (affectionately known as the Abraham Lincoln of Mexico) and a democratic nation emerged that promised peace and prosperity for the MEXICAN people.
The only way to shut down our country is for essential workers to organize a call in sick stay at home protest against all that Trump is doing to destroy our country. This type of protest will shut down the schools, close airports, and stop the delivery of mail by United Postal Workers. When other groups of essential workers join this protest, all people, even people of power, our representatives to Congress, and members of the Supreme Court will be effective by the mass shutdowns. They will blame Trump for the closures caused by these protests. And out of the ashes and despair caused by the Trump administration, our Constitution will be restored, a new president will be elected, and a new path for our country will emerge that will represent We the Good People of America and our democracy will ensure peace and prosperity for ALL people of America.
Since Trump’s FoxNews celeb Clowncar government (23 and growing) was installed by vote of the Johnson MAGA toadies, America has watched helplessly as the DOGE Boys have taken a chainsaw to an already understaffed government. Since Trump2, the MSM is reporting a small plane crash or airport near collision almost daily. In addition, we are reading about unruly passengers aboard commercial aircraft attacking flight crews and fellow passengers on a daily basis. Where are the federal air marshals that used to be on these flights to prevent drunks and lunatics from putting passenger lives at risk? Arresting illegal immigrants? FAA is just a high-profile example of Trump’s government inefficiency.
Trump is the stellar case of the ignorant GOP goal of running government like a business.
Government is NOT a business, and running it like it is a business has always led to disaster. A major reason is that the primary metric businesspeople rely upon to gauge efficiency is company profits. But governments are not about making money. They are about spending money - on services to the citizens. As the ignorant DOGE Boys demonstrated, they could barely find any significant waste in government. They cut staffing and services anyway, hoping to show a profit by reducing the deficit.
Business execs look at the national debt like business debt - OMG we are going to go broke! So, they focus on reducing government costs - because that is how you increase profits. The only way to do that in government is to raise taxes or cut services. But taxes reduce profits – so cut services. However, as economists Stephanie Kelton and Randy Wray showed, almost every time an administration zeroed the national debt, and the treasury’s spreadsheet showed a government surplus - ya know - like a profit, it triggered a recession - just like the one we are facing today.
The only reason we are watching helplessly is because we aren't acting up.
“Boom, Bust, Quit” is what capitalism does. The ecological crises it causes, the social crises it causes, the productivity crises it causes are not perverse outcomes of the system. They are the system.
Monbiot, George; Hutchison, Peter. Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism (p. 11). Crown. Kindle Edition.
Wow, some crazy stuff happening Thom.I , just think I’m not like them. Import more white people Right. I am so outraged and so are others who don’t like racism either. We are so far gone now Thom. Busting down doors near you soon too. Heck, it might be you. Hold your family tight with all your might. Crazy stuff Thom! This is Us Now! Wow!
You got to wonder about Repubs. They know they are doing wrong. They just do not care. As long as they do not think anything can go wrong for themselves they are just fine for what happens to others Jesus be damned. That is what the males in Germany thought that nothing bad would happen to them until half of them were dead leaving only the very young and old to pick up after the mess of WWII. Reminds me of the talk before the Civil War that the amount of blood shed was going to be as much as one handkerchief could pick up. Turned out to be barrels and barrels. They just do not care until the consequences are so dire they begin to blame everybody else for it but themselves. They will even tell everybody they were against it when they LOSE. Losers all.
Assuming it actually happens, this is the consequence of inaction but it is not going to be his last usurpation of power if he isn't challenged now. Like a rock rolling down a hill, the best time to stop it is at the beginning; when sufficient momentum is achieved there will be no stopping our collapse into technofascism: Don't forget that they know every harsh word we have ever written on the Internet and, if they are interested, they probably know where we are.. At least when we "visit" Libya we won't need a passport.