We are witnessing the real time implementation of Project 2025. Of course Trump disavowed it on the campaign trail but his administration is now dominated by the creators and proponents of this blueprint for a fascist theocracy. It's happening fast because that was the plan, ready to execute on day one. Trump didn't create all those executive orders. They were literally lifted from the Project 2025 document, the product of radical white Christian nationalists and the Federalist Society.
We learned during his first term that Trump operates in chaos, keeping as much of the electorate as angry as possible. Now, thanks to his henchman on the USSC bench, he has carte blanche to create as much havoc as he wants. I do not wish him, or his cabinet long lives.
The “dragging on too long” continues to be a drag. I suppose I am in some ways glad my left hip decided it needed to present its version of osteoarthritis and keeps me busy with two physical therapists and depending on Tai Chi for sanity. Physical pain drowns out a lot for me there days. I stay tuned as I can in small doses. I keep on the fringe because to stay with much of current goings-on would be—severely toxic. Which I do not need. I take solace in every Politics NC post and notice Mills stays on it, weekends or not. Thank you, Thomas for providing insightful content during the weirdest times ever I’ve known.
Lots to say. 1) Trump 2 is turning out even worse then imagined. 2) the quality of appointees, character, positions, qualifications, etc is unbelievably bad 3) many if not, most of Trump's actions are illegal. Unfortunately, he has learned from prior experience that there are no consequences for breaking the law. I don't know how we get out of this, if indeed we can
At this point the only emotion I can muster is disgust. Disgust for the Republican party I once supported for abandoning *everything* they claimed to believe in over a few short year. And disgust for a Democratic party that is held captive to its consultants and so self-defeating that they will do nothing in the face of this onslaught but send me fundraising emails. I pounded the pavement for Harris and now she vacations in Cali. I pushed hard for other Democrats, not because I am a Democrat but because Republicans are now unrecognizable, and they now sit silent. Our own reps won't even head to DC or muster up some sort of pushback, they just sit silent or talk about going on TV eventually.
Your comparison to Poland is apt. Prior to WWII Poland had the best horse cavalry in the world and sent it against tanks. To the extent that the Democrats can muster any opposition they seem reduced to riding horses around a blitz and whining that Trump won't come out and fight on their turf.
It seems clear that Trump is making irrational and reckless changes in the Federal government, driven by a desire for vengeance over perceived wrongs. Despite being found guilty of thirty-four acts of fraud and deceit by a jury, he does not view his past actions as criminal. By pardoning sixteen hundred individuals who commit acts of violence and vandalism, he signals to his followers that they will be shielded from the law if they re offend in his name.
Introducing excessively high tariffs on foreign trade partners like Canada and Mexico might seem like a move to promote US-based enterprises, but it does not. Soon, we will see the impact on the cost of living, employment, and foreign relations. When his ardent supporters lose their jobs and struggle to afford higher prices for food and fuel, they may finally realize that Trump does not have their best interests at heart. Only then will they understand.
Sitting back on our haunches and waiting for people to see the light is basically the DNC strategy and it has been an unmitigated failure.
Trump did a hell of a lot of damage in his first term too. Many of his ardent supporters died trying to take his advice on Hydroxychloroquine or lost money on his scams. They still support him. You can't wait for them to change their minds. You have to be out there changing them.
I think you might be misunderstanding what I am trying to convey. While some folks learn through reflection and contemplation, others need to experience the consequences of a poor decision to understand. It is what it is, or in the words of that immortal poet and comedian “you can’t fix stupid.”
I agree you can't fix stupid. But we also have to recognize that many people are so in their own world that if we simply wait, they will never notice. In many ways the frogs being boiled are theirs. So we have to be out there making clear what is going on all the time so that when people do experience the pain they don't just continue falling into the same trap.
Out everywhere. My point is that people don't correct stupid assumptions unless they have an alternative explanation to work with. Unless they are hearing that everywhere, at work, in the street, online, etc. They won't take it. In some sense for some of my family I am the only person they know who will point out "yes this is bad". If we don't do that they will just go along with it.
I decided I will work from the comfort of my bed today. Martha you are allowed to get angry but get a notebook and start documenting 3 things you can involve yourself in to save democracy and how you can share with others. Relax in the fact that no one is trying to kill you. That is what my parents faced when they marched in the South early 60s. Join Robert Hubbell on Substack who has very comforting words in a Zoom community chat every Saturday around noon EST with Action steps; Look for LIVE chats with Heather Cox Richardson daily. Her daily newsletter is very helpful. Understand how your State Judiciary works. Is your State Judiciary composed of Dems or Republicans or does it lean MAGA like ours in NC. I view the State Judiciary as a first line of Defense. Especially because here in NC we are fighting White Supremacy. Knitting has become a meditative mainstay for me during challenging times. Stay vigilant!
I have subscribed to Hubbell and HC Richardson for more than a year. I am VCh of my blue precinct. I live in a retirement community that is 3/4 blue or LL Una. I understand completely how our NC State Supreme Court works and how Justice Allison Riggs is hanging on to her seat on the court against the idiotic efforts of wannabe judge Jefferson Griffin and his pals on the Court. The State judiciary uses power given to it by the MAGA leaning courts. I have been involved in political activism with my husband since 1977; was Executive Secretary to Gov Jim Hunt in Hunt III; was Assistant Secretary for Legislation during Hunt IV. I am involved at the moment trying to help Indivisible.org get a hold in our county. I am not afraid here in NC. I am more angry about what DT is doing to our country, and allowing EM to be Chief Consigliere. They are mean, cruel, bullying men raking in money.
Also, here in NC we need to be totally aware of what the legislature is doing. It will duplicate what’s happening in Washington to the greatest extent possible and even worse.
I for one thank you for your years of effort. I just wish I could believe that the Democrats are actually a functioning party at this point not just a vehicle for consultants. Their current response is just to sit silent and wait for someone else to make things better than that is not a viable approach while we all do the work.
My beef with the Democrats though is that they spent all their energy asking for money and then throwing it all away on Kamala and Tim (the estimated cost of renting the Sphere in Vegas is $450k per day) and didn't spend it winning all the small state and local races we need. The ad-buy rates paid consultants well but it did nothing good for us.
Then they pivot around in the face of Trump and have... nothing. No aggressive response to his coup (and once you've put Musk's unelected cronies at Treasury it *is* a coup), and no clear plan to change. Indeed the party leadership election seems to point to more of the same losing. It is as if they are entitled to our support but we cannot expect them to learn from loss.
I commented in this forum a few months ago my belief that February is the critical month: either the courts will firmly reject Trump’s unconstitutional power grabs or American democracy as we have known it will whither into history. It is now February. Stay tuned.
We were warned and we did nothing. Those in Washington are doing nothing to stop this nightmare. Only a few have the courage to stand up and deliver!
What can we do to light a fire under our representatives in Congress? How can we make them responsible to the citizens of North Carolina?
The public needs to get concerned and angry
We are witnessing the real time implementation of Project 2025. Of course Trump disavowed it on the campaign trail but his administration is now dominated by the creators and proponents of this blueprint for a fascist theocracy. It's happening fast because that was the plan, ready to execute on day one. Trump didn't create all those executive orders. They were literally lifted from the Project 2025 document, the product of radical white Christian nationalists and the Federalist Society.
We learned during his first term that Trump operates in chaos, keeping as much of the electorate as angry as possible. Now, thanks to his henchman on the USSC bench, he has carte blanche to create as much havoc as he wants. I do not wish him, or his cabinet long lives.
The “dragging on too long” continues to be a drag. I suppose I am in some ways glad my left hip decided it needed to present its version of osteoarthritis and keeps me busy with two physical therapists and depending on Tai Chi for sanity. Physical pain drowns out a lot for me there days. I stay tuned as I can in small doses. I keep on the fringe because to stay with much of current goings-on would be—severely toxic. Which I do not need. I take solace in every Politics NC post and notice Mills stays on it, weekends or not. Thank you, Thomas for providing insightful content during the weirdest times ever I’ve known.
Lots to say. 1) Trump 2 is turning out even worse then imagined. 2) the quality of appointees, character, positions, qualifications, etc is unbelievably bad 3) many if not, most of Trump's actions are illegal. Unfortunately, he has learned from prior experience that there are no consequences for breaking the law. I don't know how we get out of this, if indeed we can
At this point the only emotion I can muster is disgust. Disgust for the Republican party I once supported for abandoning *everything* they claimed to believe in over a few short year. And disgust for a Democratic party that is held captive to its consultants and so self-defeating that they will do nothing in the face of this onslaught but send me fundraising emails. I pounded the pavement for Harris and now she vacations in Cali. I pushed hard for other Democrats, not because I am a Democrat but because Republicans are now unrecognizable, and they now sit silent. Our own reps won't even head to DC or muster up some sort of pushback, they just sit silent or talk about going on TV eventually.
Your comparison to Poland is apt. Prior to WWII Poland had the best horse cavalry in the world and sent it against tanks. To the extent that the Democrats can muster any opposition they seem reduced to riding horses around a blitz and whining that Trump won't come out and fight on their turf.
It would be sad if it wasn't so dangerous.
Another thought is if the FBI agents were to organize and sue for their jobs, who do they sue?
It seems clear that Trump is making irrational and reckless changes in the Federal government, driven by a desire for vengeance over perceived wrongs. Despite being found guilty of thirty-four acts of fraud and deceit by a jury, he does not view his past actions as criminal. By pardoning sixteen hundred individuals who commit acts of violence and vandalism, he signals to his followers that they will be shielded from the law if they re offend in his name.
Introducing excessively high tariffs on foreign trade partners like Canada and Mexico might seem like a move to promote US-based enterprises, but it does not. Soon, we will see the impact on the cost of living, employment, and foreign relations. When his ardent supporters lose their jobs and struggle to afford higher prices for food and fuel, they may finally realize that Trump does not have their best interests at heart. Only then will they understand.
Sitting back on our haunches and waiting for people to see the light is basically the DNC strategy and it has been an unmitigated failure.
Trump did a hell of a lot of damage in his first term too. Many of his ardent supporters died trying to take his advice on Hydroxychloroquine or lost money on his scams. They still support him. You can't wait for them to change their minds. You have to be out there changing them.
I think you might be misunderstanding what I am trying to convey. While some folks learn through reflection and contemplation, others need to experience the consequences of a poor decision to understand. It is what it is, or in the words of that immortal poet and comedian “you can’t fix stupid.”
I agree you can't fix stupid. But we also have to recognize that many people are so in their own world that if we simply wait, they will never notice. In many ways the frogs being boiled are theirs. So we have to be out there making clear what is going on all the time so that when people do experience the pain they don't just continue falling into the same trap.
“Out there” where?
Out everywhere. My point is that people don't correct stupid assumptions unless they have an alternative explanation to work with. Unless they are hearing that everywhere, at work, in the street, online, etc. They won't take it. In some sense for some of my family I am the only person they know who will point out "yes this is bad". If we don't do that they will just go along with it.
Thank you Mitch McConnell.
How much angrier can I become? How much more frightened can my mind absorb?
I decided I will work from the comfort of my bed today. Martha you are allowed to get angry but get a notebook and start documenting 3 things you can involve yourself in to save democracy and how you can share with others. Relax in the fact that no one is trying to kill you. That is what my parents faced when they marched in the South early 60s. Join Robert Hubbell on Substack who has very comforting words in a Zoom community chat every Saturday around noon EST with Action steps; Look for LIVE chats with Heather Cox Richardson daily. Her daily newsletter is very helpful. Understand how your State Judiciary works. Is your State Judiciary composed of Dems or Republicans or does it lean MAGA like ours in NC. I view the State Judiciary as a first line of Defense. Especially because here in NC we are fighting White Supremacy. Knitting has become a meditative mainstay for me during challenging times. Stay vigilant!
I have subscribed to Hubbell and HC Richardson for more than a year. I am VCh of my blue precinct. I live in a retirement community that is 3/4 blue or LL Una. I understand completely how our NC State Supreme Court works and how Justice Allison Riggs is hanging on to her seat on the court against the idiotic efforts of wannabe judge Jefferson Griffin and his pals on the Court. The State judiciary uses power given to it by the MAGA leaning courts. I have been involved in political activism with my husband since 1977; was Executive Secretary to Gov Jim Hunt in Hunt III; was Assistant Secretary for Legislation during Hunt IV. I am involved at the moment trying to help Indivisible.org get a hold in our county. I am not afraid here in NC. I am more angry about what DT is doing to our country, and allowing EM to be Chief Consigliere. They are mean, cruel, bullying men raking in money.
Also, here in NC we need to be totally aware of what the legislature is doing. It will duplicate what’s happening in Washington to the greatest extent possible and even worse.
I for one thank you for your years of effort. I just wish I could believe that the Democrats are actually a functioning party at this point not just a vehicle for consultants. Their current response is just to sit silent and wait for someone else to make things better than that is not a viable approach while we all do the work.
If only Kamala and Tim were in office…….
If only *anybody else* was in office.
My beef with the Democrats though is that they spent all their energy asking for money and then throwing it all away on Kamala and Tim (the estimated cost of renting the Sphere in Vegas is $450k per day) and didn't spend it winning all the small state and local races we need. The ad-buy rates paid consultants well but it did nothing good for us.
Then they pivot around in the face of Trump and have... nothing. No aggressive response to his coup (and once you've put Musk's unelected cronies at Treasury it *is* a coup), and no clear plan to change. Indeed the party leadership election seems to point to more of the same losing. It is as if they are entitled to our support but we cannot expect them to learn from loss.
I commented in this forum a few months ago my belief that February is the critical month: either the courts will firmly reject Trump’s unconstitutional power grabs or American democracy as we have known it will whither into history. It is now February. Stay tuned.
What happens when he doesn't listen to the courts?