Dictators don’t go quietly. They orchestrate fear, silence dissent, and distract with spectacle. Trump’s moves in 2025 suggest he’s not planning to lose power — no matter the cost.
Thank you for the analysis and warning for what may be in our near future. It always strikes me that the term "strongmen" is used to represent evil, demented and morally vacant men who have obtained too much power...
Another scenario. He's selling the country... All this political stuff is secondary to theft. The total asset value of the United States, including financial and non-financial assets, is estimated to be at least $269 trillion. This figure represents a substantial portion of the global economy, with domestic businesses and net real estate being the largest asset classes. The US also holds significant financial liabilities, primarily foreign claims on US assets, totaling $41.6 trillion. Trump wants all of it -- and more.
His dinner tonight is emblematic, the “most EXCLUSIVE INVITATION in the world,” set to take place at the Trump National Golf Club, just outside of Washington, DC. 220 of the largest investors in his $TRUMP meme coin, whose current or previous holdings of the cryptocurrency earned them a seat at the table.
An analysis by Bloomberg News found that all but six of the top 25 holders of the $TRUMP memecoin used foreign exchanges that are ostensibly off-limits to anyone living in the US. More than half of the top 220 holders used similar offshore exchanges, according to Bloomberg.
Trump extorts foreign countries. That Qattar plane is not the only "gift." How did Trump resorts in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and even Viet Nam pop up?
Meanwhile our currency isn't safe. According to NPR, Trump has urged Congress to pass the GENIUS Act, which would make it easier for U.S. companies to deal in a type of cryptocurrency known as stablecoin. After advocating for passage of the bill, the Trump family crypto company started issuing its own stablecoin and became one of the biggest issuers in the world. Stablecoins are extremely popular in the crypto world, and they're a way of having a type of a token that has a steady value. It's worth a dollar, no matter what is happening in the Bitcoin market up or down, because there's so much volatility in crypto. And the advantage of a stablecoin is once you have dollar-to-dollar crypto token, you can use it to buy and sell things because it has a reliable value.
Per Eric Lipton. World Liberty was effectively created in September, October of last year, as the presidential election was coming towards a close. And it's a brand-new company, therefore - I mean, relatively speaking - and its goal is …to be a modern-day bank that offers a range of services. And it started off by selling tokens, in which you could buy - it's called a governance token, and you could buy the right to have some say in decisions that the company's making. “So before the election, they had a really hard time selling those tokens because it was started off by Trump's sons and some of their friends who had some experience in the crypto sector, but there wasn't much, you know, motion behind it. So they only sold tens of millions of dollars in tokens initially. But once Trump was elected, suddenly, you know, there's the thought, oh, it's the - going to be the future president of the United States. This is probably going to do well. He's going to have the power to influence policy. And next thing you know, they sell $550 million worth of tokens, and a large chunk of the revenue from those tokens is supposed to be going to the Trump family and their business partners.” https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/nx-s1-5388474/how-trump-family-business-ventures-stand-to-directly-benefit-the-president
Will Trump tokens become the coin of the realm?
Will the dollar wind up like the Deutscemark in Weimar Germany when a wheelbarrow load coouldn't buy a loaf of pumpernickel?
Yes, it will end up that way, I predict. Our dollar won't be worth anything if it's no longer the international currency that's used for major business transactions. the U.S. dollar has always been the common currency of Int'l business, etc. I believe it is that, which has made our dollar worth what it is, not the paper it's printed on.
Thing is, we are no longer very stable & countries are concerned about that &'the fact that we don't seem to be too concerned. We should be tho! Russia & China would both love to take our place as "world doing business" currency. I don't think Russia is in good position to take it over, but China sure is! Our instability is bad for the Int'l business community. And our instability is worse with Trump at the helm! We don't get told that on the news, but the rest of the world is well aware of it. Trump's volatility & lack of control + general ignorance of how things work in the REAL WORLD, are all liabilities for the USA. Trump & his billionaire pals don't really care (on a personal level) how bad he crashes stock market, etc. -- they all have plenty of money to wait out such things! Most of us regular folks DO NOT!! I don't think Trump can appreciate what the world thinks & likely to handle it with all the finesse of a 20lb sledgehammer! And no one seems to have ANY control over what he does. His Advisors this time are as ignorant as he is as to what they need to know in order to properly advise him...basically, it's a crap shoot! I can't recall anytime in my 66yrs that so many nations & leaders have been as exasperated & disgusted with the USA as they are right now! Trump is the WRONG LEADER at the wrong time!! The fools who ran him as their candidate are idiots & all are now acting like he "isn't their problem". Oh, but he IS, & if they cannot control the idiot they let loose upon the world for the 2nd time, then we're in deep shit! Really deep! We have burned thru the goodwill we had built up over many years ~ we did that last Trump term...& this 1 is already 100x worse! And Trump doesn't give a damn what anyone thinks, nor does he listen to people smarter then he is, with experience he lacks.
None of this is a good thing & while 1/2 this Country may be willing to put up with his crappy handling of everything, distracted as he is by putting millions in private $$$ in his own pocket, that is NOT how the rest of the world feels. Not the other 1/2 of this Country.
Basically, in 1 of the stupidest moves the U.S. has ever made, we/they put a rogue bull, a loose cannon that's delusional _ living in his own bubble, more interested in his own fortune, than anything, or anyone else's concerns. Plus, he enjoys causing chaos & confusion. As the perfect poster child for Malignant Narcissism, you can count on him being self-absorbed, belligerent & abusive, but not much else!
This Country has lost its way & put the devil in charge as "trail guide"... No good can come from this & the world is not inclined to be patient with Trump, or rest of us, at this time. We are teetering on a precipice, with 1,000ft drop on the other side & no safety net, with a "leader" that's a loser & has been so rude & intolerable to our allies & trading partners, that we have used up all the goodwill & tolerance we once had & are now in "negative territory". Right now, we have no friends willing to go to bat for us & I don't blame them, do you? We all barely managed to survive this insufferable boar, that acts like a spoiled, undisciplined, rich, bratty child...& everyone seems inclined to "baby him", for some stupid reason!
I have no doubt that we will the the day some moron thought it was smart to put Trump back into the WH so soon...anything less than 100yrs is too soon for most of the world's leaders to have to deal with him again! We will pay that price...not him, of course. And, the GOP, for its stupidity & lies, along with their "looking the other way" now that they have him back in power (where he does NOT belong!)...should lose every seat they have 'up for grabs' in 2026. They are traitors & deserve to be treated as such. They aren't doing the work they're supposed to be doing & think that their election fraud techniques from this time, guarantee them victory next election too. And maybe it will, since the "opposition Party" doesn't seem to have much to say these days, except for a handful of brave, outspoken people that are carrying the load for now. It feels like we have 2 bought-off parties, just crossing their fingers & hoping for the best.🧐Huh!🧐We're used to pulling out weight & allies having our back when needed...but, thanks to MAGA/GOP & Trumpty-Dumpty + his butt-kissing, know nothings & his & Elon's demolition of our Fed Gov't, Agencies, budgets & staffing, we find ourselves in a place we have NEVER been in before! And we have a deaf, blind & stupid Captain piloting the ship!!!
Too bad there's no one with the balls to do what's needed in Washington, DC! Just a bunch of cowards looking to get very rich "on the side" while there's a GRIFTER in charge of everything...a grifter with SCOTUS' gift of "immunity" no less!!!
"God Help us"...but I doubt it. Sometimes He Lets us learn lessons the hard way, if we insist... I wonder if Canada is taking any 🇺🇲 of us in?? I will gladly give up my citizenship, for 1st time in my life!! Never even considered that before, but this just ISN'T my country anymore!
Just look at its entire life; it never created a single success that did not get backstopped by multiple elements of deceit, betrayals and criminality, And those successes were parasitic, like selling a name brand while never actually carrying a product or service into the arena of functional usefulness.
Dale Carnegie, P.T. Barnum and Herr Hitler - three authors it relies on, to this day. But as cells atrophy and are not cleansed via autophagy, the vessel becomes a cesspool of its own detritus, replete with anaerobic decomposers. Any biotic life form resists death, even while in its throes. The struggle becomes manic, the overreach is tremendous, the desperation mounts when the subject knows its life has been as useless as its death will be forgotten.
We are living with a dying, perverse sadist. Let us try to avoid dying with it.
To be honest, I've been waiting for a terrorist attack. I mistakenly thought/think that the country would rise up against trump because of the obvious tie between cutbacks to security personnel & measures. I'm surprised at my 'slip' into the fantasy that country would rise up against trump for the obvious part he & his administration will play in any attack. I must be more tired & overwhelmed than I thought! Now I realize that it's obvious that an attack will be welcomed, if not orchestrated, by trump. How I could allow myself into believing that his followers would be able to see
how/why this will happen & blame trump is a decided slip of my limited intelligence & forethought.
Thanks for the reminder that the US is dealing with a vast majority of people that either don't know; don't care or are happy about the direction this country is heading. I have to be more realistic in my assumptions about the citizens of this country. Our poor grandchildren, left to sort out & hopefully repair the damage being wrought to our country on every level!
That's why protests need to take on an economic dimension, boycotts of targeted companies and if need be the IRS as well. You have 10 dependents, right?
Convergence. Read Krugman this morning on sudden economic collapse. To be followed by a "Reichstag Fire", to be followed by Martial Law and storm troopers - US Military and Proud Boys etc. - in the streets. We're not going to make it to the 2026 elections. It will be all over, one way or the other, by then.
Supreme Court delusions notwithstanding, corporations are not people. Perhaps if they were, corporate media would demonstrate an awareness of the social contract that actual people tend to share. As it is, said media is currently far more invested in Joe Biden-related issues than in the accelerating replacement of our democracy with fascism. Corporate Democrats are reluctant, at best, to forcefully confront the issue and demand the M$M do its job. (Thoreau: “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root”). Other elected Democrats, perhaps with the aid of recovering Republicans, must find a way to play the media as effectively as do the fascists. Bernie and AOC are leading the charge; we need much more of that.
Trump is not just losing here in the homeland. The recent elections in several nations left the Trump wannabes out in the cold. It just happened in Romania--it was due to record turnout of the younger voters.
Planning something like that would be exactly what a bunch of psychos would do. His focus is so scattered these days, he couldn't personally plan a car crash, but Miller and others within the cabal certainly could.
Should it happen, we can only hope there is a weak-link with a conscience that gets read-in to such an operation that will blow the lid off. Probably shouldn't call anyone weak that fights this extremely dangerous regime. People are only a plane ride away from having their citizenship and life destroyed till this monster is put in a box or is gone.
Thanks for the heads-up, Thom. You and the crew are very brave. The Resistance is growing, and they are not that gullible. See you in the streets.
Yes. Agree, but will this system who props him up and pulls his strings disappear or merely replace with another easily manipulated madman…Vance, etc.?
It’s hard to imagine this political/billionaire/fanatical group in power now not currently training their own personal militarized organization that will administer the implementation of level 2 of their take over.
I’d be willing to bet it will become evident when this so-called birthday parade takes place. This parade will demonstrate what big teeth they have and what they are willing to point into a crowd to maintain their supremacy.
They tell their constituents that their takeover will be peaceful on one hand to keep them faithful and silent, but when there’s enough nuts with guns in place who understand a command, we will no doubt see the teeth bared, and peace go out the window.
Trump may resist giving up power, but that won't prevent it's being stripped from him. And not by some wishy-washy process like elections. No. Eventually the guys who are really running the show will tire of his act; and then, whether by 25th Amendment, hemlock or some other means, they will rid themselves of him. Then their boy Vance will do their bidding unimpeded.
This is true. There always seems to be a 9/11 or 10/07 that bails out every aspiring autocrat from his own incompetence, reinforces his wildly paranoid world-view, and sends us and the world on another horrifying round of atrocity and repression against an enemy that could be anyone or everyone. Our weakness as a species.
As a side note, it occurred to me later that other criminals who won't be investigated includes smugglers. They must be delighted. ICE, after all, is supposed to deal with customs enforcement. It is literally their middle name.
1. Today on Joyce Vance a poster reported: There is trouble at the northern border. We spoke with Canadian friend yesterday. He is a retired city planner. He spoke of his friends (a Canadian couple) that were planning to visit their daughter in the US. The border guard asked the man how he felt about Trump. The man said as a Canadian, he would rather not answer. The couple was refused entry. They tried another border entry and were told they were banned from the US for 2 years. This is not a story on the internet. This frightening story is from a trusted friend. How can this be happening?
2. Today the Miami Herald reports ICE agents in Miami find new spot to carry out arrests: Immigration court By Milena Malaver , Grethel Aguila , Jacqueline Charles and Syra Ortiz Blanes Updated May 22, 2025
"Federal agents in plain clothes staked out the hallways of Miami’s downtown immigration courthouse for hours and arrested at least four unsuspecting men as they walked out of courtrooms on Wednesday."
3. While Trump is accusing Venezuela of being a terrorist country at war with us, "The Trump administration is quietly negotiating a high-stakes deal with the Nicolás Maduro regime to allow Chevron to continue exporting Venezuelan oil to the U.S. in exchange for Caracas accepting the return of thousands of Venezuelan migrants likely to lose their legal status in the coming weeks, sources in Washington and Caracas familiar with the talks told the Miami Herald."
...In March, the Trump administration revoked Chevron’s license, issued during the Biden presidency, and ordered the company to wind down operations by the end of May. That 2022 license had enabled Chevron to produce and export oil despite broader U.S. sanctions on the socialist regime.
"...The push to normalize relations with Venezuela is reportedly backed by powerful players in the oil lobby, including Florida businessman Harry Sargeant and conservative activist Laura Loomer, who have publicly campaigned in favor of lifting sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector. On social media, Loomer claimed Trump had already agreed to extend Chevron’s license and attributed the decision to Grenell. However, she warned that the proposal is facing internal resistance, particularly from Cuban American lawmakers and State Department officials, including Special Envoy Mauricio Claver-Carone. “Some officials are letting personal biases cloud their judgment on what is best for America’s energy independence,” Loomer wrote on X, emphasizing that failing to extend Chevron’s license could cede important ground to China. “Venezuela holds the largest proven oil reserves in the world—over 300 billion barrels—alongside enormous deposits of gold, coltan, bauxite, diamonds, and nickel. Why would we want China to benefit from those resources instead of the United States? It’s insanity,” she said. On Wednesday, in another post on X, Loomer took Miami’s three Cuban Republicans to task for “threatening” to vote against Trump’s budget if extends the licenses for Chevron for another 60 days. “If this is true,” she wrote, “it will prove that the bias of these reps ... because they would rather have a Hispanic tit for tat over Maduro instead of safeguarding energy resources from going to the CCP,” the Chinese Communist Party."
Thanks for the research. Dispiriting doesn't begin to describe how awful it is that so many Americans support this kind of cruel and ruthless. Nazification of the country.
While the polls show Trump sliding, he is clearly only sliding with Independents - not MAGAs - not yet, at least. It is going to take the proverbial 2x4 upside the head to free MAGAs of their cultish my-president-right-or-wrong loyalty. Mass unemployment, repos, and foreclosures will likely turn the MAGA tide.
What did voters expect from a clown who has had 6 bankruptcies and openly embraces tariffs? Stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Now we can look forward to global bankruptcy. What Trump did by placing tariffs on all countries was to declare World War 3 - a war of global destruction without nukes. Thanks to Trump, America now stands alone in the world, vilified by all allies and enemies.
One wildcard Thom overlooked for failing Trump was his Gestapo, called ICE. We are already seeing law-enforcement thuggery against dissenting elected officials. While MAGAs may finally get woke from the tariff pain, it may be too late to reverse the dictatorship. We do not need all these new prisons to hold immigrants we are deporting. Trump needs them to hold outraged citizens. It worked for Hitler and gulags are a fixture in Russia
Keep sounding the horn. It must be talked about and often then handed to the conspiracy theorists (who are best at getting out the message to the people we can never reach). Your words are not conspiracy.
This newsletter has me totally terrorized (does this make Thom a domestic terrorist?). The possible scenario painted here is that of the guy who shoots and kills his girlfriend who left him for another man with the attitude of if-I-can't-have-her-no-one-can, then kills himself. If trump finds the corner he's in getting smaller and smaller, what can prevent him from pushing the nuclear button?
Ms. Demas, nothing "can prevent him from pushing the nuclear button."
I recall a time when a skirmish broke out between American and North Korean soldiers in the DMZ. Americans had cut down some trees and this angered the Koreans who then killed some American soldiers. This infuriated the unstable American commander who ordered his air elements, including nuclear armed bombers to attack the North Koreans. The damage was one American helicopter shot down and one North Korean tank destroyed. But the pilot of the nuclear armed American bomber orbiting at 20,000 feet refused to carry out his order and turned back, rather than start the nuclear WWlll.
There is at least one report of a Russian military commander who saved the world from nuclear annihilation under similar circumstances on a different occasion.
Yes, these are perilously thin threads to hang our future on. This is why the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has set their "doomsday clock" at 90 seconds to nuclear armageddon.
For those interested in our future, I recommend A SHORT HISTORY OF PROGRESS by Ronald Wright, Carroll and Graf Publishers, 2005.
Or, more to the point about an American version of the reichstag fire read 911 by Noam Chomsky, Seven stories press/New York, 2002.
Thank you for the analysis and warning for what may be in our near future. It always strikes me that the term "strongmen" is used to represent evil, demented and morally vacant men who have obtained too much power...
Another scenario. He's selling the country... All this political stuff is secondary to theft. The total asset value of the United States, including financial and non-financial assets, is estimated to be at least $269 trillion. This figure represents a substantial portion of the global economy, with domestic businesses and net real estate being the largest asset classes. The US also holds significant financial liabilities, primarily foreign claims on US assets, totaling $41.6 trillion. Trump wants all of it -- and more.
His dinner tonight is emblematic, the “most EXCLUSIVE INVITATION in the world,” set to take place at the Trump National Golf Club, just outside of Washington, DC. 220 of the largest investors in his $TRUMP meme coin, whose current or previous holdings of the cryptocurrency earned them a seat at the table.
An analysis by Bloomberg News found that all but six of the top 25 holders of the $TRUMP memecoin used foreign exchanges that are ostensibly off-limits to anyone living in the US. More than half of the top 220 holders used similar offshore exchanges, according to Bloomberg.
Trump extorts foreign countries. That Qattar plane is not the only "gift." How did Trump resorts in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and even Viet Nam pop up?
Meanwhile our currency isn't safe. According to NPR, Trump has urged Congress to pass the GENIUS Act, which would make it easier for U.S. companies to deal in a type of cryptocurrency known as stablecoin. After advocating for passage of the bill, the Trump family crypto company started issuing its own stablecoin and became one of the biggest issuers in the world. Stablecoins are extremely popular in the crypto world, and they're a way of having a type of a token that has a steady value. It's worth a dollar, no matter what is happening in the Bitcoin market up or down, because there's so much volatility in crypto. And the advantage of a stablecoin is once you have dollar-to-dollar crypto token, you can use it to buy and sell things because it has a reliable value.
Per Eric Lipton. World Liberty was effectively created in September, October of last year, as the presidential election was coming towards a close. And it's a brand-new company, therefore - I mean, relatively speaking - and its goal is …to be a modern-day bank that offers a range of services. And it started off by selling tokens, in which you could buy - it's called a governance token, and you could buy the right to have some say in decisions that the company's making. “So before the election, they had a really hard time selling those tokens because it was started off by Trump's sons and some of their friends who had some experience in the crypto sector, but there wasn't much, you know, motion behind it. So they only sold tens of millions of dollars in tokens initially. But once Trump was elected, suddenly, you know, there's the thought, oh, it's the - going to be the future president of the United States. This is probably going to do well. He's going to have the power to influence policy. And next thing you know, they sell $550 million worth of tokens, and a large chunk of the revenue from those tokens is supposed to be going to the Trump family and their business partners.” https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/nx-s1-5388474/how-trump-family-business-ventures-stand-to-directly-benefit-the-president
Will Trump tokens become the coin of the realm?
Will the dollar wind up like the Deutscemark in Weimar Germany when a wheelbarrow load coouldn't buy a loaf of pumpernickel?
"Will Trump tokens become the coin of the realm?" - sounds like a genius idea! After the coup - woo-hoo!!
Yes, it will end up that way, I predict. Our dollar won't be worth anything if it's no longer the international currency that's used for major business transactions. the U.S. dollar has always been the common currency of Int'l business, etc. I believe it is that, which has made our dollar worth what it is, not the paper it's printed on.
Thing is, we are no longer very stable & countries are concerned about that &'the fact that we don't seem to be too concerned. We should be tho! Russia & China would both love to take our place as "world doing business" currency. I don't think Russia is in good position to take it over, but China sure is! Our instability is bad for the Int'l business community. And our instability is worse with Trump at the helm! We don't get told that on the news, but the rest of the world is well aware of it. Trump's volatility & lack of control + general ignorance of how things work in the REAL WORLD, are all liabilities for the USA. Trump & his billionaire pals don't really care (on a personal level) how bad he crashes stock market, etc. -- they all have plenty of money to wait out such things! Most of us regular folks DO NOT!! I don't think Trump can appreciate what the world thinks & likely to handle it with all the finesse of a 20lb sledgehammer! And no one seems to have ANY control over what he does. His Advisors this time are as ignorant as he is as to what they need to know in order to properly advise him...basically, it's a crap shoot! I can't recall anytime in my 66yrs that so many nations & leaders have been as exasperated & disgusted with the USA as they are right now! Trump is the WRONG LEADER at the wrong time!! The fools who ran him as their candidate are idiots & all are now acting like he "isn't their problem". Oh, but he IS, & if they cannot control the idiot they let loose upon the world for the 2nd time, then we're in deep shit! Really deep! We have burned thru the goodwill we had built up over many years ~ we did that last Trump term...& this 1 is already 100x worse! And Trump doesn't give a damn what anyone thinks, nor does he listen to people smarter then he is, with experience he lacks.
None of this is a good thing & while 1/2 this Country may be willing to put up with his crappy handling of everything, distracted as he is by putting millions in private $$$ in his own pocket, that is NOT how the rest of the world feels. Not the other 1/2 of this Country.
Basically, in 1 of the stupidest moves the U.S. has ever made, we/they put a rogue bull, a loose cannon that's delusional _ living in his own bubble, more interested in his own fortune, than anything, or anyone else's concerns. Plus, he enjoys causing chaos & confusion. As the perfect poster child for Malignant Narcissism, you can count on him being self-absorbed, belligerent & abusive, but not much else!
This Country has lost its way & put the devil in charge as "trail guide"... No good can come from this & the world is not inclined to be patient with Trump, or rest of us, at this time. We are teetering on a precipice, with 1,000ft drop on the other side & no safety net, with a "leader" that's a loser & has been so rude & intolerable to our allies & trading partners, that we have used up all the goodwill & tolerance we once had & are now in "negative territory". Right now, we have no friends willing to go to bat for us & I don't blame them, do you? We all barely managed to survive this insufferable boar, that acts like a spoiled, undisciplined, rich, bratty child...& everyone seems inclined to "baby him", for some stupid reason!
I have no doubt that we will the the day some moron thought it was smart to put Trump back into the WH so soon...anything less than 100yrs is too soon for most of the world's leaders to have to deal with him again! We will pay that price...not him, of course. And, the GOP, for its stupidity & lies, along with their "looking the other way" now that they have him back in power (where he does NOT belong!)...should lose every seat they have 'up for grabs' in 2026. They are traitors & deserve to be treated as such. They aren't doing the work they're supposed to be doing & think that their election fraud techniques from this time, guarantee them victory next election too. And maybe it will, since the "opposition Party" doesn't seem to have much to say these days, except for a handful of brave, outspoken people that are carrying the load for now. It feels like we have 2 bought-off parties, just crossing their fingers & hoping for the best.🧐Huh!🧐We're used to pulling out weight & allies having our back when needed...but, thanks to MAGA/GOP & Trumpty-Dumpty + his butt-kissing, know nothings & his & Elon's demolition of our Fed Gov't, Agencies, budgets & staffing, we find ourselves in a place we have NEVER been in before! And we have a deaf, blind & stupid Captain piloting the ship!!!
Too bad there's no one with the balls to do what's needed in Washington, DC! Just a bunch of cowards looking to get very rich "on the side" while there's a GRIFTER in charge of everything...a grifter with SCOTUS' gift of "immunity" no less!!!
"God Help us"...but I doubt it. Sometimes He Lets us learn lessons the hard way, if we insist... I wonder if Canada is taking any 🇺🇲 of us in?? I will gladly give up my citizenship, for 1st time in my life!! Never even considered that before, but this just ISN'T my country anymore!
18 months is a long time to wait for an election… that might not happen.
Because of dissension re the budget, Jerry Weiss scenario may work. https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
Just look at its entire life; it never created a single success that did not get backstopped by multiple elements of deceit, betrayals and criminality, And those successes were parasitic, like selling a name brand while never actually carrying a product or service into the arena of functional usefulness.
Dale Carnegie, P.T. Barnum and Herr Hitler - three authors it relies on, to this day. But as cells atrophy and are not cleansed via autophagy, the vessel becomes a cesspool of its own detritus, replete with anaerobic decomposers. Any biotic life form resists death, even while in its throes. The struggle becomes manic, the overreach is tremendous, the desperation mounts when the subject knows its life has been as useless as its death will be forgotten.
We are living with a dying, perverse sadist. Let us try to avoid dying with it.
To be honest, I've been waiting for a terrorist attack. I mistakenly thought/think that the country would rise up against trump because of the obvious tie between cutbacks to security personnel & measures. I'm surprised at my 'slip' into the fantasy that country would rise up against trump for the obvious part he & his administration will play in any attack. I must be more tired & overwhelmed than I thought! Now I realize that it's obvious that an attack will be welcomed, if not orchestrated, by trump. How I could allow myself into believing that his followers would be able to see
how/why this will happen & blame trump is a decided slip of my limited intelligence & forethought.
Thanks for the reminder that the US is dealing with a vast majority of people that either don't know; don't care or are happy about the direction this country is heading. I have to be more realistic in my assumptions about the citizens of this country. Our poor grandchildren, left to sort out & hopefully repair the damage being wrought to our country on every level!
That's why protests need to take on an economic dimension, boycotts of targeted companies and if need be the IRS as well. You have 10 dependents, right?
“No taxation without representation” remember that from school
Convergence. Read Krugman this morning on sudden economic collapse. To be followed by a "Reichstag Fire", to be followed by Martial Law and storm troopers - US Military and Proud Boys etc. - in the streets. We're not going to make it to the 2026 elections. It will be all over, one way or the other, by then.
Supreme Court delusions notwithstanding, corporations are not people. Perhaps if they were, corporate media would demonstrate an awareness of the social contract that actual people tend to share. As it is, said media is currently far more invested in Joe Biden-related issues than in the accelerating replacement of our democracy with fascism. Corporate Democrats are reluctant, at best, to forcefully confront the issue and demand the M$M do its job. (Thoreau: “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root”). Other elected Democrats, perhaps with the aid of recovering Republicans, must find a way to play the media as effectively as do the fascists. Bernie and AOC are leading the charge; we need much more of that.
Trump is not just losing here in the homeland. The recent elections in several nations left the Trump wannabes out in the cold. It just happened in Romania--it was due to record turnout of the younger voters.
Planning something like that would be exactly what a bunch of psychos would do. His focus is so scattered these days, he couldn't personally plan a car crash, but Miller and others within the cabal certainly could.
Should it happen, we can only hope there is a weak-link with a conscience that gets read-in to such an operation that will blow the lid off. Probably shouldn't call anyone weak that fights this extremely dangerous regime. People are only a plane ride away from having their citizenship and life destroyed till this monster is put in a box or is gone.
Thanks for the heads-up, Thom. You and the crew are very brave. The Resistance is growing, and they are not that gullible. See you in the streets.
Alis -- Trump and many of his followers do not see a down side. We need the dissenting Congressional Republicans to grow a backbone.
IMHO Trump is his own worst enemy.....and will eventually self destruct.
Yes. Agree, but will this system who props him up and pulls his strings disappear or merely replace with another easily manipulated madman…Vance, etc.?
Not before he cashes in & "does us all in"...
It’s hard to imagine this political/billionaire/fanatical group in power now not currently training their own personal militarized organization that will administer the implementation of level 2 of their take over.
I’d be willing to bet it will become evident when this so-called birthday parade takes place. This parade will demonstrate what big teeth they have and what they are willing to point into a crowd to maintain their supremacy.
They tell their constituents that their takeover will be peaceful on one hand to keep them faithful and silent, but when there’s enough nuts with guns in place who understand a command, we will no doubt see the teeth bared, and peace go out the window.
I don't know. We had Proud Boys installed as part of the Republican Pary when Trump was #45. Check out the ambassador to Panama. https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/12/26/trump-ambassador-panama-kevin-marino-cabrera-florida-commissioner/77228574007/
I find they are all show and no go.
We have other scary groups, some organized originally by the CIA as anti Castro paramilitary organizations. E.G. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_66
I still see them out and about.
I fear you are right.
Trump may resist giving up power, but that won't prevent it's being stripped from him. And not by some wishy-washy process like elections. No. Eventually the guys who are really running the show will tire of his act; and then, whether by 25th Amendment, hemlock or some other means, they will rid themselves of him. Then their boy Vance will do their bidding unimpeded.
The dog that caught the car.
One hopes retired generals who have long recognized the threat are talking amongst themselves.
I belong to several organizations...don't hold your breath.
If they are retired Sabrina, they are of no consequence or effect. Those in active duty are there because they will fall into line.
Miss Milley Muchly.
This is true. There always seems to be a 9/11 or 10/07 that bails out every aspiring autocrat from his own incompetence, reinforces his wildly paranoid world-view, and sends us and the world on another horrifying round of atrocity and repression against an enemy that could be anyone or everyone. Our weakness as a species.
Yesterday I wrote about Trump's SS - many from ICE, but also some from other agencies which have lots of gun-totting obedient thugs. https://halbrown.substack.com/p/who-are-those-masked-men-they-certainly
As a side note, it occurred to me later that other criminals who won't be investigated includes smugglers. They must be delighted. ICE, after all, is supposed to deal with customs enforcement. It is literally their middle name.
1. Today on Joyce Vance a poster reported: There is trouble at the northern border. We spoke with Canadian friend yesterday. He is a retired city planner. He spoke of his friends (a Canadian couple) that were planning to visit their daughter in the US. The border guard asked the man how he felt about Trump. The man said as a Canadian, he would rather not answer. The couple was refused entry. They tried another border entry and were told they were banned from the US for 2 years. This is not a story on the internet. This frightening story is from a trusted friend. How can this be happening?
2. Today the Miami Herald reports ICE agents in Miami find new spot to carry out arrests: Immigration court By Milena Malaver , Grethel Aguila , Jacqueline Charles and Syra Ortiz Blanes Updated May 22, 2025
"Federal agents in plain clothes staked out the hallways of Miami’s downtown immigration courthouse for hours and arrested at least four unsuspecting men as they walked out of courtrooms on Wednesday."
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article306900486.html#storylink=cpy
3. While Trump is accusing Venezuela of being a terrorist country at war with us, "The Trump administration is quietly negotiating a high-stakes deal with the Nicolás Maduro regime to allow Chevron to continue exporting Venezuelan oil to the U.S. in exchange for Caracas accepting the return of thousands of Venezuelan migrants likely to lose their legal status in the coming weeks, sources in Washington and Caracas familiar with the talks told the Miami Herald."
...In March, the Trump administration revoked Chevron’s license, issued during the Biden presidency, and ordered the company to wind down operations by the end of May. That 2022 license had enabled Chevron to produce and export oil despite broader U.S. sanctions on the socialist regime.
"...The push to normalize relations with Venezuela is reportedly backed by powerful players in the oil lobby, including Florida businessman Harry Sargeant and conservative activist Laura Loomer, who have publicly campaigned in favor of lifting sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector. On social media, Loomer claimed Trump had already agreed to extend Chevron’s license and attributed the decision to Grenell. However, she warned that the proposal is facing internal resistance, particularly from Cuban American lawmakers and State Department officials, including Special Envoy Mauricio Claver-Carone. “Some officials are letting personal biases cloud their judgment on what is best for America’s energy independence,” Loomer wrote on X, emphasizing that failing to extend Chevron’s license could cede important ground to China. “Venezuela holds the largest proven oil reserves in the world—over 300 billion barrels—alongside enormous deposits of gold, coltan, bauxite, diamonds, and nickel. Why would we want China to benefit from those resources instead of the United States? It’s insanity,” she said. On Wednesday, in another post on X, Loomer took Miami’s three Cuban Republicans to task for “threatening” to vote against Trump’s budget if extends the licenses for Chevron for another 60 days. “If this is true,” she wrote, “it will prove that the bias of these reps ... because they would rather have a Hispanic tit for tat over Maduro instead of safeguarding energy resources from going to the CCP,” the Chinese Communist Party."
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article306913806.html#storylink=cpy
Thanks for the research. Dispiriting doesn't begin to describe how awful it is that so many Americans support this kind of cruel and ruthless. Nazification of the country.
While the polls show Trump sliding, he is clearly only sliding with Independents - not MAGAs - not yet, at least. It is going to take the proverbial 2x4 upside the head to free MAGAs of their cultish my-president-right-or-wrong loyalty. Mass unemployment, repos, and foreclosures will likely turn the MAGA tide.
What did voters expect from a clown who has had 6 bankruptcies and openly embraces tariffs? Stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Now we can look forward to global bankruptcy. What Trump did by placing tariffs on all countries was to declare World War 3 - a war of global destruction without nukes. Thanks to Trump, America now stands alone in the world, vilified by all allies and enemies.
One wildcard Thom overlooked for failing Trump was his Gestapo, called ICE. We are already seeing law-enforcement thuggery against dissenting elected officials. While MAGAs may finally get woke from the tariff pain, it may be too late to reverse the dictatorship. We do not need all these new prisons to hold immigrants we are deporting. Trump needs them to hold outraged citizens. It worked for Hitler and gulags are a fixture in Russia
Pronounced I "SS."
Keep sounding the horn. It must be talked about and often then handed to the conspiracy theorists (who are best at getting out the message to the people we can never reach). Your words are not conspiracy.
This newsletter has me totally terrorized (does this make Thom a domestic terrorist?). The possible scenario painted here is that of the guy who shoots and kills his girlfriend who left him for another man with the attitude of if-I-can't-have-her-no-one-can, then kills himself. If trump finds the corner he's in getting smaller and smaller, what can prevent him from pushing the nuclear button?
Ms. Demas, nothing "can prevent him from pushing the nuclear button."
I recall a time when a skirmish broke out between American and North Korean soldiers in the DMZ. Americans had cut down some trees and this angered the Koreans who then killed some American soldiers. This infuriated the unstable American commander who ordered his air elements, including nuclear armed bombers to attack the North Koreans. The damage was one American helicopter shot down and one North Korean tank destroyed. But the pilot of the nuclear armed American bomber orbiting at 20,000 feet refused to carry out his order and turned back, rather than start the nuclear WWlll.
There is at least one report of a Russian military commander who saved the world from nuclear annihilation under similar circumstances on a different occasion.
Yes, these are perilously thin threads to hang our future on. This is why the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has set their "doomsday clock" at 90 seconds to nuclear armageddon.
For those interested in our future, I recommend A SHORT HISTORY OF PROGRESS by Ronald Wright, Carroll and Graf Publishers, 2005.
Or, more to the point about an American version of the reichstag fire read 911 by Noam Chomsky, Seven stories press/New York, 2002.