Resistance against autocracy fuels autocracy. However, a movement with purpose can energize and drive support for a better world. We need to look over the dirt beneath our feet and look up to the horizon. What is it we want to become, who do we want to be?
Please consider supporting the need to identify goals for a successful America (the future we want for our ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren) and a plan to accomplish those goals. My suggestion for consideration is as follows:
Goals for a Successful America:
1. Fair Economy
• A fair sharing of America's prosperity with the middle class
• Quality products for consumers and social responsibility
• Sufficient, but not excessive returns for shareholders
2. Trustworthy Leaders
• Trustworthy leaders will do what's in the best interests of all citizens
• Trustworthy leaders are honest, transparent, and respect others
• Trustworthy leaders result in honest and respectful citizens
3. Effective Government
• Effective government will enact balanced laws that work for all people
• Effective government will enact guidelines for a balanced economy
• Effective government will provide economic and physical security
A Plan to Accomplish those Goals: An Informed Citizens Commission, "By the People, For the People", A free and fair market approach to balancing both left and right ideology and middle and upper class interests
1. Informed Employees for a Fair Economy
• Accurate and meaningful information for employees would include corporation goals for a fair balancing of interests between employees and shareholders, how management incentive compensation plans are designed to achieve those goals, how actual performance and compensation compared with those goals, all as compared with Informed Citizens Commission recommended targets
2. Informed Voters for Trustworthy Leaders
• Accurate and meaningful information for voters would include candidate background information and qualifications for the office, positions on balanced solutions for issues, position on the Informed Citizens Commission, as well as sources of campaign funding and their special interests
3. Informed Representatives for an Effective Government
• Accurate and meaningful information for elected representatives and the people they represent would include information on key issues facing our government, economy, and society; baseline, high level guidelines for solutions to those issues; methods for measuring those solutions; and results of those measurements
4. ICC Organization and Operations
• Advisory Board - Volunteer Professionals
• Commissioners - Volunteer Citizens
• Operations - Professional Staff
• Citizen volunteers would ensure the independence of the commission
The above is outside the box and difficult to see achieving under normal circumstances. I argue that given the current circumstances and trajectory of our country we have no choice but to be outside the box. Resistance is not enough. For more on the above see www.informedcitizens.com
"Resistance against autocracy fuels autocracy." Cute catch phrase but wrong. To wit:
1775 Colonial Ameria, 1789 Royal France (admittedly it did, at first result in a blood thirsty autocracy, but evolved into a Republic.
There was little to no resistance against Der Fuhrer and Il Duce, and none against Orban or any significant resistance to Putin or Erdogan.
Does Rick Schwenk counsel submission?
All your recommendations presume, the survival of democratic and institutional protections. We are past that now, and past that on Jan 20th. We are in the throes of a ham fisted dictatorship when democratic institutions and safeuards are an illusion.
Take court rulings, Trump only complies with adverse rulings that are of no real consequence, others he ignores, and his compliance is only temporary., for appearances, as he continues on with his agenda. Case in point Kilmar Garcia, case in point deportation round ups and flights.
Question: in the absence of institutional, constitutional and legal safeguards, how do we not only save our souls but reverse course?
Got to target the people who can stop this -- now. Congressional Republicans.
Got to be a few California Republicans who see this for what it is.
There are more ways to skin the cat. Trump is vulnerable financially. I don't know this as a fact, but his extortion has probably wiped out many Congressional Republicans' portfolios. This can be tracked.
The Medicare issue arouses many red state governors, who can see the writing on the wall.
The Ukraine issue arouses many Congressional Republicans, including the chjaies of the appropriate committees.
I keep telling you about Baghdad By the Sea. We have 3 Republican Cuban American House members who represent majority Dems. 50% of the population is Hispanic.
A Miami Republican who co-founded the group Latinas for Trump is condemning President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation campaign and blasting recent immigration enforcement actions as harmful. “This is not what we voted for,” State Sen. Ileana Garcia said in a statement on Saturday. “I have always supported Trump, through thick and thin. However, this is unacceptable and inhumane.”
Many Republican American Cuban donors agree including Miami healthcare CEO Michael “Mike” B. Fernandez, who wrote the following open letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and members of the Republican Cuban-American Miami-Dade congressional delegation: U.S. Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Carlos Giménez and Maria Elvira Salazar.
For decades, I have stood with you in defense of the freedoms we cherish, those we were denied in the country of our birth and found in the grace of this one. I know what it means to flee tyranny. Like you, I carry that history in my bones and that pain in my heart.
But like a growing number in our community, I have watched with dismay as the very values we once found sanctuary in are now being attacked by a previously unthinkable threat — the sitting president of the United States.
Daniel, how did these Cuban American Republicans in Miami, that are opposed to Trump. Vote? It is one thing to say they are opposed to Trump and his agenda, but another when they vote.
Regardless of their personal sentiments, it appears that all Republican politicians fall in line when Trump barks.
I am waiting for the Senate Republicans. Their objection,like that of Rand Paul, is to the fact that the cuts in Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, SNAP and in programs that benefit we the people are not deep enough. If they could cut deeper that they could pass a bill that gave them all the tax cuts they want, there would be no hold up
They voted for Trump x 3. They now have remourse. Remember Stallin. The voters are less important to them than their sugar daddies. We know, for example, Rubio's sugar daddy.
IMHO that may be the same in a lot of red states that lose bigly under the BIG CRAPPY bill. Pressure them, and a few may break.
They vote, then turn around and say they are sorry. The vote for the Big Ugly Bill was recent, not an ancient artifact. So they vote one day, the next they say they are sorry.
Fool me once.
Anyway the Big Crappy Bill is up to the Senate now that it has passed the house, and as i said the only Republican objection in the senate is that the cuts to so called "entitlements" aren't deep enough.
Asymmetrical defensive survival. Guerilla strategies. Do not buy into any unnecessary need or service. Bring the economy to a standstill. Watch, wait, think, communicate carefully and off book, and act intelligently. There are a few thousand of these cowards managing a few thousand more thugs. This trainwreck will implode faster than we will explode, unless we foolishly believe we are bulletproof.
Our salvation lies in discomfort and inconvenience. Yes bring the economy to a grinding halt, a halt that is obvious that it is the regimes fault. When the MAGA base, which is at least 40% of the country, start to feel the consequences of the Golem that they created, then there is a chance of reversal.
Right now they are the dog that caught the car, or the cat that caught the rat.
The cat is playing with the rat, but when threatened the rat backs into a corner, bears its teeth and strikes out.
Cats may be great mousers, but they are not ratters. When faced with a Norwegian rat, a cat stops, acts like it is distracted and goes off chasing it's own tail.
None of these will happen if we insist in just putting lipstick on this pig. Capitalism, all of it, will annihilate the planet and its biotic life. Leaders are useless. Leadership is a trap for addicts with inferiority complexes. I do not trust leaders, period. I trust well-regulated and rotating committees who get their cues from the general populace. Not once in your list do you put the planet or its residents at the top. More of anything resembling 'the same' will result in destruction. More of anything will net less of what is completely necessary. No govt. should have power over its own citizens. The govt. serves, not the will, but the most enlightened needs of it citizens. Our thinking is lying desiccated in some plastic coffin inside a rock prison. Why should there be any class, let alone a middle one? Classism is a terminal cancer. Race is imaginary, it does not exist. Your near top suggestion that shareholders get a return give you away. Funny money. Taking something real and destroying it for shares of the loot. All biotic beings are shareholders, get it?
I feel you Thom. But THIS SOCIETY put a very angry man in charge of it. Angry from impeachments, criminal charges and the ensuing mugshots, angry from civil indictments and charges, angry because he lost an election he believes (rightfully or wrongfully) he won, angry that "the system is rigged" (a most ironic statement coming from Smitty), etc. Now, anger in and of itself is not a negative thing. However, when married to cowardice and vindictiveness you get what you've got.
Notice the ebb and flow of that anger. Trump is a psychopath. He thinks he is the "world". He makes his own reality minute by minute. Everything you described, Rohn, is how he survives and thrives. Terry Moran nailed it about Trump's psycho associate Miller---they are the same kind of animal.
It is also true that your brethren voted him into office. Ergo, what is the greater editorial? As I have said one million times: Smiity is not the disease, he is a symptom. To continue to personalize it to "him" is what worries me most. Because it is a continuance of this society's denial which will lead to perpetuation of the 400+ year system that brought him. That's just tough love, baby.
This isn't about Trump (who's not going to be around much longer) but about the white male Xtian nationalist police state he is creating.
I live in Northern California; the biggest things around here (the Redwoods) often stand for 2,000 years. So sure, the bigger they are the harder they fall, but that doesn't\ say anything about when they will.
Meanwhile, majority-race voters in "Taker" states Love their demented ringmaster because he:
a. Proves he really does hate minorities, as, of course, do they
b. Provides them with a constant circus, even if they cannot afford bread
So he wants LA to be Fallujah.
Putin is rolling on the floor laughing at us, crying out "77.3 million morons. No bullets!! . . . I did it !! Without spilling blood. Ukraine is harder to break than the US. Add a cup of HATE and stir."
This varties nationally. One size does not fit all. In rural middle America they support MORE deportations. But they have the tariff problem killing their livlihood, the Medicaid problem, and maybe the Putin problem.
Yesterday, I did an anylisis of Idaho. Yes we have no bananas, but also no potatoes...most sold to Canada and other markets extorted by Trump.
In Ohio, several Republican members support Ukraine. You can't expct them to switch allegiances, but Ohio has hundreds of thousands of Ukraininans, who are univerally exTrumpers, and Mike Turner and David Joyce have been vocal. Pressure them.
Same with FEMA. Check out Missouri, a red state. Hawley defends Medicaid recipients. Opposes Trump FEMA policy.
We are already in the grasp of a Trump dictatorship, and the fist is tightening, the frog is being boiled. Here we are kvetching and gossiping, while Herr Trump,is squeezing the life out of us.
Rachel Maddow show last night, a map of the hundreds of protests that will be taking place on Jun 14th, every where but in DC on Trumps Putinesque birthday parade.
Do you think that peaceful, non violent protests will force Trump to reverse course? Do you really?
We are told that any violence will be used as an excuse to initiate martial law. Does anyone remember the agents provacateur, the agitators in WTO, Portland, the Umbrella Man inMinneapolis, whether they be genuine anarchists are government agents (which most are, like black clad and masked Proud boys), they are the excuse Trump wants to declare martial law.
Here is what I know. Two things will change human behavior, love and hate. Hate is moderated by fear. Fear of reprisal, fear of retribution..
The only thing that can constrain MAGA, Trump, the Paypal mafia, technbro dictatorship is fear.
Trump is using fear to control America, its media, its entertainment, it's politics, it's educational and legal institutions and thus it's populace.
MAGA and Trump are insecure bullies, they can only rule by fear, and thus are themselves susceptible to fear. Their tactic is simple, the best defense is a good offense and Trump has been constantly on the offense, as is his base.
It is way past time to go on the offense and put fear in the hearts and minds of Trump and his MAGAts.
If anyone thinks that they can be won over, they are self deluded. Maybe a few, here and there, but not in numbers of significance.
He loves his WWE events. No doubt he wants the deployed troops to draw blood and break bones.
Not only do we need to show up in overwhelming numbers, it must be made clear that we will hold elections with or without him. I believe the states will do just that. This Administration needs to get the message that when their reign of terror is over---we are coming for them. Unlike the immigrants and some of us, they will get due process.
From what I understand, a lot of those troops are holed-up in buildings with no food and nowhere to sleep. Hell of a job, Hegseth!
I'll be attending, cane in one hand, signs in the other. I live in Santa Cruz, California. We're deep blue here but we're not a huge city so I don't think there will be problems but then again, one of our young deputy sheriff's was gunned down a few years ago when a couple of Boogaloo Boyz came to town & a really small town in the Santa Cruz mountains so there is always the possibility that a cadre of trump supporters will show up to make problems.
My friend & I are both in our '70's & we don't condone violence so if it should break out we will leave & if we can't leave we'll do our best to stand our ground respectfully & peacefully. And really we're safe! I mean who would push 70 something year olds to the ground right?????
😂😂😂😂😂 Did you buy that? 😂😂😂😂😂 I didn't think so! The folks in this group are smart enough to recognize a joke when they see one!
Yes, it was inevitable. The people I discuss matters with here in NYC have agreed that we will know how this is going to turn out by watching the military. It just happened sooner than I expected -- probably due to how quickly the wheels came off the MAGA clown car.
The key will be how the military responds. Not the few clowns DT installed at the top, but the real soldiers, mid-level to general officer rank. If they go along with it, we a F...ed and its time to pack for (fill in the blank).
However, if they balk, ALL right thinking people and the chickensh** Dems need to get behind the ones who refuse to shoot Americans. Talk to them.... Remember the guy in Tienanmen Square who stood in front of the tank for hours. The soldiers refused to run him down...
ALL focus must be upon reaching out to the soldiers in the streets. make it clear we know they are not the enemy... "come join us" -- "let's save America" should be the chants, not some dumb slogans.
In case you haven't realized it yet, This is it. The beginning of the end for either them or us.
To paraphrase Adolf Hitler when he replied to his aides' warning about crossing the Pope on some issue, "How many divisions does he have?"
How many divisions does the USDC have???
I wish I had your faith in the judiciary branch. It is a paper tiger in the face of a committed fascist.
This goes all the way back to the ancient Greek city states: Sparta; then Athens. they took great pains to keep armed and active troops outside the city walls. And most clearly to Rome. The Senate folded to Caesar with the legions in his pocket.
Washington knew this, which is why he resigned and went home to remove any chance of his or a surrogate taking command of the army and establishing a monarchy.
And why Lincoln feared McClellan.
When "it" hits the fan, if the military is in position to back something or someone, it is game over. Not sometimes.... ALWAYS.
As Mao said: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."
Suspension of law: Marines on the streets. The final, brittle guardrail has been torn down.
Suspension of reality: Didn't somebody far wiser than I say that the first step to making people accept a lie is making them reject the truth? If not, I'll take credit.
Now, the liar-in-chief is claiming that Gov. Newsom called him and asked for troops—Newsom adamantly denies this. Pres. is also threatening the American people who dare to demonstrate against his birthday gift to himself, his parade to show military strength against us. The sink hole just gets deeper.
4000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines deployed to LA--many more than the protesters--meant to fuel unrest and not one military personnel sent to quell the violent insurrectionists at our Capitol on January 6th where people died. His own family members were begging him to do so. My mouth is agape....
EVERYONE needs to protest this Saturday. It's going to be big here in Philadelphia as people from DC will be attending since there will not be a protest there. I'm going with 7 friends and neighbors....
The former president of the United States — now reinstalled in the White House through a judicial (Citizens United) and electoral (Musk’s money and X) sleight-of-hand that would make Orbán proud — is sending U.S. Marines into an American city.
Let's not forget Congress. They should have impeached him and voted to NOT have him be able to run for President again after the "real" insurrection. They didn't and here we are. The only thing that can save us now is the Military, you know, the ones that took an oath to support and defend the constitution.
Several months ago I learned that Hakeem Jeffries was pissed about the noise and efforts of “Indivisible” (thanks, Rachel!). Within minutes of learning that, I became a monthly contributor. Indivisible continues to do lifting that’s far too heavy for Democratic “leadership”; 06/14/2025 will provide further proof and more results, and not at the time of the aforementioned’s choosing.
You're not paying attention. We are a minority and have to do jujitsu to get anywhere. This is not an election. Trump's war is now in the senate, not on the streets of LA.
Machievellian psy ops has forced you to undermine your allies.
I'll be attending, cane in one hand, signs in the other. I live in Santa Cruz, California. We're deep blue here but we're not a huge city so I don't think there will be problems but then again, one of our young deputy sheriff's was gunned down a few years ago when a couple of Boogaloo Boyz came to town & a really small town in the Santa Cruz mountains so there is always the possibility that a cadre of trump supporters will show up to make problems.
My friend & I are both in our '70's & we don't condone violence so if it should break out we will leave & if we can't leave we'll do our best to stand our ground respectfully & peacefully. And really we're safe! I mean who would push 70 something year olds to the ground right?????
😂😂😂😂😂 Did you buy that? 😂😂😂😂😂 I didn't think so! The folks in this group are smart enough to recognize a joke when they see one!
Thom,
Resistance against autocracy fuels autocracy. However, a movement with purpose can energize and drive support for a better world. We need to look over the dirt beneath our feet and look up to the horizon. What is it we want to become, who do we want to be?
Please consider supporting the need to identify goals for a successful America (the future we want for our ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren) and a plan to accomplish those goals. My suggestion for consideration is as follows:
Goals for a Successful America:
1. Fair Economy
• A fair sharing of America's prosperity with the middle class
• Quality products for consumers and social responsibility
• Sufficient, but not excessive returns for shareholders
2. Trustworthy Leaders
• Trustworthy leaders will do what's in the best interests of all citizens
• Trustworthy leaders are honest, transparent, and respect others
• Trustworthy leaders result in honest and respectful citizens
3. Effective Government
• Effective government will enact balanced laws that work for all people
• Effective government will enact guidelines for a balanced economy
• Effective government will provide economic and physical security
A Plan to Accomplish those Goals: An Informed Citizens Commission, "By the People, For the People", A free and fair market approach to balancing both left and right ideology and middle and upper class interests
1. Informed Employees for a Fair Economy
• Accurate and meaningful information for employees would include corporation goals for a fair balancing of interests between employees and shareholders, how management incentive compensation plans are designed to achieve those goals, how actual performance and compensation compared with those goals, all as compared with Informed Citizens Commission recommended targets
2. Informed Voters for Trustworthy Leaders
• Accurate and meaningful information for voters would include candidate background information and qualifications for the office, positions on balanced solutions for issues, position on the Informed Citizens Commission, as well as sources of campaign funding and their special interests
3. Informed Representatives for an Effective Government
• Accurate and meaningful information for elected representatives and the people they represent would include information on key issues facing our government, economy, and society; baseline, high level guidelines for solutions to those issues; methods for measuring those solutions; and results of those measurements
4. ICC Organization and Operations
• Advisory Board - Volunteer Professionals
• Commissioners - Volunteer Citizens
• Operations - Professional Staff
• Citizen volunteers would ensure the independence of the commission
The above is outside the box and difficult to see achieving under normal circumstances. I argue that given the current circumstances and trajectory of our country we have no choice but to be outside the box. Resistance is not enough. For more on the above see www.informedcitizens.com
Regards,
Rick Schwenk
Informed Citizens
"Resistance against autocracy fuels autocracy." Cute catch phrase but wrong. To wit:
1775 Colonial Ameria, 1789 Royal France (admittedly it did, at first result in a blood thirsty autocracy, but evolved into a Republic.
There was little to no resistance against Der Fuhrer and Il Duce, and none against Orban or any significant resistance to Putin or Erdogan.
Does Rick Schwenk counsel submission?
All your recommendations presume, the survival of democratic and institutional protections. We are past that now, and past that on Jan 20th. We are in the throes of a ham fisted dictatorship when democratic institutions and safeuards are an illusion.
Take court rulings, Trump only complies with adverse rulings that are of no real consequence, others he ignores, and his compliance is only temporary., for appearances, as he continues on with his agenda. Case in point Kilmar Garcia, case in point deportation round ups and flights.
Question: in the absence of institutional, constitutional and legal safeguards, how do we not only save our souls but reverse course?
Got to target the people who can stop this -- now. Congressional Republicans.
Got to be a few California Republicans who see this for what it is.
There are more ways to skin the cat. Trump is vulnerable financially. I don't know this as a fact, but his extortion has probably wiped out many Congressional Republicans' portfolios. This can be tracked.
The Medicare issue arouses many red state governors, who can see the writing on the wall.
The Ukraine issue arouses many Congressional Republicans, including the chjaies of the appropriate committees.
I keep telling you about Baghdad By the Sea. We have 3 Republican Cuban American House members who represent majority Dems. 50% of the population is Hispanic.
A Miami Republican who co-founded the group Latinas for Trump is condemning President Donald Trump’s mass-deportation campaign and blasting recent immigration enforcement actions as harmful. “This is not what we voted for,” State Sen. Ileana Garcia said in a statement on Saturday. “I have always supported Trump, through thick and thin. However, this is unacceptable and inhumane.”
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article308111995.html#storylink=cpy
Many Republican American Cuban donors agree including Miami healthcare CEO Michael “Mike” B. Fernandez, who wrote the following open letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and members of the Republican Cuban-American Miami-Dade congressional delegation: U.S. Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Carlos Giménez and Maria Elvira Salazar.
For decades, I have stood with you in defense of the freedoms we cherish, those we were denied in the country of our birth and found in the grace of this one. I know what it means to flee tyranny. Like you, I carry that history in my bones and that pain in my heart.
But like a growing number in our community, I have watched with dismay as the very values we once found sanctuary in are now being attacked by a previously unthinkable threat — the sitting president of the United States.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article304271841.html#storylink=cpy
If we can get those 3 to oppose the Big Beautiful bill, we might be able to stop all this stuff.
We need the Republicans opposed to tariffs, Ukraine policy, grift, national security policy, etc to focus. In red states like NC, MO he's defunded FEMA. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/josh-hawley-begs-trump-administration-fema-aid-missouri-1235343815/
We need Murkowski, Collins et al to stop it.
Daniel, how did these Cuban American Republicans in Miami, that are opposed to Trump. Vote? It is one thing to say they are opposed to Trump and his agenda, but another when they vote.
Regardless of their personal sentiments, it appears that all Republican politicians fall in line when Trump barks.
I am waiting for the Senate Republicans. Their objection,like that of Rand Paul, is to the fact that the cuts in Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, SNAP and in programs that benefit we the people are not deep enough. If they could cut deeper that they could pass a bill that gave them all the tax cuts they want, there would be no hold up
They voted for Trump x 3. They now have remourse. Remember Stallin. The voters are less important to them than their sugar daddies. We know, for example, Rubio's sugar daddy.
IMHO that may be the same in a lot of red states that lose bigly under the BIG CRAPPY bill. Pressure them, and a few may break.
They vote, then turn around and say they are sorry. The vote for the Big Ugly Bill was recent, not an ancient artifact. So they vote one day, the next they say they are sorry.
Fool me once.
Anyway the Big Crappy Bill is up to the Senate now that it has passed the house, and as i said the only Republican objection in the senate is that the cuts to so called "entitlements" aren't deep enough.
Not true -- see Hawley, Murkowski et al.
Asymmetrical defensive survival. Guerilla strategies. Do not buy into any unnecessary need or service. Bring the economy to a standstill. Watch, wait, think, communicate carefully and off book, and act intelligently. There are a few thousand of these cowards managing a few thousand more thugs. This trainwreck will implode faster than we will explode, unless we foolishly believe we are bulletproof.
Our salvation lies in discomfort and inconvenience. Yes bring the economy to a grinding halt, a halt that is obvious that it is the regimes fault. When the MAGA base, which is at least 40% of the country, start to feel the consequences of the Golem that they created, then there is a chance of reversal.
Right now they are the dog that caught the car, or the cat that caught the rat.
The cat is playing with the rat, but when threatened the rat backs into a corner, bears its teeth and strikes out.
Cats may be great mousers, but they are not ratters. When faced with a Norwegian rat, a cat stops, acts like it is distracted and goes off chasing it's own tail.
None of these will happen if we insist in just putting lipstick on this pig. Capitalism, all of it, will annihilate the planet and its biotic life. Leaders are useless. Leadership is a trap for addicts with inferiority complexes. I do not trust leaders, period. I trust well-regulated and rotating committees who get their cues from the general populace. Not once in your list do you put the planet or its residents at the top. More of anything resembling 'the same' will result in destruction. More of anything will net less of what is completely necessary. No govt. should have power over its own citizens. The govt. serves, not the will, but the most enlightened needs of it citizens. Our thinking is lying desiccated in some plastic coffin inside a rock prison. Why should there be any class, let alone a middle one? Classism is a terminal cancer. Race is imaginary, it does not exist. Your near top suggestion that shareholders get a return give you away. Funny money. Taking something real and destroying it for shares of the loot. All biotic beings are shareholders, get it?
I feel you Thom. But THIS SOCIETY put a very angry man in charge of it. Angry from impeachments, criminal charges and the ensuing mugshots, angry from civil indictments and charges, angry because he lost an election he believes (rightfully or wrongfully) he won, angry that "the system is rigged" (a most ironic statement coming from Smitty), etc. Now, anger in and of itself is not a negative thing. However, when married to cowardice and vindictiveness you get what you've got.
Notice the ebb and flow of that anger. Trump is a psychopath. He thinks he is the "world". He makes his own reality minute by minute. Everything you described, Rohn, is how he survives and thrives. Terry Moran nailed it about Trump's psycho associate Miller---they are the same kind of animal.
True, true.
It is also true that your brethren voted him into office. Ergo, what is the greater editorial? As I have said one million times: Smiity is not the disease, he is a symptom. To continue to personalize it to "him" is what worries me most. Because it is a continuance of this society's denial which will lead to perpetuation of the 400+ year system that brought him. That's just tough love, baby.
Hope our tough-love lesson doesn't take another 400 yrs to soak-in. I know I'm listening, and so are my friends. Peace be on us all this Saturday.
400 years? I doubt we have 40.
The bigger (and madder) they are, the harder they fall.
This isn't about Trump (who's not going to be around much longer) but about the white male Xtian nationalist police state he is creating.
I live in Northern California; the biggest things around here (the Redwoods) often stand for 2,000 years. So sure, the bigger they are the harder they fall, but that doesn't\ say anything about when they will.
If you have an axe.....
Chopping down trees is considerably different in that the trees don't fight back.
Meanwhile, majority-race voters in "Taker" states Love their demented ringmaster because he:
a. Proves he really does hate minorities, as, of course, do they
b. Provides them with a constant circus, even if they cannot afford bread
So he wants LA to be Fallujah.
Putin is rolling on the floor laughing at us, crying out "77.3 million morons. No bullets!! . . . I did it !! Without spilling blood. Ukraine is harder to break than the US. Add a cup of HATE and stir."
This varties nationally. One size does not fit all. In rural middle America they support MORE deportations. But they have the tariff problem killing their livlihood, the Medicaid problem, and maybe the Putin problem.
Yesterday, I did an anylisis of Idaho. Yes we have no bananas, but also no potatoes...most sold to Canada and other markets extorted by Trump.
In Ohio, several Republican members support Ukraine. You can't expct them to switch allegiances, but Ohio has hundreds of thousands of Ukraininans, who are univerally exTrumpers, and Mike Turner and David Joyce have been vocal. Pressure them.
Same with FEMA. Check out Missouri, a red state. Hawley defends Medicaid recipients. Opposes Trump FEMA policy.
We are already in the grasp of a Trump dictatorship, and the fist is tightening, the frog is being boiled. Here we are kvetching and gossiping, while Herr Trump,is squeezing the life out of us.
Rachel Maddow show last night, a map of the hundreds of protests that will be taking place on Jun 14th, every where but in DC on Trumps Putinesque birthday parade.
Do you think that peaceful, non violent protests will force Trump to reverse course? Do you really?
We are told that any violence will be used as an excuse to initiate martial law. Does anyone remember the agents provacateur, the agitators in WTO, Portland, the Umbrella Man inMinneapolis, whether they be genuine anarchists are government agents (which most are, like black clad and masked Proud boys), they are the excuse Trump wants to declare martial law.
Here is what I know. Two things will change human behavior, love and hate. Hate is moderated by fear. Fear of reprisal, fear of retribution..
The only thing that can constrain MAGA, Trump, the Paypal mafia, technbro dictatorship is fear.
Trump is using fear to control America, its media, its entertainment, it's politics, it's educational and legal institutions and thus it's populace.
MAGA and Trump are insecure bullies, they can only rule by fear, and thus are themselves susceptible to fear. Their tactic is simple, the best defense is a good offense and Trump has been constantly on the offense, as is his base.
It is way past time to go on the offense and put fear in the hearts and minds of Trump and his MAGAts.
If anyone thinks that they can be won over, they are self deluded. Maybe a few, here and there, but not in numbers of significance.
William,you are right ,we must make them fear,we must go on offense. Start with an offense against the disgusting Techno-Fascists.
If you have an armory larger than a small nation what do you think fear is going to do?
Never up, never in.
Blood Thirsty TRump
He loves his WWE events. No doubt he wants the deployed troops to draw blood and break bones.
Not only do we need to show up in overwhelming numbers, it must be made clear that we will hold elections with or without him. I believe the states will do just that. This Administration needs to get the message that when their reign of terror is over---we are coming for them. Unlike the immigrants and some of us, they will get due process.
From what I understand, a lot of those troops are holed-up in buildings with no food and nowhere to sleep. Hell of a job, Hegseth!
See you in the streets Saturday and beyond.
That, dahlink, will take c-o-u-r-a-g-e. A seemingly rare commodity as far as I can see. Time for a gut-check, Amerika.
I'll be attending, cane in one hand, signs in the other. I live in Santa Cruz, California. We're deep blue here but we're not a huge city so I don't think there will be problems but then again, one of our young deputy sheriff's was gunned down a few years ago when a couple of Boogaloo Boyz came to town & a really small town in the Santa Cruz mountains so there is always the possibility that a cadre of trump supporters will show up to make problems.
My friend & I are both in our '70's & we don't condone violence so if it should break out we will leave & if we can't leave we'll do our best to stand our ground respectfully & peacefully. And really we're safe! I mean who would push 70 something year olds to the ground right?????
😂😂😂😂😂 Did you buy that? 😂😂😂😂😂 I didn't think so! The folks in this group are smart enough to recognize a joke when they see one!
Find the closest Republican House member and camp out on the sidewalk.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_representatives_from_California
NEWSOM SHOULD ARREST TRUMP. Attacking US citizens and trying to dismantle the government is treason.
Can't arrest Trump, but can arrest the ICE et al on the ground who break state law.
He filed a complaint, should have an interim order any minute now.
This is all pretext to pass the BIG CRAPPY bill. This goes well with his base.
Yes, it was inevitable. The people I discuss matters with here in NYC have agreed that we will know how this is going to turn out by watching the military. It just happened sooner than I expected -- probably due to how quickly the wheels came off the MAGA clown car.
The key will be how the military responds. Not the few clowns DT installed at the top, but the real soldiers, mid-level to general officer rank. If they go along with it, we a F...ed and its time to pack for (fill in the blank).
However, if they balk, ALL right thinking people and the chickensh** Dems need to get behind the ones who refuse to shoot Americans. Talk to them.... Remember the guy in Tienanmen Square who stood in front of the tank for hours. The soldiers refused to run him down...
ALL focus must be upon reaching out to the soldiers in the streets. make it clear we know they are not the enemy... "come join us" -- "let's save America" should be the chants, not some dumb slogans.
In case you haven't realized it yet, This is it. The beginning of the end for either them or us.
D. Laghezza
The key is how the USDC responds.
I disagree.
To paraphrase Adolf Hitler when he replied to his aides' warning about crossing the Pope on some issue, "How many divisions does he have?"
How many divisions does the USDC have???
I wish I had your faith in the judiciary branch. It is a paper tiger in the face of a committed fascist.
This goes all the way back to the ancient Greek city states: Sparta; then Athens. they took great pains to keep armed and active troops outside the city walls. And most clearly to Rome. The Senate folded to Caesar with the legions in his pocket.
Washington knew this, which is why he resigned and went home to remove any chance of his or a surrogate taking command of the army and establishing a monarchy.
And why Lincoln feared McClellan.
When "it" hits the fan, if the military is in position to back something or someone, it is game over. Not sometimes.... ALWAYS.
As Mao said: "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."
That's Trump's fanatasy. We aren't Germany.
Suspension of law: Marines on the streets. The final, brittle guardrail has been torn down.
Suspension of reality: Didn't somebody far wiser than I say that the first step to making people accept a lie is making them reject the truth? If not, I'll take credit.
Now, the liar-in-chief is claiming that Gov. Newsom called him and asked for troops—Newsom adamantly denies this. Pres. is also threatening the American people who dare to demonstrate against his birthday gift to himself, his parade to show military strength against us. The sink hole just gets deeper.
Let's ask our christian nationalist neighbors -
What would Jesus do?
None of this.
That's why they are so deeply personally psychologically hypocritical in their MAGAT experience that they will never be able to back down.
Do the MAGATs really think Jesus would do all this? Maybe they really do.
4000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines deployed to LA--many more than the protesters--meant to fuel unrest and not one military personnel sent to quell the violent insurrectionists at our Capitol on January 6th where people died. His own family members were begging him to do so. My mouth is agape....
EVERYONE needs to protest this Saturday. It's going to be big here in Philadelphia as people from DC will be attending since there will not be a protest there. I'm going with 7 friends and neighbors....
The former president of the United States — now reinstalled in the White House through a judicial (Citizens United) and electoral (Musk’s money and X) sleight-of-hand that would make Orbán proud — is sending U.S. Marines into an American city.
Let's not forget Congress. They should have impeached him and voted to NOT have him be able to run for President again after the "real" insurrection. They didn't and here we are. The only thing that can save us now is the Military, you know, the ones that took an oath to support and defend the constitution.
Same as yesterday's Report:
EVERY. SINGLE. WORD.
Several months ago I learned that Hakeem Jeffries was pissed about the noise and efforts of “Indivisible” (thanks, Rachel!). Within minutes of learning that, I became a monthly contributor. Indivisible continues to do lifting that’s far too heavy for Democratic “leadership”; 06/14/2025 will provide further proof and more results, and not at the time of the aforementioned’s choosing.
Psy ops works. MAGA is the enemy.
Agreed, but an opposition party would help.
You're not paying attention. We are a minority and have to do jujitsu to get anywhere. This is not an election. Trump's war is now in the senate, not on the streets of LA.
Machievellian psy ops has forced you to undermine your allies.
I'll be attending, cane in one hand, signs in the other. I live in Santa Cruz, California. We're deep blue here but we're not a huge city so I don't think there will be problems but then again, one of our young deputy sheriff's was gunned down a few years ago when a couple of Boogaloo Boyz came to town & a really small town in the Santa Cruz mountains so there is always the possibility that a cadre of trump supporters will show up to make problems.
My friend & I are both in our '70's & we don't condone violence so if it should break out we will leave & if we can't leave we'll do our best to stand our ground respectfully & peacefully. And really we're safe! I mean who would push 70 something year olds to the ground right?????
😂😂😂😂😂 Did you buy that? 😂😂😂😂😂 I didn't think so! The folks in this group are smart enough to recognize a joke when they see one!