If Republicans are actually beginning to see the light about Trump, and agree that he has gone too far, then they need to take the next step--join Democrats in taking down this evil administration--because Democrats are in no position presently to do it themselves. The GOP must stop cooperating with Trump's efforts to crush dissent, bury incriminating evidence, and hijack the will of the electorate. Am I asking for too much?
Yes, every Republican's career, income, social status is dependent on MAGA. If they defy Trump they can kiss their careers, mortgages, perks good bye.
When we see a Republican politician break with Trump on one issue, you can be sure it is game planned. Trump has blessed that one deviance, because the Congressman has to appease his constituents, so he is allowed to stray, but only at the end of a leash.
Think of this, if the Democrats take the house, get 67 votes in the Senate. there could be (but won't) a Nuremberg style reckoning take place.
Same with Trump losing an election. Trump and his fascists can't let an honest election take place.
Our only hope is that Europe and the rest of the world backs away, Canada has cast the first stone.
Thom: Thomas Massey and Marjorie Taylor Greene, both former allies of Trump who’ve called him out, have recently tweeted that they are not suicidal, just like opposition leaders in Russia used to do in the early days. Even Republicans are realizing that Trump’s role model is Vladimir Putin.
Me. The only issue they have in common with us is Epstein.
From Lev Parnas: BREAKING: FBI Interviewed Trump Accuser, Logged It in the Epstein Files… and There’s More. The smoking gun has been found in the Epstein Files.
"Roger Sollenberger has broken the story the DOJ tried to bury. We now have evidence of an internal FBI "302" report—a formal interview with a victim aged 13-15—detailing a horrific assault involving Donald Trump. But the timing is what will shock you: The report was formally entered into the FBI system on August 9, 2019. Jeffrey Epstein was dead the very next day."
Lev's podcast also showed at least 100 of the Epstein "Class".
TRump doesn't do subtlety, so the timing tracks for the alleged murder of Epstein. I'm pretty sure we are going to see murder after murder surface connected to these monsters. Our President is a mob boss that will do anything to cover his tracks or to exact vengeance.
"Mary Carmack-Altwies is the Democratic District Attorney for New Mexico's First Judicial District (covering Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, and Los Alamos counties), first taking office in 2021. She is known for prosecuting high-profile cases like the Rust movie shooting and focusing on violent crime, gun violence, and increasing DWI convictions."-AI Overview
DOJ is not the only place Epstein files are located. Many of them have been released and there are new developments daily.
Heads are already rolling in Europe. Here, not so much. IMHO there are degrees of culpability. Under state law there is no statute of limitations for rape. States should be able to subpoena all the redacted records relevant to allegations of rape that occurred within their jurisdictions.
Not so clear about pimping and pandering.
Companies and individuals who knew he was running an illegal honeypot operation and did business with him may/may not be culpable. But their records are discoverable.
Lastly those who obstruct justice.
Sen. Ron Wyden has subpoeaned Treasury Department records. Every person mentioned as a perp may have records.
Epstein is dead. His estate is a treasure trove. His lawyers have records.
Since Trump is mentioned thousands of times, I'd send him a subpoena.
Congress already has the Epstein files, or enough them from the Epstein Estate, and what has come of it so far,
Our only hope is from the outside, from Europe and you say heads are rolling, whose? Mark Rutte Sec General of NATO has already backed down.
So what of the fact that there is no statutory limit on rape, if the jurisdictions aren't pursuing a remedy, what good are they.
It is a football fraught with danger, because it involves rich and powerful men and women, and is being kicked upstairs.
In the same way that Mary Moriarty, the prosecutor of Hennepin county, MN could and should charge Jonathan Ross and the two CBP agents with murder, there is plenty of video evidence of the crime, but she won't,because she is afraid that Trump will come after her.
It is one thing to hypothesize about sending a subpoena, but who is going to enforce it. Pam Bondi? Subpoena's are not self enforcing, and when the perp does appear, the chide, ignore, insult Congress and nothing happens.
To wit: Pam Bondi's performance, the fact that she basically spit in the face of the Senate, insulted them, chided them and with impunity, should scare the shit out of you.
The Trump Epstein files will not take down Trump or his fascist regime, as long as he has control of the Department of Justice, Homeland Security , the Military and National Security.
Even if we take the house, we need 67 seats in the Senate.
Wrong Daniel, you are the tamed dog that rolls over, me I am a fighter.
You live in a fantasy where there are honest elections and we can take the Congress.
I live in a world where redistricting, voter caging, voter suppression laws, MAGA election commissions, armed poll watchers,and Dominion voting machines are owned by a Republican operative.
Two different worlds. Yours is the world of submission and compliance, mine is the world of resistance.
We have to start referring to the administration as the "Trump/Vance administration. They will run Vance and we have to tie him to the Nazi policies of Trump as he sinks into oblivion. Also check Andy Ogles. 5th Dist. Tennessee. Bad news guy.
Vance will be even worse than Trump. Vance appears to be a true believer, under sway of he tech bros. Trump is motivated solely by his own self interests.
Dirty deeds is their game and Republican is their name.....
Reminder: "The Department of State may revoke or limit a passport for several reasons, including:
-Seriously Delinquent Tax Debt: Owing over $59,000 (as of 2023) in back taxes, penalties, and interest can cause the IRS to certify the debt, leading to revocation or denial of a new passport.
-Serious Child Support Arrears: Owing $2,500 or more in child support can trigger a passport revocation or hold.
-Fraud: If the passport was obtained fraudulently, altered, or misused.
-Criminal Records: Having certain federal felony drug offenses, outstanding federal warrants for child abduction, or conditions of probation/parole forbidding leaving the country.
-Mistaken Identity or Error: In rare cases, a passport may be mistakenly marked as lost or stolen, causing the identity to be "wiped" or invalidated in the system"-AI Overview
This is just one more thing, Americans won't be looking for. Thanks for the education, Thom. Teach, people, teach!
The stats I saw the other day were there are 23 concentration camps and 150 holding facilities in the works. See you in the streets.
CAUTION: Do not put ICE in any of your social media posts. Use "administration" instead. trump's goons are combing for negative posts on ICE and will soon be coming for the posters. Come to think about it, they are most likely scrutinizing this newsletter and the comments....
For what it is worth, here is Suetonius, writing 1900+ years ago about the death of the Roman Republic as oligarchs gained power and marginalized the institutions of the state:
The termination of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey forms a new epoch in the Roman History, at which a Republic, which had subsisted with unrivaled glory during a period of about four hundred and sixty years, relapsed into a state of despotism, whence it never more could emerge. So sudden a transition from prosperity to the ruin of public freedom, without the intervention of any foreign enemy, excites a reasonable conjecture, that the constitution in which it could take place, however vigorous in appearance, must have lost that soundness of political health which had enabled it to endure through so many ages.
But in the time of Julius Caesar the barriers of public liberty were become too weak to restrain the audacious efforts of ambitious and desperate men. The veneration for the constitution, usually a powerful check to treasonable designs, had been lately violated… venality universally prevailed amongst the Romans…Caesar's mind was seduced with the temptations of chimerical glory…. He was now no longer amenable either to the tribunal of the Senate or the power of the laws, but triumphed at once over his enemies and the constitution of his country.
Of Triumph's Caesar was assassinated before could build a Triumphal arch, that custom started with August.
Trump is planning his Arc de TRiUMPh, to celebrate his Triumph, and yet no one is paying attention or taking him seriously.
The media and pundits wag their tongues, and tsk,tsk over what he has done to the White House, the Smithsonian, The Kennedy Center, his visage on 30 ft banners from public buildings, when they should be quaking in their boots.
Loud and clear is the message, I own this city, this government and I am not going anywhere.
It would take trillions of dollars to replace the damage that he has done. Some cabinet positions are gone forever, the few remaining can only be cleansed with a massive sweep of personal, standard operating positions, more time will be spent undoing what he has done, than doing the job for which they were created.
But first he has to be removed. Considering that he almost did not leave in 2021, when he did not have absolute control over the Military, Justice and police.
What think you of the possibilities that he will leave in 2029, when he has total control over the Military, DOJ, police and alsmot total control of the Judiciary.
No chance, but he is clearly not in good mental or physical health. Of course with these institutions in place someone else could step in and take over. Napoleon, Hitler, Lenin, they all sat down in the vacant top seat.
Not exactly. While Rome had been occupied by the Gauls around 390 BCE, that was brief and the Republic continued until 31 BCE. The next "barbarian" invasion to take the city--there are your Visigoths--was in 410 CE, 800 years later. There were a lot of reasons why the Roman Republic (let alone the Empire) fell, but concentration of power by the rich without any consistent concerns for the traditions and rights of the people, must have been a lot of it. Also, the institutions set up for a city managing at most a section of Italy weren't working for an expanding empire. There was no flexibility here, only a lust for profit by those who could benefit, and then they fought each other—Thom’s right that oligarchies aren’t very stable. Meanwhile for the state there was the terrible expense of maintaining a large army. Parallels to the U.S. (or, say, the Soviet Union or the British or Spanish empires) can be made at our leisure.
In the 9th grade we learned that Caesar crossed the Rubicon from Gaul, and learned how to fight against a guerilla war. By 476 Rome was extended and inside the empire were pehaps millions of captives and their descendants.
In my Spanish class we spent about a year discussing how the visigoths became the rulers of formerly Roman ruled Spain. AI. The Visigoths ruled over the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal) from roughly 418 AD to 711 AD. Initially controlling territory in southern Gaul, they expanded into Spain in the 5th century and, after being defeated by the Franks in 507, consolidated their kingdom with a capital in Toledo, lasting until the Umayyad conquest in 711.
The Goths came and went, the Visigoths settled in and became Romans in their provinces like Iberia.
It was the Vandals, under Geiseric that dealt the death blow, but only because Rome by that time was weak, corrupted, soft.
The last great Roman general was Flavius Aetius, he stopped Attila the Hun at the batttle of the Catalaunian Fields Chalon) and he Emperor, Valentian III, fearful of Aetius popularity, recalled him to Ravenna, which was the seat of power at that time, and murdered him, it is said by his own hand, that was in 451Ce, thus depriving Rome of it's only real military leadership, four years later in 455 , Geiseric, leader of the Vandals, and a Christian of the Arian persuasion, invaded and sacked Ravenna, on down the boot to Rome, then on to Siciliy, then North Africa (Libya) where the Vandals disappeared into the population, but not their memory, for the Muslims when they conquered Spain, called it r Al-Ándalus or as we know it Andalusia., land of the Vandals.
To them, the Germanic peoples were all the same, and the Visigoths were a Germanic people
"Most Americans are reluctant to say that America is now a fascist country, hoping that the next election will bring Democrats into power and constrain Trump and his lickspittles."
Bingo. This is the best newsletter ever.
The question is, is the situation reversible? Well we will never go back to what was.
George Washington couldn't tell a lie. Abraham Lincoln fought to keep our country together. Now, we have a president who's trying to make himself rich off our tax dollars.
This President's Day, we wanted to make sure you heard how Common Cause is holding the current occupant of the White House to the same standards of integrity we would expect from any president – even if it means taking action in court.
Daniel, disgraced ex-reality star and convicted felon, Donald Trump is suing the United States government for billions of dollars.
Who’s on the other side of the courtroom, defending our tax dollars against Trump’s legally baseless personal cash grab?
You guessed it: President Donald Trump. The case is called Trump v. IRS – but the IRS reports up to him, so he’s literally playing both sides!
I’d be laughing… if it weren’t so deeply wrong. We can’t trust a President who spent the past year getting rich at your expense to defend us against his own lawsuit!
That’s why Common Cause is taking legal action. This afternoon, we filed a brief on behalf of our one million-plus members, taxpayers who need a government that defends our interests in court, not Donald Trump’s. [1]
And we’re backed up by a group of former IRS officials who are committed to the rule of law – a particularly brave act given how the President treats those who cross him publicly.
We’ve got a strong case: our justice system is supposed to have two sides making their best arguments – then we let the court decide. When both sides are working for the same person, then anyone who trusts the outcome is burying their head in the sand.
Don’t just take our word for it. Trump himself pointed out how absurd this is, wondering aloud how he’s “supposed to work out a settlement with myself.” [2]
Daniel, I think that’s a great question for the court!
We’re already stretching our legal resources to their limit. We’re battling in court to stop Trump’s DOJ from stealing your private voter data in 15 states and Washington D.C., to reverse rigged voting maps in North Carolina, and to block state laws meant to disenfranchise naturalized citizens.
But here’s what’s at stake if we lose or stay silent: Donald Trump – and anyone else who gains his favor – could sue our government for as much as they want. Then, the U.S. government will pay them off with our money while they laugh all the way to the bank.
If we let that kind of blatant corruption become “business as usual,” this will no longer be the kind of country I want to live in. We cannot normalize this sort of self-dealing or let this president make a joke out of our justice system.
We’ll be in touch as this case moves through the courts – but as one of the million-plus members who power everything we do, I wanted you to be the first to hear that we’ve taken action.
"justice for us, law for the rest" highlights a common critique of legal systems, where "justice" (fairness, favorable outcomes) is seen as reserved for a privileged few, while "the law" (strict rules, penalties) is applied to everyone else.
Not just the US, unless Europe grows a fucking pair, and gets serious about Supporting Ukraine and preparing for Russia, Putin will wear down Ukraine, he has plenty of meat to throw into the grinder, and does not balk at wasting lives.
Even as he fights to genocide Ukraine, he is making plans and building forces, for Estonia and Lithuania, and then onto Poland and Germany. He has allies, Hungary and Slovakia and Transnistra.
Once again Thom has put put truth to us. For how long can a relatively small group of elected and appointed republicans be allowed to control us? Add in the tech billionaires support for that political class and we have the few controlling the many. A definition of oligarchy. Do enough Americans care to stop them? The demonstrations planned for 28 March will provide some answers to that question.
Daniel, No Kings organizers want almost 9 Million people to show up to stand up to Trump – but to achieve that we need to start organizing NOW!
We know No Kings will make Trump FURIOUS. We’ve seen his default response to being criticized is to try to humiliate, imprison and silence his opponents, so when we turnout we need numbers that are UNSTOPPABLE!
Can we count on you turning out to stop Trump??
++++++
I beg them to concentrate on Congressional Republicans.
Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech.
The founding fathers had not anticipated billionaires enabled by the Supreme Court. We have recently seen the Washington Post and CBS News go from historically trusted news sources to fascist billionaire echo chambers. Because elections depend on donations to pay the mass media to broadcast their platforms, billionaires now own the entire legislature. "Vote as I say, or I will finance your opponent in the next election." Ever hear our Führer say that? Of course you have.
In the days of monarchs and peasantry, we referred to the billionaires of those eras as entitled monarchs and "landed gentry." Democracy in America currently enables all persons to own land. But billionaires today are buying up entire neighborhoods crushed by foreclosures, then renting their houses to the working class who cannot afford to buy houses due to obscene mortgage interest. Within the next 50 years or so, one can envision the return of the landed gentry thriving on rent payments, while "governing" itself is replaced by "ruling" billionaires.
Billionaires have long been enabled by Congressional toadies who allowed them to pay little or no taxes due to obscene business deductions and low tax rates, while working people foot the bill for our railroads and interstate highways and Navy to enable safe trade deliveries globally. In 2016 and 2017, our billionaire President paid a mere $750 in income tax each year. Meanwhile, most non-billionaires paid over 15% of their income, thousands of dollars, in taxes.
Tax breaks created most of today's billionaires. Government bailouts kept them in business when they misjudged or mismanaged their assets (recessions too). Today, many billionaires, like the Techbros, are almost entirely financed by government contracts and tax deductions to encourage buying their products.
We must demand that ALL Democratic senators and Congresspeople stop pretending that business as usual is possible. ALL MUST refuse to attend the State of the Union formality in a show of unified defiance to the contempt of Congress, contempt for the Constitution, and contempt for the people that this administration and Trump especially have demonstrated consistently. It is clearly too much to ask, but to make a point, there should be a demand that Trump swear under oath to tell the truth in his speech. We know that oaths have no meaning for this renegade sociopath and that would be merely to illustrate what everyone knows.
I assume that tomorrow we will see the list of offenses which necessitate impeachment and conviction. This must be pursued with the most steely-eyed determination and unified effort possible. Anyone who hesitates does not recognize where we are and the urgent threats we face right now, right here. I am more in favor of listing dozens of impeachable offenses rather than keeping it simple. But whether we throw the book at these vicious malcontents or choose a more legally provable condensed selection of charges, there must be a massive campaign to get Republican defectors to realize that they will face catastrophic conditions if they fail to stop the fascist runaway freight train NOW.
This is so freaking scary to me , that for 10 yrs of djt it has gotten so much worse in our country. The division is getting bigger, I feel that with the upcoming elections, will be the telling of ....Did we actually turn into a Facist State, and the thing in office has truly become A DICTATOR.
I also just heard of a new name for the GOP..... GOVERNMENT OF PEDOFILES!
If Republicans are actually beginning to see the light about Trump, and agree that he has gone too far, then they need to take the next step--join Democrats in taking down this evil administration--because Democrats are in no position presently to do it themselves. The GOP must stop cooperating with Trump's efforts to crush dissent, bury incriminating evidence, and hijack the will of the electorate. Am I asking for too much?
Yes, every Republican's career, income, social status is dependent on MAGA. If they defy Trump they can kiss their careers, mortgages, perks good bye.
When we see a Republican politician break with Trump on one issue, you can be sure it is game planned. Trump has blessed that one deviance, because the Congressman has to appease his constituents, so he is allowed to stray, but only at the end of a leash.
Think of this, if the Democrats take the house, get 67 votes in the Senate. there could be (but won't) a Nuremberg style reckoning take place.
Same with Trump losing an election. Trump and his fascists can't let an honest election take place.
Our only hope is that Europe and the rest of the world backs away, Canada has cast the first stone.
The oligarchs get us every time because we hope the next election will change things. Two elections changed things: Abraham Lincoln's and FDR's.
Thom: Thomas Massey and Marjorie Taylor Greene, both former allies of Trump who’ve called him out, have recently tweeted that they are not suicidal, just like opposition leaders in Russia used to do in the early days. Even Republicans are realizing that Trump’s role model is Vladimir Putin.
Me. The only issue they have in common with us is Epstein.
So far......
We need to pressure Congressional Republicans.
From Lev Parnas: BREAKING: FBI Interviewed Trump Accuser, Logged It in the Epstein Files… and There’s More. The smoking gun has been found in the Epstein Files.
"Roger Sollenberger has broken the story the DOJ tried to bury. We now have evidence of an internal FBI "302" report—a formal interview with a victim aged 13-15—detailing a horrific assault involving Donald Trump. But the timing is what will shock you: The report was formally entered into the FBI system on August 9, 2019. Jeffrey Epstein was dead the very next day."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEPuDuBKgUE
Lev's podcast also showed at least 100 of the Epstein "Class".
TRump doesn't do subtlety, so the timing tracks for the alleged murder of Epstein. I'm pretty sure we are going to see murder after murder surface connected to these monsters. Our President is a mob boss that will do anything to cover his tracks or to exact vengeance.
Got to let it play out. The NY prosecutors probably have concurrent jurisdiction.
As for Zorro Ranch in Santa Fe County:
"Mary Carmack-Altwies is the Democratic District Attorney for New Mexico's First Judicial District (covering Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, and Los Alamos counties), first taking office in 2021. She is known for prosecuting high-profile cases like the Rust movie shooting and focusing on violent crime, gun violence, and increasing DWI convictions."-AI Overview
All true, but so long as Trump controls the DoJ, nothing will come of the Epstein files.
Bondi has only released half the files, and they are heavily redacted, She refuses to release the other half, and no one or nothing can force her.
More baloney.
DOJ is not the only place Epstein files are located. Many of them have been released and there are new developments daily.
Heads are already rolling in Europe. Here, not so much. IMHO there are degrees of culpability. Under state law there is no statute of limitations for rape. States should be able to subpoena all the redacted records relevant to allegations of rape that occurred within their jurisdictions.
Not so clear about pimping and pandering.
Companies and individuals who knew he was running an illegal honeypot operation and did business with him may/may not be culpable. But their records are discoverable.
Lastly those who obstruct justice.
Sen. Ron Wyden has subpoeaned Treasury Department records. Every person mentioned as a perp may have records.
Epstein is dead. His estate is a treasure trove. His lawyers have records.
Since Trump is mentioned thousands of times, I'd send him a subpoena.
Congress already has the Epstein files, or enough them from the Epstein Estate, and what has come of it so far,
Our only hope is from the outside, from Europe and you say heads are rolling, whose? Mark Rutte Sec General of NATO has already backed down.
So what of the fact that there is no statutory limit on rape, if the jurisdictions aren't pursuing a remedy, what good are they.
It is a football fraught with danger, because it involves rich and powerful men and women, and is being kicked upstairs.
In the same way that Mary Moriarty, the prosecutor of Hennepin county, MN could and should charge Jonathan Ross and the two CBP agents with murder, there is plenty of video evidence of the crime, but she won't,because she is afraid that Trump will come after her.
It is one thing to hypothesize about sending a subpoena, but who is going to enforce it. Pam Bondi? Subpoena's are not self enforcing, and when the perp does appear, the chide, ignore, insult Congress and nothing happens.
To wit: Pam Bondi's performance, the fact that she basically spit in the face of the Senate, insulted them, chided them and with impunity, should scare the shit out of you.
Actually, those of us who have tried cases know a perp when we see one.
You fall for every right wing allegation.
Massie and Greene are MAGA sans Trump, They represent the Republican Party that chose Trump.
Here is Michael Sellers on Massie: https://michaeldsellers.substack.com/p/who-exactly-is-thomas-massie-i-took
The Trump Epstein files will not take down Trump or his fascist regime, as long as he has control of the Department of Justice, Homeland Security , the Military and National Security.
Even if we take the house, we need 67 seats in the Senate.
According to defeatists like you.
Wrong Daniel, you are the tamed dog that rolls over, me I am a fighter.
You live in a fantasy where there are honest elections and we can take the Congress.
I live in a world where redistricting, voter caging, voter suppression laws, MAGA election commissions, armed poll watchers,and Dominion voting machines are owned by a Republican operative.
Two different worlds. Yours is the world of submission and compliance, mine is the world of resistance.
We have to start referring to the administration as the "Trump/Vance administration. They will run Vance and we have to tie him to the Nazi policies of Trump as he sinks into oblivion. Also check Andy Ogles. 5th Dist. Tennessee. Bad news guy.
Thanks for being there for us all!
Therre is a youtube that Trump has 2 to 4 months to live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjNYjgIsVnw
Vance will be even worse than Trump. Vance appears to be a true believer, under sway of he tech bros. Trump is motivated solely by his own self interests.
"Administration?" I suggest "Regime."
Dirty deeds is their game and Republican is their name.....
Reminder: "The Department of State may revoke or limit a passport for several reasons, including:
-Seriously Delinquent Tax Debt: Owing over $59,000 (as of 2023) in back taxes, penalties, and interest can cause the IRS to certify the debt, leading to revocation or denial of a new passport.
-Serious Child Support Arrears: Owing $2,500 or more in child support can trigger a passport revocation or hold.
-Fraud: If the passport was obtained fraudulently, altered, or misused.
-Criminal Records: Having certain federal felony drug offenses, outstanding federal warrants for child abduction, or conditions of probation/parole forbidding leaving the country.
-Mistaken Identity or Error: In rare cases, a passport may be mistakenly marked as lost or stolen, causing the identity to be "wiped" or invalidated in the system"-AI Overview
This is just one more thing, Americans won't be looking for. Thanks for the education, Thom. Teach, people, teach!
The stats I saw the other day were there are 23 concentration camps and 150 holding facilities in the works. See you in the streets.
CAUTION: Do not put ICE in any of your social media posts. Use "administration" instead. trump's goons are combing for negative posts on ICE and will soon be coming for the posters. Come to think about it, they are most likely scrutinizing this newsletter and the comments....
Probably good advice, Sofia.
Frankly, I want SEVERAL agencies to read my posts. Guess we will be finding out about just how good Palantir and all this AI sh*t is.
For what it is worth, here is Suetonius, writing 1900+ years ago about the death of the Roman Republic as oligarchs gained power and marginalized the institutions of the state:
The termination of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey forms a new epoch in the Roman History, at which a Republic, which had subsisted with unrivaled glory during a period of about four hundred and sixty years, relapsed into a state of despotism, whence it never more could emerge. So sudden a transition from prosperity to the ruin of public freedom, without the intervention of any foreign enemy, excites a reasonable conjecture, that the constitution in which it could take place, however vigorous in appearance, must have lost that soundness of political health which had enabled it to endure through so many ages.
But in the time of Julius Caesar the barriers of public liberty were become too weak to restrain the audacious efforts of ambitious and desperate men. The veneration for the constitution, usually a powerful check to treasonable designs, had been lately violated… venality universally prevailed amongst the Romans…Caesar's mind was seduced with the temptations of chimerical glory…. He was now no longer amenable either to the tribunal of the Senate or the power of the laws, but triumphed at once over his enemies and the constitution of his country.
Of Triumph's Caesar was assassinated before could build a Triumphal arch, that custom started with August.
Trump is planning his Arc de TRiUMPh, to celebrate his Triumph, and yet no one is paying attention or taking him seriously.
The media and pundits wag their tongues, and tsk,tsk over what he has done to the White House, the Smithsonian, The Kennedy Center, his visage on 30 ft banners from public buildings, when they should be quaking in their boots.
Loud and clear is the message, I own this city, this government and I am not going anywhere.
It would take trillions of dollars to replace the damage that he has done. Some cabinet positions are gone forever, the few remaining can only be cleansed with a massive sweep of personal, standard operating positions, more time will be spent undoing what he has done, than doing the job for which they were created.
But first he has to be removed. Considering that he almost did not leave in 2021, when he did not have absolute control over the Military, Justice and police.
What think you of the possibilities that he will leave in 2029, when he has total control over the Military, DOJ, police and alsmot total control of the Judiciary.
No chance, but he is clearly not in good mental or physical health. Of course with these institutions in place someone else could step in and take over. Napoleon, Hitler, Lenin, they all sat down in the vacant top seat.
The goths and visigoths had a lot to do with it.
Not exactly. While Rome had been occupied by the Gauls around 390 BCE, that was brief and the Republic continued until 31 BCE. The next "barbarian" invasion to take the city--there are your Visigoths--was in 410 CE, 800 years later. There were a lot of reasons why the Roman Republic (let alone the Empire) fell, but concentration of power by the rich without any consistent concerns for the traditions and rights of the people, must have been a lot of it. Also, the institutions set up for a city managing at most a section of Italy weren't working for an expanding empire. There was no flexibility here, only a lust for profit by those who could benefit, and then they fought each other—Thom’s right that oligarchies aren’t very stable. Meanwhile for the state there was the terrible expense of maintaining a large army. Parallels to the U.S. (or, say, the Soviet Union or the British or Spanish empires) can be made at our leisure.
In the 9th grade we learned that Caesar crossed the Rubicon from Gaul, and learned how to fight against a guerilla war. By 476 Rome was extended and inside the empire were pehaps millions of captives and their descendants.
In my Spanish class we spent about a year discussing how the visigoths became the rulers of formerly Roman ruled Spain. AI. The Visigoths ruled over the Iberian Peninsula (modern-day Spain and Portugal) from roughly 418 AD to 711 AD. Initially controlling territory in southern Gaul, they expanded into Spain in the 5th century and, after being defeated by the Franks in 507, consolidated their kingdom with a capital in Toledo, lasting until the Umayyad conquest in 711.
They were at war in Iberia long before that.
BTW, one of my former colleagues has written about it. https://www.amazon.com/Last-Emperor-Robert-Steven-Habermann/dp/1478790016
The Goths came and went, the Visigoths settled in and became Romans in their provinces like Iberia.
It was the Vandals, under Geiseric that dealt the death blow, but only because Rome by that time was weak, corrupted, soft.
The last great Roman general was Flavius Aetius, he stopped Attila the Hun at the batttle of the Catalaunian Fields Chalon) and he Emperor, Valentian III, fearful of Aetius popularity, recalled him to Ravenna, which was the seat of power at that time, and murdered him, it is said by his own hand, that was in 451Ce, thus depriving Rome of it's only real military leadership, four years later in 455 , Geiseric, leader of the Vandals, and a Christian of the Arian persuasion, invaded and sacked Ravenna, on down the boot to Rome, then on to Siciliy, then North Africa (Libya) where the Vandals disappeared into the population, but not their memory, for the Muslims when they conquered Spain, called it r Al-Ándalus or as we know it Andalusia., land of the Vandals.
To them, the Germanic peoples were all the same, and the Visigoths were a Germanic people
"Most Americans are reluctant to say that America is now a fascist country, hoping that the next election will bring Democrats into power and constrain Trump and his lickspittles."
Bingo. This is the best newsletter ever.
The question is, is the situation reversible? Well we will never go back to what was.
Can it be stopped:?
In my inbox:
George Washington couldn't tell a lie. Abraham Lincoln fought to keep our country together. Now, we have a president who's trying to make himself rich off our tax dollars.
This President's Day, we wanted to make sure you heard how Common Cause is holding the current occupant of the White House to the same standards of integrity we would expect from any president – even if it means taking action in court.
Daniel, disgraced ex-reality star and convicted felon, Donald Trump is suing the United States government for billions of dollars.
Who’s on the other side of the courtroom, defending our tax dollars against Trump’s legally baseless personal cash grab?
You guessed it: President Donald Trump. The case is called Trump v. IRS – but the IRS reports up to him, so he’s literally playing both sides!
I’d be laughing… if it weren’t so deeply wrong. We can’t trust a President who spent the past year getting rich at your expense to defend us against his own lawsuit!
That’s why Common Cause is taking legal action. This afternoon, we filed a brief on behalf of our one million-plus members, taxpayers who need a government that defends our interests in court, not Donald Trump’s. [1]
And we’re backed up by a group of former IRS officials who are committed to the rule of law – a particularly brave act given how the President treats those who cross him publicly.
We’ve got a strong case: our justice system is supposed to have two sides making their best arguments – then we let the court decide. When both sides are working for the same person, then anyone who trusts the outcome is burying their head in the sand.
Don’t just take our word for it. Trump himself pointed out how absurd this is, wondering aloud how he’s “supposed to work out a settlement with myself.” [2]
Daniel, I think that’s a great question for the court!
We’re already stretching our legal resources to their limit. We’re battling in court to stop Trump’s DOJ from stealing your private voter data in 15 states and Washington D.C., to reverse rigged voting maps in North Carolina, and to block state laws meant to disenfranchise naturalized citizens.
But here’s what’s at stake if we lose or stay silent: Donald Trump – and anyone else who gains his favor – could sue our government for as much as they want. Then, the U.S. government will pay them off with our money while they laugh all the way to the bank.
If we let that kind of blatant corruption become “business as usual,” this will no longer be the kind of country I want to live in. We cannot normalize this sort of self-dealing or let this president make a joke out of our justice system.
We’ll be in touch as this case moves through the courts – but as one of the million-plus members who power everything we do, I wanted you to be the first to hear that we’ve taken action.
Thanks for all you do,
The team at Common Cause
In a word, no. The U.S. will be forever changed by what's occurring now.
"justice for us, law for the rest" highlights a common critique of legal systems, where "justice" (fairness, favorable outcomes) is seen as reserved for a privileged few, while "the law" (strict rules, penalties) is applied to everyone else.
Not just the US, unless Europe grows a fucking pair, and gets serious about Supporting Ukraine and preparing for Russia, Putin will wear down Ukraine, he has plenty of meat to throw into the grinder, and does not balk at wasting lives.
Even as he fights to genocide Ukraine, he is making plans and building forces, for Estonia and Lithuania, and then onto Poland and Germany. He has allies, Hungary and Slovakia and Transnistra.
It CAN be stopped.
How? And by whom?
Once again Thom has put put truth to us. For how long can a relatively small group of elected and appointed republicans be allowed to control us? Add in the tech billionaires support for that political class and we have the few controlling the many. A definition of oligarchy. Do enough Americans care to stop them? The demonstrations planned for 28 March will provide some answers to that question.
In my inbox:
Daniel, No Kings organizers want almost 9 Million people to show up to stand up to Trump – but to achieve that we need to start organizing NOW!
We know No Kings will make Trump FURIOUS. We’ve seen his default response to being criticized is to try to humiliate, imprison and silence his opponents, so when we turnout we need numbers that are UNSTOPPABLE!
Can we count on you turning out to stop Trump??
++++++
I beg them to concentrate on Congressional Republicans.
The software that WWII Nazis would've loved is here.
It locates targets for death, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiFEFGReIDM
The concentration camps will include biohazard incinerators for the dead, see:
https://x.com/DrEricDing/status/2018304587501912351
VOTE or ???
Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech.
The founding fathers had not anticipated billionaires enabled by the Supreme Court. We have recently seen the Washington Post and CBS News go from historically trusted news sources to fascist billionaire echo chambers. Because elections depend on donations to pay the mass media to broadcast their platforms, billionaires now own the entire legislature. "Vote as I say, or I will finance your opponent in the next election." Ever hear our Führer say that? Of course you have.
In the days of monarchs and peasantry, we referred to the billionaires of those eras as entitled monarchs and "landed gentry." Democracy in America currently enables all persons to own land. But billionaires today are buying up entire neighborhoods crushed by foreclosures, then renting their houses to the working class who cannot afford to buy houses due to obscene mortgage interest. Within the next 50 years or so, one can envision the return of the landed gentry thriving on rent payments, while "governing" itself is replaced by "ruling" billionaires.
Billionaires have long been enabled by Congressional toadies who allowed them to pay little or no taxes due to obscene business deductions and low tax rates, while working people foot the bill for our railroads and interstate highways and Navy to enable safe trade deliveries globally. In 2016 and 2017, our billionaire President paid a mere $750 in income tax each year. Meanwhile, most non-billionaires paid over 15% of their income, thousands of dollars, in taxes.
Tax breaks created most of today's billionaires. Government bailouts kept them in business when they misjudged or mismanaged their assets (recessions too). Today, many billionaires, like the Techbros, are almost entirely financed by government contracts and tax deductions to encourage buying their products.
We must demand that ALL Democratic senators and Congresspeople stop pretending that business as usual is possible. ALL MUST refuse to attend the State of the Union formality in a show of unified defiance to the contempt of Congress, contempt for the Constitution, and contempt for the people that this administration and Trump especially have demonstrated consistently. It is clearly too much to ask, but to make a point, there should be a demand that Trump swear under oath to tell the truth in his speech. We know that oaths have no meaning for this renegade sociopath and that would be merely to illustrate what everyone knows.
I assume that tomorrow we will see the list of offenses which necessitate impeachment and conviction. This must be pursued with the most steely-eyed determination and unified effort possible. Anyone who hesitates does not recognize where we are and the urgent threats we face right now, right here. I am more in favor of listing dozens of impeachable offenses rather than keeping it simple. But whether we throw the book at these vicious malcontents or choose a more legally provable condensed selection of charges, there must be a massive campaign to get Republican defectors to realize that they will face catastrophic conditions if they fail to stop the fascist runaway freight train NOW.
"The danger the Bill of Rights was written for isn’t the one Americans usually watch for.…"
"...one final safeguard, not in the ballot box, but in a structural limit on power itself."
I'm intrigued...
This is so freaking scary to me , that for 10 yrs of djt it has gotten so much worse in our country. The division is getting bigger, I feel that with the upcoming elections, will be the telling of ....Did we actually turn into a Facist State, and the thing in office has truly become A DICTATOR.
I also just heard of a new name for the GOP..... GOVERNMENT OF PEDOFILES!
I guess if the name fits.
Sometimes I toy with the idea of making a sign to put by our driveway:
"Dear ICE, We're Not Going Anywhere.
Please Come Back in the Morning."
Hold that thought, the concentration camps that ICE is building is not to hold immigrants.
I would rather write the second line "Don't bother coming back in the morning"
That was my thought the first time I heard about them.