Rosie showed us how to fight back. In fact, she never stopped fighting TRump from the beginning.
He tests, but we do not stop.
Tow truck drivers are towing the ICE vehicles in LA. Owners do not let them come on their property without a warrant. Citizens film their attempts to raid and people heckle them relentlessly.
They test, but we do not stop.
Musk shows us he is a Nazi. People AROUND THE WORLD help us boycott and protest the bastard.
He tested, he f-ed around, and he found out.
No more inches. Take care of doing your part like Thom and Company are doing. The Dems ARE FIGHTING, especially the young ones. Stop criticizing the Democrats for what these fascists f*ckers are doing. Get out there if you can. Show the world America still has a beating HEART. See you in the streets Thursday and beyond!
Great Post Alis, especially the news about tow truck drivers, I love that.
But no one is blaming the Democrats for what these fuckers are doing, we are blaming the Democrats for setting the state that has enabled these fuckers,and for doing nothing but flapping their gums and writing strongly worded letters, if even that.
The Democratic party has been backing and supporting a weaker, milder version of the Republican party since LBJ signed the Voting rights act, and slopping at the same trough.
Time for a change, for younger, anti establishment, outraged young leaders like AOC and Mamdani.
YES. YOU. ARE. And you just did it again, William.
We are in the middle of a Constitutional crisis. SCOTUS has six Republican traitors on it. There is a psychopath in the White House and many in his Administration. There is no PLAN for that. We didn't enable sh*t, and we're not magicians.
Centrist AND Progressive Democrats did enable SS, Medicare, Medicaid, food and housing assistance, child credits, Head Start, helping the disabled, climate crisis awareness, FEMA, FDA, ACA, and on and on. Have we gone far enough? NO! But there is nothing weak about the progress we made including on human rights.
These young Dems are fortifying the DEMOCRATIC PARTY because of that list of achievements. I love 'em---hope they work on age limits.
Alis, I am not talking about the Democratic party that gave us SS, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, etc. I am talking about the party of Schumer, Pelosi, Perez, Martin that slops at the donor trough, and has even supported Republicans to keep out progressives.
Pelosi, backed a conservative Joseph Kennedy Jr, in his run against progressive Sen Markey of Mass. She backed a homophobe against a gay. She killed single payor legislation in favor of the insurance companie/Heritage foundation, ACA.
The ACA was basically the same program developed by the Heritage Foundation.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned her Senate counterparts Thursday that she intends to fight hard for a government-run health care plan as part of any comprehensive overhaul bill.https://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/15/health.care/index.html
And here's a search quote, Professor, about who prevented the ACA from getting us started 15 years ago:
".....Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, threatened to filibuster any bill that included a public option, forcing leadership to remove it to secure the necessary votes for passage."
Joe represented Connecticut---home to the insurance industry. President Obama had him come to the White House and was unable to convince him he was wrong. I remember.
Pelosi WANTED a public option, as did the Dems: "Initially, Pelosi strongly advocated for including a public option in the healthcare reform legislation, stating in September 2009 that "a public option will be essential to our passing a bill in the House of Representatives". The House version of the bill passed in November 2009 included a public option." And then along came Joe and his insurance friends. It was just like Sinema and Manchin. You are the sociologist, it's always some-damn-body, isn't it?
Sue who for libel? Me. Go ahead. She stopped Bernies single payor bill in it's tracks. All it took was a one page bill, changing the eligibility of medicare from age 65 to birth, in favor of the ACA.
Yes tow those bastards- but then who pays the tow truck companies for towing? Are the ICE vehicles impounded? Our government hence we pay. But it is a worthy statement.
I agree with Thom’s report on South Koreans taking to the streets to stop the takeover of their government is a great example of what citizens can do. Of course unlike America, they know first hand next-door what a dictator can do to their people. Apparently most Americans are so immersed and secure in their current way of life they can’t imagine what can happen to them if the government permits a dictator to take over.
Rosie didn't fight back, she fled the scene, as have many others. Given her position she should have left. I too am constrained by responsibilities and what I can do at 80.
Step by step fascism marches on in the U.S.. Who or what is stopping them? Strongly worded letters have proven useless. What is the "Plan"? More protests? Media blitz (broadcast, online, print)? Boycotts? Doxing (the usual subjects)? Outreach to allies around the globe? There has to be the "Plan" otherwise the echo of the collapse of the Weimar Republic looms on the horizon.
In order to have a plan. there have to be planners. Planners need a forum. Is there one already existant or will it have to be created? Times a-wastin', best we get going before our local neighborhood Dachau opens its gates.
I guess you guys missed that faith leaders protested in 11 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. Protestors demonstrated outside Republican congressional district offices carrying caskets with statistics of the number of people expected to be harmed by the cuts. Worse in red states than blue states.
I've been advocating the Jerry Weiss scenario. The religious epiphany issue.
Boy, those states came close to being the Confederacy.
I'm glad those people protested, I wish there was more of it going on. Medicaid is a serious concern where I live in what is referred to as rural Northern California, in that the three nearest hospitals are threatened with closure or a severe reduction in services. If they go, the nearest remaining hospital would be an hour from where I live rather than 12 minutes. For some, they would have to travel close to 2 hours. Deaths will ensue because of this.
I am not familiar with Jerry Weiss other than as an artist.
When you say epiphany, are you referring to an "ah-ha!" moment or something more profound, like Saul on the road to Damascus?
All these assaults on human and civil rights, yet none of the MAGA rubes minded a bit until Trump told them to forget about one of their most cherished conspiracy theories. NOW they're mad.
Obama and Harris ducking is further proof that politicians are no more constituted for this fight than was President Paul von Hindenburg in January 1933.
Sam and Clarence are political whores.
Mitch and his imprinted ducklings are political actors, acting on behalf of the Dark Money.
The real problem is how to UNf*ck the minds of 77,300,000 American Idiots who think Bill Clinton eats sliced baby on his pizzas.
The real winner in this bedlam? The Russian gas station owner. The guy with the nukes.
What people seem to be forgetting is that by the time the democrats get enough candidates elected to offices around the country, it may be too late. We are witnessing a blitzkrieg right now, every day. Republicans are doing their best to gerrymander red voting districts everywhere and the democrats are trying "To raise awareness".
It's time to use the same tactics that the MAGA people are using against them. Authoritarian power only loses when they are confronted by more power. We the people are all that's left to stop this obvious takeover by Stephen Miller and his people like Russell Vought. It will be the little things that lead up to bigger things but we need to start now. Towing ICE vehicles is a start. Throwing rocks at ICE agents and their vehicles is a start. If you live in an open carry or a stand your ground state, start carrying a weapon. You have the right to defend yourself when confronted by masked, unidentified men carrying guns.
There are more little things the people can do to thwart the ICE gestapo agents on the ground. it's time we started thinking outside of the box to push back and retake our country.
Yes, and I've been watching but Bernie is in his 80's, although still going strong. AOC is great but not enough. Right now there are nowhere near enough democrats willing to stand with them to force change. That needs to change
You know if he gets away with arbitrarily revoking citizenships, including of those naturally born here, there will be no need to rig elections. Anyone on a ticket that is "against the national interest" or in a party that supports it, can be turned into an "alien resident" (and deported if the need comes up). Then they can't run for office or vote. Regular voters can be threatened with similar treatment if they dare protest or, worse, try to exercise their right to support any opposition.
With our paid elected representatives absenting themselves from the fray of political battle, and our allied states being voter gutted with gerrymandering, purging and thru threatening at voting places, with our SCOTUS rubber stamping all trespass on democracy the only pragmatic possibility I can see is for complete boycott of just about everything. Start with MAGA businesses in your town, move state wide, change purchasing scenarios, change buying habits. Show the power of the purse. But, as we all know - people with mortgages and real responsibilities can usually be squeezed into compliance.
BRING ON THE METEORS, FLOODS, HURRICANES AND EARTHQUAKES.
It's funny that boomer liberals play this game of pretend as if Trump is the first to violate the Constitution in such an egregious fashion. Democrats have been first in line to suppress free speech when it comes to Israel, cosponsoring The Antisemitism Awareness Act in 2024 and joining Trump by passing the very first bill of his first presidency to sanction any governmental contractor or beneficiary that participates in the BDS movement. Were you or any Democrats standing up to defend the university heads undergoing antisemitism witch trials by both Democrats or Republicans? Did you stand with the pro-Palestinian protestors being beaten and arrested by Biden's Gestapo? How about the record number of journalists prosecuted under the Obama administration? Remember when Obama expanded the Patriot Act then lied about the widespread NSA spying on US citizens? Or his ICE raids on migrant families on Christmas Eve? Liberals remain hushed about their own parties soft fascism (the merging with AIPAC is not so soft really) so now we have to fight a more open version. If liberals can vote in favor of genocide, which they were prepared to do, there is nothing left to vote for or against and no moral ground left to stand on. https://barryjkaufmando.substack.com/p/youre-next-the-blowback-for-the-spiritual
There we go again Boris. Never a word about the genocide in Ukraine, just the constant deflection to Gaza. Tell me are you an agent of Putin, or just an unredeemed Marxist who has a nostalgic attachment to Russia, Which by the way still has and manifests the organs of the old Soviet Union, under a different name.
Whatever the reason Boris, you are stuck in the past, you really do hate Democrats don't you.
Of course this isn't new. What is different is the breadth, the depth, the stated goals, and the faithful's readiness to act. Think of Project 2025 as Trump's Mein Kamph. We have this iteration's Jews, our own Kristallnacht, and concentration camps being built; we have citizens being exiled or disappeared; we have Americans labeled as "scum" while immigrants have been called "animals" and "not human". All violations of the Constitution are egregious but this is on a completely different level. None of the presidents you mentioned were actively and brazenly working to overthrow our form of government, flawed though it may be.
As for there being no moral ground to stand on... You paint with an over-broad brush when you say "liberals" instead of "some liberals". They don't run as a herd. Even were they as a group, to be devoid of a moral grounding (which they aren't), that doesn't mean there is no ground for anyone else. I trust you see yourself as having some moral ground of your own. If so, what is it? Just wondering...
I sure hope you are not referring to me with "...willing to cover up for genocide...". But just in case you were, consider enquiring about one's political affiliations, or lack thereof, before shooting yourself in the foot.
I don't vote for anyone who participates in or covers up a genocide. Period. Or anyone who privatizes the health care system and lies about it. Or anyone who intentionally interferes in peace negotiations to propagate war. And so on. But certainly genocide is a reasonable red line, because what else could possibly be worse? You thrive on the outward, obvious transgressions of a narcissistic buffoon like Trump, but could care less about almost identical transgressions from Obama and Biden (and Bill Clinton). Democrats allowed Trump to win TWICE. They had a majority and failed to remedy any of the issues plaguing our country, instead choosing to warmonger and side with Joe Manchin. They subvert democracy by anointing presidential nominees, cover up for their obviously ailing president, and you STILL somehow think they are noble. Anyone who ascribes to Rachel Maddow and MSNBC are the "liberals" of whom I speak. They know about as much as FOX News watchers.
Always "you", Barry. You have issues with certain people. Fine, so do I. Apparently, you think I listen to Maddow, or MSNBC, or any of the mainstream media... wrong. You suggest that I find the Democratic Party noble... Wrong. I am not a liberal, never have been and I couldn't be if I tried. My issue has to do with you saying "liberals" as if they all think the same way. I fail top see how that is any different from "all __________" (fill in the blank for whatever group you despise; there's a whole litany of ones to choose from). If I am reading you wrong, I offer my sincere apologies.
How much longer will Americans stand the outrage of these thugs from ICE///CBP?
Our corporate media has nothing to say about the quite apparent jump made into a police state, especially with the passage of the OBBB. The only parallel I can find in history is the Sturmabeitlung, (SA) which was a volunteer, privately funded, corp, replaced by the Schutzstaffel (SS), which was government, not private.
There is very little left of the government of the U.S. of A. that existed on Jan 20,2025.
Trump and Musk have so thoroughly ripped it apart, that It can’t be put back together again, in a recognizable form.
What Trump has done leads to only one conclusion, he is an agent that is being used to
dismantle the world power that the U.S.A. was, to turn it into an agrarian country, as it was in 1776, an agrarian theocratic and autocratic country.
Rosie O’Donnell was born in NY, of an American mother, and an Irish immigrant father, thus this is a test of his birthright citizenship negation idea.
Trump’s success is because he has appeal to the soft underbelly of America. The racist, theocratic, misogynistic, male supremacy that has been the linchpin of this country, since Thomas Jefferson wrote
all MEN are created equal, and the Constitution was written to give men citizenship rights. Even black men had the right to vote, until states enacted laws to the contrary.
While all of this attention is placed on Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose bonafies are questionable, you hear nothing about a gay hairdresser (also described as a makeup artist or stylist) sent to El Salvador is named Andry José Hernández Romero. He is a Venezuelan asylum seeker who was deported by the Trump administration to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
Could that be because he is gay, is not married to a US Citizen, even the media and the left show selective outrage.
Finally this war against Universities and immigrants under the pretext of punishing anti-Semitism is a patent fraud which no one, and I mean no one, includingthe corporate and independent media is addressing.
This campaign against “antisemisim” is being waged by an antiemetic regime, which harbors antiemites and racists, and self hating Jews like Stephen Miller.
Scratch a neo NAZI, a fascist, and you find an anti-Semite, and Trump is in power because of them, and they are among his most violent supporters, and probably employed by ICE and CBP
Who can forget the chant, “The Jews will not replace us” and I will wager that 100% of the Jan 6 Insurrectionists, pardoned by Trump, are anti-Semites.
We must protest on Thursday because “Good Trouble Lives On”. The memory of Troy AL native John Lewis will be honored to have you participate in this manner. Here are signs for you to print. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/protest-signage-free?r=3m1bs
The best time to topple a dictator's statue is before it is erected. We have work to do.
To that end, isn't it time we change course and instead of reporting and discussing the latest daily grotesquerie, acting to put a stop to it before the next one occurs? Is this happening anywhere or have we all become arm chair warriors?
Deja vu. During a "red scare" in 1919, AG Mitchell Palmer deported 556 foreign born residents, including a number of prominent leftist leaders, Palmer's efforts were largely frustrated by officials at the U.S. Department of Labor, which had authority for deportations and objected to Palmer's methods.
The most famous, Emma Goldman, initially gained citizenship through marriage to Jacob Kershner in 1887, but it was revoked in 1908 when the government nullified Kershner's naturalization. Despite her long-term activism in the US, she was ultimately deported as an "enemy alien" in 1919. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Goldman
In 1987, when Reagan was President, the government had a contingency plan to round up thousands of legal alien residents of eight specified nationalities: Libya, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan and Morocco. Emergency legal measures would be deployed—rescinding the right to bond, claiming the privilege of confidential evidence, excluding the public from deportation hearings, among others. A procedure to detain and intern thousands of aliens while they awaited what would presumably become a mass deportation.
It wasn't so long ago, post 9/11, when there were calls to deport all Muslims.
Attorney General John Ashcroft advocated using immigration rules aggressively to combat terrorism, and this led to thousands of deportation hearings. "The U.S. government unfairly deported thousands of immigrants after the September 11 attacks-simply because they were from Muslim countries and were in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "For each man who was arrested, there was a network of children, parents, siblings, neighbors and community members who depended on him."
The report, "Worlds Apart: How Deporting Immigrants After September 11 Tore Families Apart and Shattered Communities," shares the stories of 13 men who filed a complaint with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention charging that they were unfairly arrested and imprisoned by the United States. The ACLU said that the men were among hundreds of Muslims who were arbitrarily and indiscriminately arrested even though they had not engaged in criminal activity of any sort. The men languished in jail - sometimes in solitary confinement - for weeks and sometimes months, even after it became clear that they were innocent of any charges related to terrorism.
On January 27, 2017, Trump signed an Executive Order that banned foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries from visiting the country for 90 days, suspended entry to the country of all Syrian refugees indefinitely, and prohibited any other refugees from coming into the country for 120 days. After two modifications of the policy, after dozens of lawsuits, on June 26, 2018 the Supreme Court upheld Trump's Muslim Ban 3.0 In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the Trump administration’s third Muslim ban.
On his first day returning to office in 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14161, titled "Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats” which was described by critics as reviving a version of the travel ban.
Here's a summary of the 2025 travel restrictions:
Countries affected: The proclamation fully restricts entry from 12 countries and partially restricts entry from 7 others.
Full Restrictions (12 countries): Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen face a complete suspension of entry for most visa types.
Partial Restrictions (7 countries): Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela face restrictions on specific visa categories, primarily affecting immigrant visas, as well as B-1/B-2 (tourism/business), F (student), M (vocational), and J (exchange) visas.
Legal Basis: The administration justifies the ban based on national security concerns, citing inadequate screening and vetting procedures in the affected countries and referencing Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, upheld in Trump v. Hawaii.
Exemptions: Exceptions to the restrictions include lawful permanent residents, individuals with valid visas issued before June 9, 2025, dual nationals using a passport from a non-designated country, and certain categories such as diplomats,
The issue is birthright citizenship, Rosie is born of an Irish father and American mother.
SCOTUS has given Trump a nod
The Supreme Court recently addressed the issue of birthright citizenship, specifically in the context of President Trump's Executive Order No. 14160, which aimed to restrict birthright citizenship for children born in the US to non-citizen parents. While the court did not rule on the constitutionality of the executive order itself, it limited the ability of lower courts to issue nationwide injunctions against such orders. This means that while the order may still face legal challenges, it can now be implemented in some areas while those
SCROTUM ruled against, any case being applied nationally, however that left open class ac
tion suits, and John Roberts has expressed his hostility to class action suit, So let's wait and see Daniel.
While the Court has not directly addressed the constitutionality of a specific executive order limiting birthright citizenship, it has ruled on the broader issue of nationwide injunctions, limiting the power of lower courts to block federal policies nationally.
Based on scholarly analysis and court observations, the Roberts Court is perceived to be wary of class actions and has made class certification more difficult through its case law, according to Jotwell. This approach has been characterized as revolutionary in relation to class certification practice, ushering in procedural changes through interpretation rather than amendment of Rule 23.
However, the Court's approach to class actions has also been described as evolutionary in the context of securities class action litigation, culminating in cases like Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. v. Arkansas Teacher Retirement System in 2021. Additionally, the Roberts Court has raised concerns about the use of cy pres remedies in class settlements, though it has yet to provide definitive guidance in this area. Source AI generative
You don't have to explain it Daniel. I know your explanation. I'm just not buying it. You see I am not an institutionalist with a career in the law.
And the problem is that SCOTUS didn't rule on the merits, which they could have and should have, which is an indicator as bright as a red light and a siren that they have no problem with revoking birth right citizenship.
The ruse was, you can't use a ruling by one federal judge to a global ruling, that leaves only class actions and Roberts is hostile to class actions
By the way that ruling also hurts the misogynist who want to prohibit the mailing of mifepristone
The Texas judge who ruled against the abortion drug mifepristone was Matthew Kacsmaryk. He is a U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas. His ruling, in the case Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, aimed to restrict access to mifepristone nationwide. The ruling was later stayed by the Supreme Court, and the case is still ongoing.
Off topic, has anyone else noticed the changes with substack. Is this substack or is it Google.
First I found that I couldn't like, Then the copy function was removed,now I can't scroll using the down arrow.
Perhaps my version of Chrome Does Google (Alphabet) have control over substack?
Oh, I am still running Windows 7, I have more control than you get with Windows 10 or higher, and I don't have to waste money on the latest versions of Office, nor pay a subscription, and my printers and scanners work just fine, they wouldn't if I upgraded, and I don't want to waste money buying new equipment, or add to the garbage pile that is killing this planet.
This commentary is more than scary. It is time to get armed,go on the offensive in any way possible. If we let the "Nazis" like Trump,Miller,Noem,Hegseth continue to break the law,use their power to destroy our lives,we have noone to blame but ourselves.Words are not working.
The words on the protest signs are working. Rosie's words worked to get huge press and irritate the crap out of TRump. Thom's words work to educate. Don't give up on the words, David!
It is beyond scary but carrying a gun is my red line. What do you plan to do, shoot ICE agents when they come to snatch you? My passport and EU ID card are ready.
I will be protesting until they start shooting us in the legs....
The first and most crucial test is whether Trump's followers, officials and agencies will get his messages and aggressively carry out the actual illicit and unconstitutional acts which implement his policies and fascist ideas. Those people and agencies have for the most part passed the test. The actions by ICE and various other acts were committed by operatives in the field on their own initiative and with the belief that they were doing their duty and complying with the wishes and orders of the president, even though in most cases he never gave a direct order or specific instructions. They know what is expected and they are more than happy to follow up with malice, cruelty, and indifference, regardless of the Constitution or state and federal laws in effect. These are very scary people, and they are our neighbors, friends, and family members. It is they and their mindset that we need to get under control and change.
Robert we are being conditioned to accept a police state. There are armored vehicles and troops stationed in McArthur Park in LA and around the city, soon there will be the same in NY and sanctuary cities. They may not do nothing, but stand around, but the purpose there is to get us accustomed to a police state.
A police state authorized by the funding of the OBBB, with a budget larger than the military of all countries save the U.S. Russia and China.
Point well taken. I agree. My point is simply that it is much bigger than Trump and someone always have to give an order, and someone makes a choice to either follow the order or refuse to follow it. A police state cannot arise unless the police are willing to be misused or have been programmed to implement abusive or sadistic policies. It's a little like what I've been saying about compulsory school attendance. The very existence of the laws stigmatizes students or children and invites all manner of abuses and applications of arbitrary authority which are inappropriate in an educational environment. How many people will either not even discover these violations by Trump and his ICE minions and how many have already taken them for granted or believe that obedience to authority is their duty (and everyone else's duty), regardless? Have you done your homework?
Yes the whole thing is bigger than Trump, he is just a tool. Kevin Roberts did not write Project 2025 all by himself, and the Federalist Society exists because deep pockets are funding it, and there is more than one person breathing in Trump's ear, cajoling and flattering him
And yes we have a police state, staffed by thugs. Thugs exist everywhere, you pass them on the street. I passed one yesterday driving his big truck with two huge flags flapping in the breeze.
I don't get your obsession with compulsory education, maybe you had a bad experience, because the alternative is illiteracy, Like the illiteracy that plagued my family after my 5th great grandfather died before he could tutor his younger sons, until 1889 when my grandfather received an 8th grade education, thanks to Horace Mann's pressure and influence.
Do you believe that an illiterate and ignorant population would be harder to manipulate?
If you seriously want my answer to your questions, read my posting on Substack coming within the next 72 hours. The answers will probably be in the first 3 pages, so you won't need to read the entire piece. I need to get back to work on it now. The title, unless I decide to change it is: "Real Education for Real Democracy Requires Liberation and Inclusion". Depriving children of liberty can never be the way to education or even literacy, and literacy has no guarantee of education.
I am not going to read a rant Robert. I have asked you the question many times and all I get is a long winded rant about the trouble with compulsory education
Here it is plain and simple and the answer does not require a paragraph.
What is your alternative to compulsory education?
How will people get educated? Voluntarily? Paid for by the parents? Maybe kids can be set out in the fields picking vegetables, instead of going to school. that is the answer of the Trump regime, the Dept ofE d and Dept of Ag
Really since an educated populace is the foundation of a civilized society, how do we ensure everyone has an educated, or is education only for the privileged?
As you have proven many times, you are not interested in my answer because you know it all and have nothing left to learn from me or from anyone else. You are terribly confused in your mind by your inability to distinguish between terms such as school, education, and alternative. Your term "compulsory education" is a useless oxymoron and an illogical contradiction. You cannot be disabused of the idea that school is automatically education or that compulsion is not necessary for education. They did a really good job on you. You are a true believer. I have no more time to waste.
Give 'em an inch.....
Rosie showed us how to fight back. In fact, she never stopped fighting TRump from the beginning.
He tests, but we do not stop.
Tow truck drivers are towing the ICE vehicles in LA. Owners do not let them come on their property without a warrant. Citizens film their attempts to raid and people heckle them relentlessly.
They test, but we do not stop.
Musk shows us he is a Nazi. People AROUND THE WORLD help us boycott and protest the bastard.
He tested, he f-ed around, and he found out.
No more inches. Take care of doing your part like Thom and Company are doing. The Dems ARE FIGHTING, especially the young ones. Stop criticizing the Democrats for what these fascists f*ckers are doing. Get out there if you can. Show the world America still has a beating HEART. See you in the streets Thursday and beyond!
Great Post Alis, especially the news about tow truck drivers, I love that.
But no one is blaming the Democrats for what these fuckers are doing, we are blaming the Democrats for setting the state that has enabled these fuckers,and for doing nothing but flapping their gums and writing strongly worded letters, if even that.
The Democratic party has been backing and supporting a weaker, milder version of the Republican party since LBJ signed the Voting rights act, and slopping at the same trough.
Time for a change, for younger, anti establishment, outraged young leaders like AOC and Mamdani.
YES. YOU. ARE. And you just did it again, William.
We are in the middle of a Constitutional crisis. SCOTUS has six Republican traitors on it. There is a psychopath in the White House and many in his Administration. There is no PLAN for that. We didn't enable sh*t, and we're not magicians.
Centrist AND Progressive Democrats did enable SS, Medicare, Medicaid, food and housing assistance, child credits, Head Start, helping the disabled, climate crisis awareness, FEMA, FDA, ACA, and on and on. Have we gone far enough? NO! But there is nothing weak about the progress we made including on human rights.
These young Dems are fortifying the DEMOCRATIC PARTY because of that list of achievements. I love 'em---hope they work on age limits.
Alis, I am not talking about the Democratic party that gave us SS, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, etc. I am talking about the party of Schumer, Pelosi, Perez, Martin that slops at the donor trough, and has even supported Republicans to keep out progressives.
Pelosi, backed a conservative Joseph Kennedy Jr, in his run against progressive Sen Markey of Mass. She backed a homophobe against a gay. She killed single payor legislation in favor of the insurance companie/Heritage foundation, ACA.
The ACA was basically the same program developed by the Heritage Foundation.
IMHO Pelosi can sue for libel.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned her Senate counterparts Thursday that she intends to fight hard for a government-run health care plan as part of any comprehensive overhaul bill.https://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/10/15/health.care/index.html
Mr. Solomon, that is an eye opener about Pelosi's stand on single payer. I was wrong about her all this time. Thanks for the correction.
The main culprit was Baucus, who was chair of the committee in the Senate. Earlier, Hilary Clinton was the problem.
And here's a search quote, Professor, about who prevented the ACA from getting us started 15 years ago:
".....Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, threatened to filibuster any bill that included a public option, forcing leadership to remove it to secure the necessary votes for passage."
Joe represented Connecticut---home to the insurance industry. President Obama had him come to the White House and was unable to convince him he was wrong. I remember.
Pelosi WANTED a public option, as did the Dems: "Initially, Pelosi strongly advocated for including a public option in the healthcare reform legislation, stating in September 2009 that "a public option will be essential to our passing a bill in the House of Representatives". The House version of the bill passed in November 2009 included a public option." And then along came Joe and his insurance friends. It was just like Sinema and Manchin. You are the sociologist, it's always some-damn-body, isn't it?
Sue who for libel? Me. Go ahead. She stopped Bernies single payor bill in it's tracks. All it took was a one page bill, changing the eligibility of medicare from age 65 to birth, in favor of the ACA.
Yes tow those bastards- but then who pays the tow truck companies for towing? Are the ICE vehicles impounded? Our government hence we pay. But it is a worthy statement.
I agree with Thom’s report on South Koreans taking to the streets to stop the takeover of their government is a great example of what citizens can do. Of course unlike America, they know first hand next-door what a dictator can do to their people. Apparently most Americans are so immersed and secure in their current way of life they can’t imagine what can happen to them if the government permits a dictator to take over.
Rosie didn't fight back, she fled the scene, as have many others. Given her position she should have left. I too am constrained by responsibilities and what I can do at 80.
Here, you left out a "u". It so regrets being supplanted by a"*". Call the fuckers what they are: fuckers.
(Gee, I feel I'm channeling Gorge Carln).
PS: See you Thursday!
You go, girl!
Step by step fascism marches on in the U.S.. Who or what is stopping them? Strongly worded letters have proven useless. What is the "Plan"? More protests? Media blitz (broadcast, online, print)? Boycotts? Doxing (the usual subjects)? Outreach to allies around the globe? There has to be the "Plan" otherwise the echo of the collapse of the Weimar Republic looms on the horizon.
I wish I had read yours before I wrote mine.
In order to have a plan. there have to be planners. Planners need a forum. Is there one already existant or will it have to be created? Times a-wastin', best we get going before our local neighborhood Dachau opens its gates.
I guess you guys missed that faith leaders protested in 11 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. Protestors demonstrated outside Republican congressional district offices carrying caskets with statistics of the number of people expected to be harmed by the cuts. Worse in red states than blue states.
I've been advocating the Jerry Weiss scenario. The religious epiphany issue.
The guy who wrote this does not know about PAYGO, as Medicare cuts will kick in, but You'll get the idea. https://www.kff.org/from-drew-altman/can-democrats-make-the-medicaid-and-aca-cuts-their-winning-political-issue-before-people-feel-the-cuts/
Boy, those states came close to being the Confederacy.
I'm glad those people protested, I wish there was more of it going on. Medicaid is a serious concern where I live in what is referred to as rural Northern California, in that the three nearest hospitals are threatened with closure or a severe reduction in services. If they go, the nearest remaining hospital would be an hour from where I live rather than 12 minutes. For some, they would have to travel close to 2 hours. Deaths will ensue because of this.
I am not familiar with Jerry Weiss other than as an artist.
When you say epiphany, are you referring to an "ah-ha!" moment or something more profound, like Saul on the road to Damascus?
Thom Tillis should be an object lesson. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
All these assaults on human and civil rights, yet none of the MAGA rubes minded a bit until Trump told them to forget about one of their most cherished conspiracy theories. NOW they're mad.
Obama and Harris ducking is further proof that politicians are no more constituted for this fight than was President Paul von Hindenburg in January 1933.
Sam and Clarence are political whores.
Mitch and his imprinted ducklings are political actors, acting on behalf of the Dark Money.
The real problem is how to UNf*ck the minds of 77,300,000 American Idiots who think Bill Clinton eats sliced baby on his pizzas.
The real winner in this bedlam? The Russian gas station owner. The guy with the nukes.
What people seem to be forgetting is that by the time the democrats get enough candidates elected to offices around the country, it may be too late. We are witnessing a blitzkrieg right now, every day. Republicans are doing their best to gerrymander red voting districts everywhere and the democrats are trying "To raise awareness".
It's time to use the same tactics that the MAGA people are using against them. Authoritarian power only loses when they are confronted by more power. We the people are all that's left to stop this obvious takeover by Stephen Miller and his people like Russell Vought. It will be the little things that lead up to bigger things but we need to start now. Towing ICE vehicles is a start. Throwing rocks at ICE agents and their vehicles is a start. If you live in an open carry or a stand your ground state, start carrying a weapon. You have the right to defend yourself when confronted by masked, unidentified men carrying guns.
There are more little things the people can do to thwart the ICE gestapo agents on the ground. it's time we started thinking outside of the box to push back and retake our country.
Terrance, AOC and Bernie Sanders have been doing what you have suggested.
Yes, and I've been watching but Bernie is in his 80's, although still going strong. AOC is great but not enough. Right now there are nowhere near enough democrats willing to stand with them to force change. That needs to change
You know if he gets away with arbitrarily revoking citizenships, including of those naturally born here, there will be no need to rig elections. Anyone on a ticket that is "against the national interest" or in a party that supports it, can be turned into an "alien resident" (and deported if the need comes up). Then they can't run for office or vote. Regular voters can be threatened with similar treatment if they dare protest or, worse, try to exercise their right to support any opposition.
With our paid elected representatives absenting themselves from the fray of political battle, and our allied states being voter gutted with gerrymandering, purging and thru threatening at voting places, with our SCOTUS rubber stamping all trespass on democracy the only pragmatic possibility I can see is for complete boycott of just about everything. Start with MAGA businesses in your town, move state wide, change purchasing scenarios, change buying habits. Show the power of the purse. But, as we all know - people with mortgages and real responsibilities can usually be squeezed into compliance.
BRING ON THE METEORS, FLOODS, HURRICANES AND EARTHQUAKES.
Mother Nature may be our last resort.
It's funny that boomer liberals play this game of pretend as if Trump is the first to violate the Constitution in such an egregious fashion. Democrats have been first in line to suppress free speech when it comes to Israel, cosponsoring The Antisemitism Awareness Act in 2024 and joining Trump by passing the very first bill of his first presidency to sanction any governmental contractor or beneficiary that participates in the BDS movement. Were you or any Democrats standing up to defend the university heads undergoing antisemitism witch trials by both Democrats or Republicans? Did you stand with the pro-Palestinian protestors being beaten and arrested by Biden's Gestapo? How about the record number of journalists prosecuted under the Obama administration? Remember when Obama expanded the Patriot Act then lied about the widespread NSA spying on US citizens? Or his ICE raids on migrant families on Christmas Eve? Liberals remain hushed about their own parties soft fascism (the merging with AIPAC is not so soft really) so now we have to fight a more open version. If liberals can vote in favor of genocide, which they were prepared to do, there is nothing left to vote for or against and no moral ground left to stand on. https://barryjkaufmando.substack.com/p/youre-next-the-blowback-for-the-spiritual
There we go again Boris. Never a word about the genocide in Ukraine, just the constant deflection to Gaza. Tell me are you an agent of Putin, or just an unredeemed Marxist who has a nostalgic attachment to Russia, Which by the way still has and manifests the organs of the old Soviet Union, under a different name.
Whatever the reason Boris, you are stuck in the past, you really do hate Democrats don't you.
Who in the fuck takes you seriously.?
Of course this isn't new. What is different is the breadth, the depth, the stated goals, and the faithful's readiness to act. Think of Project 2025 as Trump's Mein Kamph. We have this iteration's Jews, our own Kristallnacht, and concentration camps being built; we have citizens being exiled or disappeared; we have Americans labeled as "scum" while immigrants have been called "animals" and "not human". All violations of the Constitution are egregious but this is on a completely different level. None of the presidents you mentioned were actively and brazenly working to overthrow our form of government, flawed though it may be.
As for there being no moral ground to stand on... You paint with an over-broad brush when you say "liberals" instead of "some liberals". They don't run as a herd. Even were they as a group, to be devoid of a moral grounding (which they aren't), that doesn't mean there is no ground for anyone else. I trust you see yourself as having some moral ground of your own. If so, what is it? Just wondering...
And if you are willing to cover up for genocide so your candidate will win an election your moral integrity is indeed in question.
Such as you covering up for the genocide in Ukraine,you fucking hypocrite, nay worse that that an agent of Putin.
I sure hope you are not referring to me with "...willing to cover up for genocide...". But just in case you were, consider enquiring about one's political affiliations, or lack thereof, before shooting yourself in the foot.
I don't vote for anyone who participates in or covers up a genocide. Period. Or anyone who privatizes the health care system and lies about it. Or anyone who intentionally interferes in peace negotiations to propagate war. And so on. But certainly genocide is a reasonable red line, because what else could possibly be worse? You thrive on the outward, obvious transgressions of a narcissistic buffoon like Trump, but could care less about almost identical transgressions from Obama and Biden (and Bill Clinton). Democrats allowed Trump to win TWICE. They had a majority and failed to remedy any of the issues plaguing our country, instead choosing to warmonger and side with Joe Manchin. They subvert democracy by anointing presidential nominees, cover up for their obviously ailing president, and you STILL somehow think they are noble. Anyone who ascribes to Rachel Maddow and MSNBC are the "liberals" of whom I speak. They know about as much as FOX News watchers.
Always "you", Barry. You have issues with certain people. Fine, so do I. Apparently, you think I listen to Maddow, or MSNBC, or any of the mainstream media... wrong. You suggest that I find the Democratic Party noble... Wrong. I am not a liberal, never have been and I couldn't be if I tried. My issue has to do with you saying "liberals" as if they all think the same way. I fail top see how that is any different from "all __________" (fill in the blank for whatever group you despise; there's a whole litany of ones to choose from). If I am reading you wrong, I offer my sincere apologies.
Can't give it up can you. Again covering up for the genocide in Ukraine.
How much longer will Americans stand the outrage of these thugs from ICE///CBP?
Our corporate media has nothing to say about the quite apparent jump made into a police state, especially with the passage of the OBBB. The only parallel I can find in history is the Sturmabeitlung, (SA) which was a volunteer, privately funded, corp, replaced by the Schutzstaffel (SS), which was government, not private.
There is very little left of the government of the U.S. of A. that existed on Jan 20,2025.
Trump and Musk have so thoroughly ripped it apart, that It can’t be put back together again, in a recognizable form.
What Trump has done leads to only one conclusion, he is an agent that is being used to
dismantle the world power that the U.S.A. was, to turn it into an agrarian country, as it was in 1776, an agrarian theocratic and autocratic country.
Rosie O’Donnell was born in NY, of an American mother, and an Irish immigrant father, thus this is a test of his birthright citizenship negation idea.
Trump’s success is because he has appeal to the soft underbelly of America. The racist, theocratic, misogynistic, male supremacy that has been the linchpin of this country, since Thomas Jefferson wrote
all MEN are created equal, and the Constitution was written to give men citizenship rights. Even black men had the right to vote, until states enacted laws to the contrary.
While all of this attention is placed on Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose bonafies are questionable, you hear nothing about a gay hairdresser (also described as a makeup artist or stylist) sent to El Salvador is named Andry José Hernández Romero. He is a Venezuelan asylum seeker who was deported by the Trump administration to the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
Could that be because he is gay, is not married to a US Citizen, even the media and the left show selective outrage.
Finally this war against Universities and immigrants under the pretext of punishing anti-Semitism is a patent fraud which no one, and I mean no one, includingthe corporate and independent media is addressing.
This campaign against “antisemisim” is being waged by an antiemetic regime, which harbors antiemites and racists, and self hating Jews like Stephen Miller.
Scratch a neo NAZI, a fascist, and you find an anti-Semite, and Trump is in power because of them, and they are among his most violent supporters, and probably employed by ICE and CBP
Who can forget the chant, “The Jews will not replace us” and I will wager that 100% of the Jan 6 Insurrectionists, pardoned by Trump, are anti-Semites.
We must protest on Thursday because “Good Trouble Lives On”. The memory of Troy AL native John Lewis will be honored to have you participate in this manner. Here are signs for you to print. https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/protest-signage-free?r=3m1bs
Looks like we’re gonna need to use stronger words in our strongly-worded letters.
The best time to topple a dictator's statue is before it is erected. We have work to do.
To that end, isn't it time we change course and instead of reporting and discussing the latest daily grotesquerie, acting to put a stop to it before the next one occurs? Is this happening anywhere or have we all become arm chair warriors?
The government cannot strip U.S.-born people of their U.S. citizenship unless the citizens voluntarily renounce it. These acts include serving in the armed forces of another country “engaged in hostilities against the United States,” accepting employment with a foreign government if it requires a declaration of allegiance to that country or formally renouncing U.S. citizenship at a consulate. List of people who have renounced citizenship. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_former_United_States_citizens_who_relinquished_their_nationality#:~:text=In%20the%20mid%2D1990s%20Kenneth,Cayman%20Islands%2C%20a%20tax%20haven.
Being convicted of treason against the U.S. or attempting to overthrow the U.S. government by force, if those acts were done with the intention of relinquishing U.S. citizenship, can also lead to a loss of citizenship for U.S. born people. https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2025/us-government-revoke-your-citizenship-what-to-know-about-denaturalization/
.
Deja vu. During a "red scare" in 1919, AG Mitchell Palmer deported 556 foreign born residents, including a number of prominent leftist leaders, Palmer's efforts were largely frustrated by officials at the U.S. Department of Labor, which had authority for deportations and objected to Palmer's methods.
The most famous, Emma Goldman, initially gained citizenship through marriage to Jacob Kershner in 1887, but it was revoked in 1908 when the government nullified Kershner's naturalization. Despite her long-term activism in the US, she was ultimately deported as an "enemy alien" in 1919. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Goldman
In 1987, when Reagan was President, the government had a contingency plan to round up thousands of legal alien residents of eight specified nationalities: Libya, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan and Morocco. Emergency legal measures would be deployed—rescinding the right to bond, claiming the privilege of confidential evidence, excluding the public from deportation hearings, among others. A procedure to detain and intern thousands of aliens while they awaited what would presumably become a mass deportation.
It wasn't so long ago, post 9/11, when there were calls to deport all Muslims.
Attorney General John Ashcroft advocated using immigration rules aggressively to combat terrorism, and this led to thousands of deportation hearings. "The U.S. government unfairly deported thousands of immigrants after the September 11 attacks-simply because they were from Muslim countries and were in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Anthony Romero, Executive Director of the ACLU. "For each man who was arrested, there was a network of children, parents, siblings, neighbors and community members who depended on him."
The report, "Worlds Apart: How Deporting Immigrants After September 11 Tore Families Apart and Shattered Communities," shares the stories of 13 men who filed a complaint with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention charging that they were unfairly arrested and imprisoned by the United States. The ACLU said that the men were among hundreds of Muslims who were arbitrarily and indiscriminately arrested even though they had not engaged in criminal activity of any sort. The men languished in jail - sometimes in solitary confinement - for weeks and sometimes months, even after it became clear that they were innocent of any charges related to terrorism.
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/new-aclu-report-documents-devastating-effects-post-911-deportations-immigrant
https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Targets%20of%20Suspicion.pdf
On January 27, 2017, Trump signed an Executive Order that banned foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries from visiting the country for 90 days, suspended entry to the country of all Syrian refugees indefinitely, and prohibited any other refugees from coming into the country for 120 days. After two modifications of the policy, after dozens of lawsuits, on June 26, 2018 the Supreme Court upheld Trump's Muslim Ban 3.0 In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the Trump administration’s third Muslim ban.
On his first day returning to office in 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14161, titled "Protecting the United States from Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats” which was described by critics as reviving a version of the travel ban.
Here's a summary of the 2025 travel restrictions:
Countries affected: The proclamation fully restricts entry from 12 countries and partially restricts entry from 7 others.
Full Restrictions (12 countries): Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen face a complete suspension of entry for most visa types.
Partial Restrictions (7 countries): Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela face restrictions on specific visa categories, primarily affecting immigrant visas, as well as B-1/B-2 (tourism/business), F (student), M (vocational), and J (exchange) visas.
Legal Basis: The administration justifies the ban based on national security concerns, citing inadequate screening and vetting procedures in the affected countries and referencing Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, upheld in Trump v. Hawaii.
Exemptions: Exceptions to the restrictions include lawful permanent residents, individuals with valid visas issued before June 9, 2025, dual nationals using a passport from a non-designated country, and certain categories such as diplomats,
The government can't do a lot of things the government is doing anyway.
The issue is birthright citizenship, Rosie is born of an Irish father and American mother.
SCOTUS has given Trump a nod
The Supreme Court recently addressed the issue of birthright citizenship, specifically in the context of President Trump's Executive Order No. 14160, which aimed to restrict birthright citizenship for children born in the US to non-citizen parents. While the court did not rule on the constitutionality of the executive order itself, it limited the ability of lower courts to issue nationwide injunctions against such orders. This means that while the order may still face legal challenges, it can now be implemented in some areas while those
challenges are ongoing.
Just addressed it the other day. SCOTUS did not approve it. https://www.globalimmigrationblog.com/2025/07/federal-judge-blocks-implementation-of-eo-on-birthright-citizenship-in-class-action-case/
A federal judge Daniel, not SCOTUS.
SCROTUM ruled against, any case being applied nationally, however that left open class ac
tion suits, and John Roberts has expressed his hostility to class action suit, So let's wait and see Daniel.
While the Court has not directly addressed the constitutionality of a specific executive order limiting birthright citizenship, it has ruled on the broader issue of nationwide injunctions, limiting the power of lower courts to block federal policies nationally.
Based on scholarly analysis and court observations, the Roberts Court is perceived to be wary of class actions and has made class certification more difficult through its case law, according to Jotwell. This approach has been characterized as revolutionary in relation to class certification practice, ushering in procedural changes through interpretation rather than amendment of Rule 23.
However, the Court's approach to class actions has also been described as evolutionary in the context of securities class action litigation, culminating in cases like Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. v. Arkansas Teacher Retirement System in 2021. Additionally, the Roberts Court has raised concerns about the use of cy pres remedies in class settlements, though it has yet to provide definitive guidance in this area. Source AI generative
I'm tired of having to explain it. SCOTUS left a window of 30 days. Didn't rule on the merits.
You don't have to explain it Daniel. I know your explanation. I'm just not buying it. You see I am not an institutionalist with a career in the law.
And the problem is that SCOTUS didn't rule on the merits, which they could have and should have, which is an indicator as bright as a red light and a siren that they have no problem with revoking birth right citizenship.
The ruse was, you can't use a ruling by one federal judge to a global ruling, that leaves only class actions and Roberts is hostile to class actions
By the way that ruling also hurts the misogynist who want to prohibit the mailing of mifepristone
The Texas judge who ruled against the abortion drug mifepristone was Matthew Kacsmaryk. He is a U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Texas. His ruling, in the case Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, aimed to restrict access to mifepristone nationwide. The ruling was later stayed by the Supreme Court, and the case is still ongoing.
SCOTUS has a problem, one of it's own creation.
Off topic, has anyone else noticed the changes with substack. Is this substack or is it Google.
First I found that I couldn't like, Then the copy function was removed,now I can't scroll using the down arrow.
Perhaps my version of Chrome Does Google (Alphabet) have control over substack?
Oh, I am still running Windows 7, I have more control than you get with Windows 10 or higher, and I don't have to waste money on the latest versions of Office, nor pay a subscription, and my printers and scanners work just fine, they wouldn't if I upgraded, and I don't want to waste money buying new equipment, or add to the garbage pile that is killing this planet.
This commentary is more than scary. It is time to get armed,go on the offensive in any way possible. If we let the "Nazis" like Trump,Miller,Noem,Hegseth continue to break the law,use their power to destroy our lives,we have noone to blame but ourselves.Words are not working.
The words on the protest signs are working. Rosie's words worked to get huge press and irritate the crap out of TRump. Thom's words work to educate. Don't give up on the words, David!
It is beyond scary but carrying a gun is my red line. What do you plan to do, shoot ICE agents when they come to snatch you? My passport and EU ID card are ready.
I will be protesting until they start shooting us in the legs....
The first and most crucial test is whether Trump's followers, officials and agencies will get his messages and aggressively carry out the actual illicit and unconstitutional acts which implement his policies and fascist ideas. Those people and agencies have for the most part passed the test. The actions by ICE and various other acts were committed by operatives in the field on their own initiative and with the belief that they were doing their duty and complying with the wishes and orders of the president, even though in most cases he never gave a direct order or specific instructions. They know what is expected and they are more than happy to follow up with malice, cruelty, and indifference, regardless of the Constitution or state and federal laws in effect. These are very scary people, and they are our neighbors, friends, and family members. It is they and their mindset that we need to get under control and change.
Robert we are being conditioned to accept a police state. There are armored vehicles and troops stationed in McArthur Park in LA and around the city, soon there will be the same in NY and sanctuary cities. They may not do nothing, but stand around, but the purpose there is to get us accustomed to a police state.
A police state authorized by the funding of the OBBB, with a budget larger than the military of all countries save the U.S. Russia and China.
Point well taken. I agree. My point is simply that it is much bigger than Trump and someone always have to give an order, and someone makes a choice to either follow the order or refuse to follow it. A police state cannot arise unless the police are willing to be misused or have been programmed to implement abusive or sadistic policies. It's a little like what I've been saying about compulsory school attendance. The very existence of the laws stigmatizes students or children and invites all manner of abuses and applications of arbitrary authority which are inappropriate in an educational environment. How many people will either not even discover these violations by Trump and his ICE minions and how many have already taken them for granted or believe that obedience to authority is their duty (and everyone else's duty), regardless? Have you done your homework?
Yes the whole thing is bigger than Trump, he is just a tool. Kevin Roberts did not write Project 2025 all by himself, and the Federalist Society exists because deep pockets are funding it, and there is more than one person breathing in Trump's ear, cajoling and flattering him
And yes we have a police state, staffed by thugs. Thugs exist everywhere, you pass them on the street. I passed one yesterday driving his big truck with two huge flags flapping in the breeze.
I don't get your obsession with compulsory education, maybe you had a bad experience, because the alternative is illiteracy, Like the illiteracy that plagued my family after my 5th great grandfather died before he could tutor his younger sons, until 1889 when my grandfather received an 8th grade education, thanks to Horace Mann's pressure and influence.
Do you believe that an illiterate and ignorant population would be harder to manipulate?
If you seriously want my answer to your questions, read my posting on Substack coming within the next 72 hours. The answers will probably be in the first 3 pages, so you won't need to read the entire piece. I need to get back to work on it now. The title, unless I decide to change it is: "Real Education for Real Democracy Requires Liberation and Inclusion". Depriving children of liberty can never be the way to education or even literacy, and literacy has no guarantee of education.
I am not going to read a rant Robert. I have asked you the question many times and all I get is a long winded rant about the trouble with compulsory education
Here it is plain and simple and the answer does not require a paragraph.
What is your alternative to compulsory education?
How will people get educated? Voluntarily? Paid for by the parents? Maybe kids can be set out in the fields picking vegetables, instead of going to school. that is the answer of the Trump regime, the Dept ofE d and Dept of Ag
Really since an educated populace is the foundation of a civilized society, how do we ensure everyone has an educated, or is education only for the privileged?
As you have proven many times, you are not interested in my answer because you know it all and have nothing left to learn from me or from anyone else. You are terribly confused in your mind by your inability to distinguish between terms such as school, education, and alternative. Your term "compulsory education" is a useless oxymoron and an illogical contradiction. You cannot be disabused of the idea that school is automatically education or that compulsion is not necessary for education. They did a really good job on you. You are a true believer. I have no more time to waste.