The next article needs to list all the ways we can block or slow-walk what they are trying to do. For me, it's donating to legal organizations positing themselves to fight back in the courts.
Instead of Fascist, maybe we should see Trump like a Jim Jones. His followers are accustomed to drinking the kool-aide so maybe they will accumulate at Mar-a-logo and drink a little more.
Keep the lessons coming. They are hard to hear and scary, but knowledge is power (of a sort anyway). I want to know what is being done and what’s ahead as terrifying as it all is. Thank you for being there.
We all learn about bullies at some point in time, be it at school or in the workplace. Bullies are usually people who utilize mental or physical fear to intimidate or harm others. They do not respect an orders oriented society where laws set guardrails around acceptable behavior. Trump and his many MAGA minions are no different. Usually a bully will bring others into their inner circle of ill will, often to do their bidding. Others befriend the bully because they fear retribution. Again, we saw this during the two impeachments of Trump. Despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's impeachable actions Senators voted to acquit him out of fear for their personal safety. MAGA followers were ready to do Trump's dirty work by threatening Senators and their families utilizing intimidation and violence. We need to understand that a bully only has power when the majority of us accept their actions as the norm and choose to remain silent. Trump's election was not a mandate, despite his and his MAGA followers claims. Just another lie from a serial liar. We must resist the mental trap being propagated. In my heart and mind I believe there is more good in the people of America than the foreboding message of hate, racism, and division Trump espouses. We must continue to see the cup as half full because that is the hope we must have to get us through this time. Hope, love and tolerance are the positive and enduring attributes we need to embrace. I'm sure some of you reading these words will think I'm naive but, consider this, what are we without love and hope?
In the concept of Sacred ALchemy, we find hope, love, inspiration: in order for the transforming of Human societies into let's say, a Golden Rule age, the basest, lowest value elements must also be present in the mix.
There's an old Oscar-winning movie, Life is Beautiful, about a little Italian man who was trying to be very happy and cheerful in a Hitler concentration camp. Is that what you mean?
An orders oriented society? You are talking about your orders and if mine don't align with yours, I am wrong. That's not how our society works, but you will cry and call me a racist if I don't agree with you.
Sorry, your society DOESN'T run on laws and rules that apply to everyone? I know y'all are going to have trouble come January, but I didn't think it had got that bad yet...
You make a great case, one which may of us suggested in the campaign but were told we were wrong. T…p checks all the boxes. He’s scary, he is a threat to our nation’s democracy and security. He must be stopped. I’m open to suggestions about how to proceed.
Not gonna happen. He holds all branches of government. his minions all grovel at his ass. What’s just as horrid is that vermin would rise to be potus. Then mice jackass. If they were all on the same airplane….
My God… is this even open to question??? This question was settled long ago. More precisely, Trump isn’t a Fascist. Trump is a Nazi, and those that support him are Nazis as well. Full stop. Evil must be called by its true name.
Nazism was just a political party that was 100% authoritarian. Fascist is a word Mussolini made up to describe Nazi-style authoritarianism. No need to split hairs. It's all truly evil.
Agreed. But Trump’s supporters are so stupid that if you call him a Fascist they will respond with a blank expression and say “huh?” The ones that do know what Fascism means will consider it a compliment.
But everyone knows that being called a Nazi is not a compliment, which is why I’m always careful to call Trump a Nazi.
On another note, this is an an excerpt from a book I'm reading, written by none other than Margaret Atwood in 2015. The book is the third of a trilogy (I haven't yet read the first two). The fictional setting is Earth after a pandemic has killed most humans:
"His first employer was Ristbones, an outfit that specialized in the hacking of electronic voting machines. That had been easy in the first decade of the century, and also profitable--if you controlled the machines, you could slip in whichever candidate you wanted, as long as the real vote was close to being split..."
Sounds familiar, right?
Please, if you live in a swing state, contact your representative and ask for a recount.
Kimberlee, I think the point is, the rule of law has been suspended. It's over. The only things that are prohibited now are things the Trump Nazis don't like.
Excellent write-up and I highly recommend Ruth Ben-Ghiat's Substack (free or paid) and her frequent Zoom meetings for subscribers. I'm not disagreeing with anything that was written, or with Ruth's dire warnings, but we also have to remember that Congressional Republicans are not "normal" politicians, they're not known for being able to govern, and are completely self-centered (the tone of any organization comes top down) so we'll see a lot of political sabotage, backstabbing and lots of press leaks. Apparently, the Gaetz ethics report was "hacked" because Gaetz made a lot of enemies in the House and the McCarthy crowd wants revenge. Senate Republicans voted for Thune (recess is "on the table", a non-answer), not Scott (yeah, let's recess). Johnson may want to see Congress recess but many Republicans don't want to concede their leverage and power. Johnson has not shown the ability to whip his people for votes - he's not Nancy Pelosi nor is he Mitch McConnell. Congressional Republicans know that in 2026 it's their careers on the line when things go south, not Trump (a lame duck from day one), and not Muskaswamy. They also will not want Muskaswamy telling them what to do as they also grift. Yes, Trump is a fascist, but he's not a strategist; he wants to rule but only so he can easily grift. Trump will do a lot of harm to a lot of vulnerable people, but he's also forgetting the power, money and lobbying influence of corporations. Big Pharma isn't going to sit by and watch RFK, Jr deflate their profits from vaccines, research (which provides big tax deductions and credits), and new drugs. Agriculture, the service industries and construction will be devastated with mass deportations. Exxon stated that it doesn't want Congress to get rid of alternative energy because it's heavily invested in it now. Tariffs will hurt all US consumers and retaliatory tariffs will hurt corporations. Everyone knows that Trump is susceptible to flattery. You just have to get to him and offer him political donations, or direct "gratuities", otherwise known as bribes, but the Supreme Court said gratuities are okay. Along with Trump's immunity and the ability to pardon it's going to be a competition to see which corporations get to him and how much is involved. And while the DOJ and FBI may become impotent, Blue state AGs will still be able to bring lawsuits against Muskaswamy and any of the other accomplices. We may see legacy media go back to investigative reporting because it generates revenue and a lot of publicity and covering Democrats will be boring.
Grim indeed. One thing I keep hoping will happen. What will the reaction be when all Donnybrook's promises that his voters thought applied to them fall through or they realize that those promises result in the exact opposite of what they'd thought they'd meant? *** Yes, the ultimate goal may be to make them sicker and more uneducated and more malleable. But the bad stuff is going to happen FIRST.
And Chaos is bad for business. Greg Olear has already pointed out that a Leonard Leo crony has written an op ed opposing at least some of the nominations ( Gaetz, I think) and at least the WaPo has suddenly stopped sanewashing trump's actions, presumably with the blessing of its billionaire owner. There is going to be a battle real soon between those who want to keep making money (the oligarch class) and the "tear it all down" contingent.
Trump would at the least be ill advised to try to use "recession" appointments--he needs his senate cronies to pull out as much pro-oligarch policies from the candidates as possible during confirmation hearings. Insisting on Gaetz or Oz or RFKj isn't going to pacify the wealthy.
__________________________________________
***A lot will be experienced personally and won't need news stories or data. We already know these folks generalize from personal experiences. The price of eggs, not to mention TVs/Playstations/cell phones, is going to be in their faces. So are cuts to Social Security or Medicare, particularly for the disabled.
As a senior citizen, that is one of the scariest articles I have read in a long time, but I believe that Prof. Ben-Ghiat has hit the nail on the head. I hope I don't live to see all this happening. Oh my.
Would somebody PLEASE help me know HOW TO TAKE ACTION NOW? I don't have enough money to make much difference donating, is there some Action I can start taking NOW to start to reverse this shituation?
Sadly - since Congress has no spine, one has to assume they endorse fascism.
We pay Congress, SCOTUS and our legal system employees to support the Constitution but their greed, spinelessness, and commitment to their fraternity pushes them to endorse corruption and fascism.
The lawyers and media have let the politicians define their environment. Once they had character and ethics - and spine. Now they blindly follow with hopes of another PPP free money award?
The next article needs to list all the ways we can block or slow-walk what they are trying to do. For me, it's donating to legal organizations positing themselves to fight back in the courts.
Who says THEY are legal and legit?
Instead of Fascist, maybe we should see Trump like a Jim Jones. His followers are accustomed to drinking the kool-aide so maybe they will accumulate at Mar-a-logo and drink a little more.
Keep the lessons coming. They are hard to hear and scary, but knowledge is power (of a sort anyway). I want to know what is being done and what’s ahead as terrifying as it all is. Thank you for being there.
We promise to keep sharing the information you need in these trying times.
Thank you!
We all learn about bullies at some point in time, be it at school or in the workplace. Bullies are usually people who utilize mental or physical fear to intimidate or harm others. They do not respect an orders oriented society where laws set guardrails around acceptable behavior. Trump and his many MAGA minions are no different. Usually a bully will bring others into their inner circle of ill will, often to do their bidding. Others befriend the bully because they fear retribution. Again, we saw this during the two impeachments of Trump. Despite overwhelming evidence of Trump's impeachable actions Senators voted to acquit him out of fear for their personal safety. MAGA followers were ready to do Trump's dirty work by threatening Senators and their families utilizing intimidation and violence. We need to understand that a bully only has power when the majority of us accept their actions as the norm and choose to remain silent. Trump's election was not a mandate, despite his and his MAGA followers claims. Just another lie from a serial liar. We must resist the mental trap being propagated. In my heart and mind I believe there is more good in the people of America than the foreboding message of hate, racism, and division Trump espouses. We must continue to see the cup as half full because that is the hope we must have to get us through this time. Hope, love and tolerance are the positive and enduring attributes we need to embrace. I'm sure some of you reading these words will think I'm naive but, consider this, what are we without love and hope?
We have to band together and support one another!
In the concept of Sacred ALchemy, we find hope, love, inspiration: in order for the transforming of Human societies into let's say, a Golden Rule age, the basest, lowest value elements must also be present in the mix.
There's an old Oscar-winning movie, Life is Beautiful, about a little Italian man who was trying to be very happy and cheerful in a Hitler concentration camp. Is that what you mean?
An orders oriented society? You are talking about your orders and if mine don't align with yours, I am wrong. That's not how our society works, but you will cry and call me a racist if I don't agree with you.
Sorry, your society DOESN'T run on laws and rules that apply to everyone? I know y'all are going to have trouble come January, but I didn't think it had got that bad yet...
Your right, rtump should have been jailed months ago.
Lock him up!
he knows or cares about neither. We can love and hope but 🤷🏻♀️
You make a great case, one which may of us suggested in the campaign but were told we were wrong. T…p checks all the boxes. He’s scary, he is a threat to our nation’s democracy and security. He must be stopped. I’m open to suggestions about how to proceed.
Not gonna happen. He holds all branches of government. his minions all grovel at his ass. What’s just as horrid is that vermin would rise to be potus. Then mice jackass. If they were all on the same airplane….
This gives me nightmares.
My God… is this even open to question??? This question was settled long ago. More precisely, Trump isn’t a Fascist. Trump is a Nazi, and those that support him are Nazis as well. Full stop. Evil must be called by its true name.
The Nazis were, and are, fascists.
True evil manifest
Nazism was just a political party that was 100% authoritarian. Fascist is a word Mussolini made up to describe Nazi-style authoritarianism. No need to split hairs. It's all truly evil.
Agreed. But Trump’s supporters are so stupid that if you call him a Fascist they will respond with a blank expression and say “huh?” The ones that do know what Fascism means will consider it a compliment.
But everyone knows that being called a Nazi is not a compliment, which is why I’m always careful to call Trump a Nazi.
Well, this and Ruth's, Tim
Synder's and a few others
have done an excellent job in
scaring a lot of people. That's
a good wake up BUT now,
those of us who choose to
stand indivisible need some
pointers on what we can do,
besides write emails and call
reps who don't know who the
heck we are.
And here's a wake up call.
There are hundreds of
thousands deaf and disabled
VOTERS out here who can't
pick up a phone and call a
rep, or zoom into a call. Who
have no internet access.
We're not dumb and
we're pretty ticked off about
what's going on.
What is going on?
Simple. They are remaining under cover so they can focus on the only real thing they care about, getting re-elected.
Don't give up yet! Please read this letter from Stephen Spoonamore to Kamala Harris: https://substack.com/inbox/post/151721941?utm_campaign=post
On another note, this is an an excerpt from a book I'm reading, written by none other than Margaret Atwood in 2015. The book is the third of a trilogy (I haven't yet read the first two). The fictional setting is Earth after a pandemic has killed most humans:
"His first employer was Ristbones, an outfit that specialized in the hacking of electronic voting machines. That had been easy in the first decade of the century, and also profitable--if you controlled the machines, you could slip in whichever candidate you wanted, as long as the real vote was close to being split..."
Sounds familiar, right?
Please, if you live in a swing state, contact your representative and ask for a recount.
Praying that something comes of Spoonamore's info!!!!!!
How can dumpster and his merry men of felons even be put in the White House when he colluded with putin ! Is that not illegal ?
Kimberlee, I think the point is, the rule of law has been suspended. It's over. The only things that are prohibited now are things the Trump Nazis don't like.
Obviously not.
Excellent write-up and I highly recommend Ruth Ben-Ghiat's Substack (free or paid) and her frequent Zoom meetings for subscribers. I'm not disagreeing with anything that was written, or with Ruth's dire warnings, but we also have to remember that Congressional Republicans are not "normal" politicians, they're not known for being able to govern, and are completely self-centered (the tone of any organization comes top down) so we'll see a lot of political sabotage, backstabbing and lots of press leaks. Apparently, the Gaetz ethics report was "hacked" because Gaetz made a lot of enemies in the House and the McCarthy crowd wants revenge. Senate Republicans voted for Thune (recess is "on the table", a non-answer), not Scott (yeah, let's recess). Johnson may want to see Congress recess but many Republicans don't want to concede their leverage and power. Johnson has not shown the ability to whip his people for votes - he's not Nancy Pelosi nor is he Mitch McConnell. Congressional Republicans know that in 2026 it's their careers on the line when things go south, not Trump (a lame duck from day one), and not Muskaswamy. They also will not want Muskaswamy telling them what to do as they also grift. Yes, Trump is a fascist, but he's not a strategist; he wants to rule but only so he can easily grift. Trump will do a lot of harm to a lot of vulnerable people, but he's also forgetting the power, money and lobbying influence of corporations. Big Pharma isn't going to sit by and watch RFK, Jr deflate their profits from vaccines, research (which provides big tax deductions and credits), and new drugs. Agriculture, the service industries and construction will be devastated with mass deportations. Exxon stated that it doesn't want Congress to get rid of alternative energy because it's heavily invested in it now. Tariffs will hurt all US consumers and retaliatory tariffs will hurt corporations. Everyone knows that Trump is susceptible to flattery. You just have to get to him and offer him political donations, or direct "gratuities", otherwise known as bribes, but the Supreme Court said gratuities are okay. Along with Trump's immunity and the ability to pardon it's going to be a competition to see which corporations get to him and how much is involved. And while the DOJ and FBI may become impotent, Blue state AGs will still be able to bring lawsuits against Muskaswamy and any of the other accomplices. We may see legacy media go back to investigative reporting because it generates revenue and a lot of publicity and covering Democrats will be boring.
https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/how-to-combat-the-dangers-of-project-2025/?utm_source=Democracy+Docket+Newsletters&utm_campaign=9a14ac6c95-20241119_DailyDocket_LF&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-9812d8a903-603310955&mc_cid=9a14ac6c95
Here’s one way the resistance is intending to fight.
The article does not say what individuals can do.
Grim indeed. One thing I keep hoping will happen. What will the reaction be when all Donnybrook's promises that his voters thought applied to them fall through or they realize that those promises result in the exact opposite of what they'd thought they'd meant? *** Yes, the ultimate goal may be to make them sicker and more uneducated and more malleable. But the bad stuff is going to happen FIRST.
And Chaos is bad for business. Greg Olear has already pointed out that a Leonard Leo crony has written an op ed opposing at least some of the nominations ( Gaetz, I think) and at least the WaPo has suddenly stopped sanewashing trump's actions, presumably with the blessing of its billionaire owner. There is going to be a battle real soon between those who want to keep making money (the oligarch class) and the "tear it all down" contingent.
Trump would at the least be ill advised to try to use "recession" appointments--he needs his senate cronies to pull out as much pro-oligarch policies from the candidates as possible during confirmation hearings. Insisting on Gaetz or Oz or RFKj isn't going to pacify the wealthy.
__________________________________________
***A lot will be experienced personally and won't need news stories or data. We already know these folks generalize from personal experiences. The price of eggs, not to mention TVs/Playstations/cell phones, is going to be in their faces. So are cuts to Social Security or Medicare, particularly for the disabled.
As a senior citizen, that is one of the scariest articles I have read in a long time, but I believe that Prof. Ben-Ghiat has hit the nail on the head. I hope I don't live to see all this happening. Oh my.
Would somebody PLEASE help me know HOW TO TAKE ACTION NOW? I don't have enough money to make much difference donating, is there some Action I can start taking NOW to start to reverse this shituation?
You might find this helpful! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o1gSdFWIUpw41O5zbaxedVsr6Xik5XpPd9FwqvXYu40/edit
Very helpful, Thank You! I have already shared it... for a ripple effect.
also ballot curing still needed: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kIlT0UV1n9SA80BNOpUyWC9x8OwKoDTG3yhNrnFqehM/edit?gid=0#gid=0 (sheet can be updated with new info by reloading the page
also call Dem senators to get judges in place. 45 vacancies (15 pending) https://www.senate.gov/senators/index.htm
https://www.uscourts.gov/judges-judgeships/judicial-vacancies/current-judicial-vacancies
find an Indivisible group to join. There's a guide of what to do on this page too: https://indivisible.org
My next project, Thank You!
You can call or email your representatives
From the article above, I can write to encourage them and show support, so they stay in the fight.
I'm in MN, they're all blue in my district.
Then let them know you appreciate them fighting for you. Mine are all blue too.
Sadly - since Congress has no spine, one has to assume they endorse fascism.
We pay Congress, SCOTUS and our legal system employees to support the Constitution but their greed, spinelessness, and commitment to their fraternity pushes them to endorse corruption and fascism.
The lawyers and media have let the politicians define their environment. Once they had character and ethics - and spine. Now they blindly follow with hopes of another PPP free money award?
This is the scariest article I have ever seen