MANY GOOD SMALL DISTRIBUTED ANTI-TRUMP DEMOS ARE A GOOD THING. We had a very good protest of the State of the Union of about 100 - 150 people in Mountain View, California last night.
A fellow old guy who was standing next to me was recalling the large anti-war and civil rights demonstrations of our younger days, and wishing there were more giant demos against Trump. But I have a different reaction.
There’s something terrific about there being lots and lots of neighborhood-sized protests in lots of places around America, in which many of us express our views about the state of the union, and many more people get to see folks peaceably assembling to express our grievances (as it's put in the First Amendment to the Constitution). And they get a chance to interact with us demonstrators through their approving horn blowing. (There was quite a lot of that last night and in one of the earlier demonstrations at Tesla in Palo Alto; more than I've heard in decades of protests.)
So that even while Trump and Musk and Vance seek to normalize meanness, lawlessness, violence and hate, we are showing Americans firsthand that exercising our constitutional rights to say No is a much better normal thing to do.
I recall well from the 1960s anti-Vietnam movement that we grew depressed when the war continued while we had demonstration after demonstration. But there was a cumulative impact that affected public opinion and, along with the GI anti-war movement, eventually helped bring the war to an end. We too need to keep on keeping on.
I also like that there have been so many angry people at town halls that republicans are afraid to hold them. We need to ask Dems to hold them in their place.
Excellent strategy. Fill the void. Our representative Lloyd Smucker from Pennsylvania never faces his constituents in public. His “ meetings” are always by phone.
NONE of my reps in Ohio have held townhalls. Congressman Dave Joyce (R) has been office for almost 13 years, and to the best of my knowledge has held one townhall. People were ushered into a room five at a time to sit at a table and do who knows what. The two new U.S. Senators John Husted (R) and Bernie Moreno (R)(former used car salesman who won the election with donations from billionaires, including the owner of the losing Super Bowl team, and by spewing Trump's hateful rhetoric about immigrants and transgender people, are still trying to find their way to the men's room.
My book club will be picketing the Tesla dealer on State Line on Friday. We are from Kansas City MO and Kansans from the suburbs. We had high winds and snow last night or we'd be there today.
what really got things moving was the photo essay about the My Lai Massacre, especially the shot of the screaming girl because of being sprayed with paraquat I think it was. We need our journalists to continue stepping up with the stories of how Americans are being harmed by MAGA/DOGE policies, especially MAGA just finding out how those policies are harming them.
She had been burned with napalm, which is basically gasoline that has been turned into a gel, so it sticks to the skin and keeps burning. Paraquat is an herbicide, which can be toxic to humans but is not nearly as gruesome as napalm.
Yes, photojournalism can be a powerful tool to change the narrative. The picture of Mary Ann Vecchio standing over the body of Jeffrey Miller in a parking lot after shootings at Kent State University on May 4, 1970, started to change public sentiment about the war in Viet Nam.
True! W learned a lesson from the press coverage of the Vietnam War. W wouldn't allow the press to cover the caskets holding the serviceman who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said it was disrespectful. It was self-serving! He knew that the sight of caskets holding our military casualties being unloaded from planes would have triggered protests against his two illegal wars.
Sadly, the legacy media no longer has the same commitment to reporting on significant actions, good, bad or insignificant by our government and representatives.
Fox has turned news coverage into infotainment. Billionaire owners of news outlets like Bezos and the Washington Post, has lead to censorship by the owner or self-censorship by reporters or their parent companies because they fear retaliation. The mainstream media is no longer independent or dependable.
Yes, Mitchell! In our northwest corner of Washington state, we had many protest marches and rallies yesterday in our small cities and towns including places where this has never happened before. Anat Shenker-Osario, rock star progressive messaging guru, says that people believe what they think others like them believe. It’s fine for stuff to happen in the big cities, but when they see it happening in their own communities, they sit up and take notice. It gives them courage to join in. We’re seeing more folks doing that every time we march!
Anat is great! I saw her talking with Anand on his Substack. She is inspiring, although I think of that poor woman attacked by 3 men, dragged out of her town hall meeting when she heckled them on their draconian abortion proposals in Idaho. Boycott Idaho.
One of my concerns is when I see things like, "A fellow old guy..." (I'm a fellow old guy, too, so don't take offense lol).
Did you see young people there? I've noticed that most of our cohorts on Substack and elsewhere are older citizens. Young people don't seem anywhere near as anxious about Trump turning Gaza into Kushner Shores as they did about Kamala's supposed involvement in Netanyahu's madness. It's kind of frustrating.
I do love the idea of a swarm of smaller protests. That's a great idea, especially when they include town halls, which, of course, republicans will cease participating in as the heat in the kitchen turns up.
People in my community have done a "town hall in reverse" since my republican Congressman Dave Joyce refuses to hold any town halls. About 20 people cram into his tiny office in Mentor, Ohio, and leave a personal message with the receptionist.
Young people I know are frightened, but they are so busy with their jobs and caring for their young families that they don't read Substack posts, (even when I send them the links). I find that they do express their views to friends and colleagues, let at-risk folks know they are allies, and make small gestures like calling their representatives.
Vote Forward (www.votefwd.org) also has two letter writing campaigns - one social and one political - for the same race. The campaigns only dropped last week and they are down to under ~22K names and addresses combined. They started with over 187K!!
For more info on Vote Forward, check out this "How To" guide
There is relatively little research about handwritten GOTV postcard research that is publicly available (as opposed to industry findings) due to its relative youth as a political tactic. A 2018 GOTV postcard study conducted by SDAN revealed no effect from postcards on voter turnout, though the study did have a variety of issues, including the fact that baseline turnout was much higher for the study targets compared to the general electorate (Goldstein & Roman, “In press”).
I am truly frightened that the damage orange blight and muskrat are inflicting on our government right now, could take decades to fix.
I hope and pray that the orange blight, muskrat and their enablers are arrested for treason very soon. But even if they lost control of of our government tomorrow, things wouldn't go back to normal for quite sometime.
It’s remarkable that no American news outlet will allow themselves a section on “Why” Trump is lying. I’m sorry, “misstating” or “claiming falsely.” When your own Social Security director is telling you checks are not going out to 150-year-old people and you say it anyway, you’re lying. There is no other word. And yet they use so many other words …
Also, it’s far past time to point out the obviousness of his mental and cognitive decline. He is not competent to live independently, much less be president, and even his supporters know that—they just don’t care.
And the “transgender” (really transgenic) mice. That should be all anyone talks about for a month, and it would be if Joe Biden had said it.
Jay illustrates here the simple, three-part structure that the feckless Dems have long failed to understand and legacy media are too biased or afraid to cover: What, Why, and So What.
-- Call out the lie and expose it with the factual truth of the matter.
-- Say why the liar is doing it. That is, expose the self-interest behind the lie or the failure that the lie is trying to mask.
-- Explain the "So what?", the consequences, in terms of specific, everyday that Ms/Mr Everyperson has to grapple with. Bluntly put, the header could be "How this is making your life worse."
As Jay does here, keep the message brief, direct, and specific. Repeat very frequently, again and again every single day, across a wide range of non-legacy media and platforms. Hammer on the same basic points over and over and over: Again the régime is lying, because their programs are self-serving or are hurting you, and they're trying to hide that.
A few Dems seem to be stepping up. My Dem congressman says he gets himself onto as many podcasts and so forth as he can, even right-wing ones. I can't check that because I don't participate in social media, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt here. One of my senators, a Dem, is apparently acting quite vigorously in opposition (the other senator, also a Dem, is MIA).
Yet we get James Carville saying that Dems should just stay silent and sit back even as the orange criminal's shitshow swings its wrecking ball ever more furiously. Incredible, and all but suicidal, but true.
It’s hard to believe that he’s been allowed to get away with what he’s done so far. There has to be some force in the US that can take him down, remove him physically from office. This man is committing treason, daily! When a person with this power defies the Constitution, are there not repercussions? What does Americas military leaders think of all of this?
The people who agree with you are also the people fighting for the rule of law... I'd love to see him whisked off to a hut at the South Pole, but there is not a legal mechanism for doing so. If we somehow survive the MAGA onslaught, we will need a new constitution which has teeth in it. DOJ and the Inspector Generals need to be spun off into the 4th and 5th branches of our Government. We need a fast-track mechanism to remove a rogue president. We can no longer afford a government which hopes public figures will abide by norms.
Oh, please not to the South Pole. I know scientists who travel to Antarctica for important scientific research. Just put him on board the next SpaceX rocket and hope that it explodes.
Hello, Martin. Thanks for your words. I'm on the edge of inside looking around and watching and reporting what I see. I just want to say that what our military leaders think are beside the point (for now, at least, and hopefully forever). They don't run things. And their fealty is to the Constitution.
It may not be apparent to you, wherever you are, but there is a plan, and it is starting to play out. Trump's silly speech is evidence. So are the nearly ubiquitous small demonstrations and resist movements that are all over the country, increasing literally daily. So are the Republican office holders, from Congress down, who are quietly resisting Trump. So is the growing antagonism (from almost every direction) toward Musk.
We won't need to remove them physically*. We have legal processes that are being carefully put in place. I can't promise it'll work, but I can promise this: Trump is already a lame duck president, and his attempts to control everything will undo him. We will make sure of that. His "approval ratings" are going down, already, a record in American history.
* Well, when the time comes, somebody might have to physically pull Trump out of the White House, but that's a simple procedure. By then nobody will be there to help him cling to the doorjamb.
We heard this same version of “we have a plan- we will prevail” during the election, particularly from the Hopium Chronicles. How did that work out? All the postcards, all the phone calls, all the Tesla protests don’t seem to be doing much. I’ve done all but the protests. My mobility is limited. But I have to say, I am very discouraged. Friday’s planned ambush of Zelenskyy was the last straw.
We cannot be silent to this dismantling of our democracy. We can call and email our reps in Congress and let them know of our outrage. If we are silent we are complicit in their destruction. If we are silent they will think we agree with what they are doing or that we do not care.
So, Jeanne- Perhaps you can enlighten us about what you are doing that’s more effective. Perhaps we could emulate your better idea. Or perhaps you could get better intel on the actual effectiveness of the work your fellow Americans are doing to defend our democracy by joining your local Indivisible group. Our national leadership is holding weekly calls identifying the impacts of our actions, and sharing recommendations for how we can up the ante each week. We need you in the fight, not shooting us in the foot.
I keep writing my reps to ask them to find a coherent messaging strategy. SO MUCH LOW-HANGING FRUIT.
For example, Trump continues to demand the end of remote work for federal workers while spending an awful lot of time at his home in Mar-a-Lago. He claims remote workers are probably golfing and then HE HIMSELF goes to Mar-a-Lago and golfs on a Tuesday. There are PHOTOS.
And there's so much more. Where's the outrage by Dems in Washington? The morning press conferences calling Trump out on all his lies? Like you, I'm baffled. And I'm going to keep nagging them until they figure it out.
Congress has their job, and what you see on the screen is only a tiny part of it. We the people have our job. And we are busy at work. Instead of wringing your hands and play-prognosticating the future (what a clever, pointless game!), why don't you join up with the people who are showing up, speaking up, reaching out, and joining together to make sure that we regain our democracy? These are not normal times, and we have a lot to do. Please look at what you can contribute, large or small, and join us.
It is not normal decorum to hold up protest signs at a State of the Union address. It is not normal decorum to wear a shirt that says "No Kings Live Here" at a State of the Union address. And I have not given up on the Supreme Court yet to act as a guard rail for this cheap hood's cruelty and vengeance. This from AP News three hours ago."Divided Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid"
Refused to read the MSM "takeaways" from last night's farrago of shite, as the Times, WaPo, et al keep trying to "make sense" of senseless stupidity. Apparently, the fecking eejit spent over 90min. saying...well, saying what? What was it that hadn't been said previously?
And don't get me started on the Dems in attendance with their little auction paddles inscribed with - you know - "strong messages"...the Party just doesn't give a fuck, nor do they have any more fucks to give...brutal.
Don’t look now, but 45 was arrested for fraud, went to trial, and was convicted. Then followed the legal dance of appeals and delays until 45 became 47.
Noticed trump was pissed the democrats were not clapping or standing up for him and berated them.
Like a petulant toddler
Also, just seeing clips actually from ajimmy Kimmel live last evening. It seemed as if more than once people in the audience were actually laughing g at him aloud at some of his lies
For sure one, can’t remember the subject but jimmy Kimmel pointed out as soon as the repubes noticed the laughter, they starred standing up and clapping
I sure missed seeing Nancy Pepsi behind the FFOTUS, at least she was amusing to watch
By the way I wasn’t watching more important things to do
Has to give my dog a bath and trim her up for our trip
I know my priorities in life.
My husband watched with his Bluetooth hearing aids and he was whopping and laughing and mocking the orange blob
This is the guy that was staunch republican until January 6 2021. He was an army ranger
Ps
My dog smells so good and her trim job from me will be fixed by the groomer in a few weeks😂
There's such a thing as trump exhaustion and I've got it, along with millions of rest of you. But my happy news is that, on March 4, in my nice little town of 10,000 in Wisconsin, there was a 50501 rally around our beautiful square with the restored old courthouse, protesting the horrible agenda they're trying to push down our throats, and hundreds of people turned out -- all ages, kids, dogs -- in the rain! with signs in one hand and umbrellas in the other. I thought my heart would burst with joy. It's happening, folksl --it really is. Join the rallies - our power is in our numbers. Jay -- thank you for all you do and are doing. This post of yours clarified so much.
Here is what my family is doing. We are donating to the ACLU. My daughter in law is attending demonstrations every week end. Yes democrats are doing whatever they are able to do. The Democratic party is doing town halls, appearing on TV and even joining demonstrations as they can. We are just not in the driver's seat.
Unfortunately, most of his supporters don’t care about facts and actual numbers. They think he walks on water. It is going to take them losing their livelihoods, their homes, their benefits before they say “”Oh yeah, he lied to us”.
His actual supporters are the wealthy. Then there is the small fraction of cultists, some of whom are starting to waver. Everyone else is just being used, and they are catching on. Note that Trump's approval ratings are dropping rapidly. You could help by showing up and by helping other people put their lives in context of what Trump is doing. Lots of folks out here organizing, or just asking questions to get people to think.
I think there is an even better question than “Do other politicians, including within the GOP, care about his popularity?” I'll see you and raise you "Do other politician, including within the GOP care about THEIR OWN popularity?" I mean... based on the fact that they decided not to do town halls anymore - they do. The next question is - how much? Considering they are being stripped of their power by the Orange Yam AND of their money by ....same as the stock market tanks. What are they hoping for? Or are they waiting for one of their own kids to get arrested during a college protest?
All is normal in the Republican world. Makes sense they would support the coup, it would keep them in power for the next 50 to 100 years. The only way out is a merciless rebellion by the center and left to cut/root out the extreme right rot.
Trump isn’t going to be removed from office, no matter how many people disapprove of his performance. Our institutions and even the constitution aren’t going to save us. I think it’s time to start thinking of solutions outside of whatever has been thought of or tried before. Our country might not survive much longer.
Paul Krugman titled his morning Substack column "America is Trapped in a Burning Tesla." (Apparently the doors on Tesla operate electronically, and you have to know just where to find a hidden release if you want to escape from your burning car.)
MANY GOOD SMALL DISTRIBUTED ANTI-TRUMP DEMOS ARE A GOOD THING. We had a very good protest of the State of the Union of about 100 - 150 people in Mountain View, California last night.
A fellow old guy who was standing next to me was recalling the large anti-war and civil rights demonstrations of our younger days, and wishing there were more giant demos against Trump. But I have a different reaction.
There’s something terrific about there being lots and lots of neighborhood-sized protests in lots of places around America, in which many of us express our views about the state of the union, and many more people get to see folks peaceably assembling to express our grievances (as it's put in the First Amendment to the Constitution). And they get a chance to interact with us demonstrators through their approving horn blowing. (There was quite a lot of that last night and in one of the earlier demonstrations at Tesla in Palo Alto; more than I've heard in decades of protests.)
So that even while Trump and Musk and Vance seek to normalize meanness, lawlessness, violence and hate, we are showing Americans firsthand that exercising our constitutional rights to say No is a much better normal thing to do.
I recall well from the 1960s anti-Vietnam movement that we grew depressed when the war continued while we had demonstration after demonstration. But there was a cumulative impact that affected public opinion and, along with the GI anti-war movement, eventually helped bring the war to an end. We too need to keep on keeping on.
I also like that there have been so many angry people at town halls that republicans are afraid to hold them. We need to ask Dems to hold them in their place.
Yes, Governor Tim Walz has announced he will be doing this. 👏🏼
Fantastic!
Not to be picky, but it’s Gov Walz. The former Fl congressman now in the Trump admin is Waltz.
Thanks. Just corrected it.
Excellent strategy. Fill the void. Our representative Lloyd Smucker from Pennsylvania never faces his constituents in public. His “ meetings” are always by phone.
NONE of my reps in Ohio have held townhalls. Congressman Dave Joyce (R) has been office for almost 13 years, and to the best of my knowledge has held one townhall. People were ushered into a room five at a time to sit at a table and do who knows what. The two new U.S. Senators John Husted (R) and Bernie Moreno (R)(former used car salesman who won the election with donations from billionaires, including the owner of the losing Super Bowl team, and by spewing Trump's hateful rhetoric about immigrants and transgender people, are still trying to find their way to the men's room.
My book club will be picketing the Tesla dealer on State Line on Friday. We are from Kansas City MO and Kansans from the suburbs. We had high winds and snow last night or we'd be there today.
Thank you to all protesters who showed up in bitter cold at the Tesla Dealership in Mayfield, OH, last Saturday.
Hey Linda! I'm Mission, KS born and bred, now living in Maine. Excellent work! Keep it up!
what really got things moving was the photo essay about the My Lai Massacre, especially the shot of the screaming girl because of being sprayed with paraquat I think it was. We need our journalists to continue stepping up with the stories of how Americans are being harmed by MAGA/DOGE policies, especially MAGA just finding out how those policies are harming them.
She had been burned with napalm, which is basically gasoline that has been turned into a gel, so it sticks to the skin and keeps burning. Paraquat is an herbicide, which can be toxic to humans but is not nearly as gruesome as napalm.
Yes, photojournalism can be a powerful tool to change the narrative. The picture of Mary Ann Vecchio standing over the body of Jeffrey Miller in a parking lot after shootings at Kent State University on May 4, 1970, started to change public sentiment about the war in Viet Nam.
True! W learned a lesson from the press coverage of the Vietnam War. W wouldn't allow the press to cover the caskets holding the serviceman who were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said it was disrespectful. It was self-serving! He knew that the sight of caskets holding our military casualties being unloaded from planes would have triggered protests against his two illegal wars.
Sadly, the legacy media no longer has the same commitment to reporting on significant actions, good, bad or insignificant by our government and representatives.
Fox has turned news coverage into infotainment. Billionaire owners of news outlets like Bezos and the Washington Post, has lead to censorship by the owner or self-censorship by reporters or their parent companies because they fear retaliation. The mainstream media is no longer independent or dependable.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phan_Thi_Kim_Phuc
Yes, Mitchell! In our northwest corner of Washington state, we had many protest marches and rallies yesterday in our small cities and towns including places where this has never happened before. Anat Shenker-Osario, rock star progressive messaging guru, says that people believe what they think others like them believe. It’s fine for stuff to happen in the big cities, but when they see it happening in their own communities, they sit up and take notice. It gives them courage to join in. We’re seeing more folks doing that every time we march!
Anat is great! I saw her talking with Anand on his Substack. She is inspiring, although I think of that poor woman attacked by 3 men, dragged out of her town hall meeting when she heckled them on their draconian abortion proposals in Idaho. Boycott Idaho.
One of my concerns is when I see things like, "A fellow old guy..." (I'm a fellow old guy, too, so don't take offense lol).
Did you see young people there? I've noticed that most of our cohorts on Substack and elsewhere are older citizens. Young people don't seem anywhere near as anxious about Trump turning Gaza into Kushner Shores as they did about Kamala's supposed involvement in Netanyahu's madness. It's kind of frustrating.
I do love the idea of a swarm of smaller protests. That's a great idea, especially when they include town halls, which, of course, republicans will cease participating in as the heat in the kitchen turns up.
Thanks for sharing this.
People in my community have done a "town hall in reverse" since my republican Congressman Dave Joyce refuses to hold any town halls. About 20 people cram into his tiny office in Mentor, Ohio, and leave a personal message with the receptionist.
Young people I know are frightened, but they are so busy with their jobs and caring for their young families that they don't read Substack posts, (even when I send them the links). I find that they do express their views to friends and colleagues, let at-risk folks know they are allies, and make small gestures like calling their representatives.
Thank you!
It takes a truly remarkable amount of stupidity to take one of the strongest economies on the planet and tank it in less than two months.
I'm sorry, my dear American friends, but it's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better. Protect yourselves and your loved ones.
And do what we can. Postcards@tonythedemocrat.org is still sending postcards in support of Judge Susan Crawford in WI. Early voting starts March 18.
Vote Forward (www.votefwd.org) also has two letter writing campaigns - one social and one political - for the same race. The campaigns only dropped last week and they are down to under ~22K names and addresses combined. They started with over 187K!!
For more info on Vote Forward, check out this "How To" guide
My neighbors and I are on it. Thanks for encouraging others!
Postcards have zero evidence that they work.
https://www.reddit.com/r/VoteBlue/comments/eshipt/study_on_the_effectiveness_of_postcards/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
There is relatively little research about handwritten GOTV postcard research that is publicly available (as opposed to industry findings) due to its relative youth as a political tactic. A 2018 GOTV postcard study conducted by SDAN revealed no effect from postcards on voter turnout, though the study did have a variety of issues, including the fact that baseline turnout was much higher for the study targets compared to the general electorate (Goldstein & Roman, “In press”).
Thank you!
I am truly frightened that the damage orange blight and muskrat are inflicting on our government right now, could take decades to fix.
I hope and pray that the orange blight, muskrat and their enablers are arrested for treason very soon. But even if they lost control of of our government tomorrow, things wouldn't go back to normal for quite sometime.
It’s remarkable that no American news outlet will allow themselves a section on “Why” Trump is lying. I’m sorry, “misstating” or “claiming falsely.” When your own Social Security director is telling you checks are not going out to 150-year-old people and you say it anyway, you’re lying. There is no other word. And yet they use so many other words …
Also, it’s far past time to point out the obviousness of his mental and cognitive decline. He is not competent to live independently, much less be president, and even his supporters know that—they just don’t care.
And the “transgender” (really transgenic) mice. That should be all anyone talks about for a month, and it would be if Joe Biden had said it.
Jay illustrates here the simple, three-part structure that the feckless Dems have long failed to understand and legacy media are too biased or afraid to cover: What, Why, and So What.
-- Call out the lie and expose it with the factual truth of the matter.
-- Say why the liar is doing it. That is, expose the self-interest behind the lie or the failure that the lie is trying to mask.
-- Explain the "So what?", the consequences, in terms of specific, everyday that Ms/Mr Everyperson has to grapple with. Bluntly put, the header could be "How this is making your life worse."
As Jay does here, keep the message brief, direct, and specific. Repeat very frequently, again and again every single day, across a wide range of non-legacy media and platforms. Hammer on the same basic points over and over and over: Again the régime is lying, because their programs are self-serving or are hurting you, and they're trying to hide that.
A few Dems seem to be stepping up. My Dem congressman says he gets himself onto as many podcasts and so forth as he can, even right-wing ones. I can't check that because I don't participate in social media, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt here. One of my senators, a Dem, is apparently acting quite vigorously in opposition (the other senator, also a Dem, is MIA).
Yet we get James Carville saying that Dems should just stay silent and sit back even as the orange criminal's shitshow swings its wrecking ball ever more furiously. Incredible, and all but suicidal, but true.
I refuse to listen to anything James Carville says. He predicted that white college-educated male voters would bring Harris to victory.
Smart move on your congressperson, to go on those RW outlets. If the idea is to "meet the voters where they are," a congressperson has to start there.
I plan on repeating it as much as I can. Thank you so much
I’ve said this so many times during his first term and over the last year. Why do they refuse to use the word “lying?” It’s so frustrating!
Transgender mice? I've not heard about that one yet. I didn't watch last night, I wasn't home and wouldn't have even if I had been
Trump said “the Biden administration spent "$8 million to make mice transgender." 🤣🤦♀️
OMG LOL
I did not watch either. Would prefer to watch paint dry rather than listen to his bloviating and lies.
BLOAT - Biggest Liar Of All Time
BLOAT — Biggest Liar of All Time
Another outstanding candidate for a cross-stitch sampler for the living room.
Fucking A!
On the outside looking in.
It’s hard to believe that he’s been allowed to get away with what he’s done so far. There has to be some force in the US that can take him down, remove him physically from office. This man is committing treason, daily! When a person with this power defies the Constitution, are there not repercussions? What does Americas military leaders think of all of this?
The people who agree with you are also the people fighting for the rule of law... I'd love to see him whisked off to a hut at the South Pole, but there is not a legal mechanism for doing so. If we somehow survive the MAGA onslaught, we will need a new constitution which has teeth in it. DOJ and the Inspector Generals need to be spun off into the 4th and 5th branches of our Government. We need a fast-track mechanism to remove a rogue president. We can no longer afford a government which hopes public figures will abide by norms.
Oh, please not to the South Pole. I know scientists who travel to Antarctica for important scientific research. Just put him on board the next SpaceX rocket and hope that it explodes.
Hello, Martin. Thanks for your words. I'm on the edge of inside looking around and watching and reporting what I see. I just want to say that what our military leaders think are beside the point (for now, at least, and hopefully forever). They don't run things. And their fealty is to the Constitution.
It may not be apparent to you, wherever you are, but there is a plan, and it is starting to play out. Trump's silly speech is evidence. So are the nearly ubiquitous small demonstrations and resist movements that are all over the country, increasing literally daily. So are the Republican office holders, from Congress down, who are quietly resisting Trump. So is the growing antagonism (from almost every direction) toward Musk.
We won't need to remove them physically*. We have legal processes that are being carefully put in place. I can't promise it'll work, but I can promise this: Trump is already a lame duck president, and his attempts to control everything will undo him. We will make sure of that. His "approval ratings" are going down, already, a record in American history.
* Well, when the time comes, somebody might have to physically pull Trump out of the White House, but that's a simple procedure. By then nobody will be there to help him cling to the doorjamb.
We heard this same version of “we have a plan- we will prevail” during the election, particularly from the Hopium Chronicles. How did that work out? All the postcards, all the phone calls, all the Tesla protests don’t seem to be doing much. I’ve done all but the protests. My mobility is limited. But I have to say, I am very discouraged. Friday’s planned ambush of Zelenskyy was the last straw.
We cannot be silent to this dismantling of our democracy. We can call and email our reps in Congress and let them know of our outrage. If we are silent we are complicit in their destruction. If we are silent they will think we agree with what they are doing or that we do not care.
So, Jeanne- Perhaps you can enlighten us about what you are doing that’s more effective. Perhaps we could emulate your better idea. Or perhaps you could get better intel on the actual effectiveness of the work your fellow Americans are doing to defend our democracy by joining your local Indivisible group. Our national leadership is holding weekly calls identifying the impacts of our actions, and sharing recommendations for how we can up the ante each week. We need you in the fight, not shooting us in the foot.
On the outside (Canada) looking in. I sure hope your right Annie.
From your fingers to God’s eyes!💗
He's replaced all the top military leaders with his own toadies.
The stupid, pathetic, ineffective little auction signs some Dems were holding up were useless.
Trump has already sold the country to the highest bidder.
Dems are still trying to play by the rules even though all rules and laws are ignored by Trump, Musk, and the MAGAts in Congress.
They sat there politely while the President continuously lied about everything.
They not only didn't loudly challenge him, they didn't even react except to wave their cute signs.
These are not normal times so normal decorum will not work no matter how badly Dems want it to.
They are stupidly expecting to be able to "fix" this in two years with wins in Congress.
Congress won't even be there in two years.
Trump doesn't need them for anything anymore.
He has Musk and the Supreme Court to do whatever he wants.
I keep writing my reps to ask them to find a coherent messaging strategy. SO MUCH LOW-HANGING FRUIT.
For example, Trump continues to demand the end of remote work for federal workers while spending an awful lot of time at his home in Mar-a-Lago. He claims remote workers are probably golfing and then HE HIMSELF goes to Mar-a-Lago and golfs on a Tuesday. There are PHOTOS.
And there's so much more. Where's the outrage by Dems in Washington? The morning press conferences calling Trump out on all his lies? Like you, I'm baffled. And I'm going to keep nagging them until they figure it out.
I’d love to see a list of the 5 things PINO does in a day.
I think it's
● Watch TV
● Golf 18 holes
● Drink a dozen diet Cokes
● Make up executive orders to sign
● Eat dinner on the terrace at Mar-a-Lardo with people who paid a million dollars or more to eat with him.
Congress has their job, and what you see on the screen is only a tiny part of it. We the people have our job. And we are busy at work. Instead of wringing your hands and play-prognosticating the future (what a clever, pointless game!), why don't you join up with the people who are showing up, speaking up, reaching out, and joining together to make sure that we regain our democracy? These are not normal times, and we have a lot to do. Please look at what you can contribute, large or small, and join us.
One thousand percent agree that we can’t follow the same decorum. They have zero decorum, rules or respect. Zero.
It is not normal decorum to hold up protest signs at a State of the Union address. It is not normal decorum to wear a shirt that says "No Kings Live Here" at a State of the Union address. And I have not given up on the Supreme Court yet to act as a guard rail for this cheap hood's cruelty and vengeance. This from AP News three hours ago."Divided Supreme Court rejects Trump bid to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid"
The fact that he scheduled this sorta SOTU address indicates he is worried enough.
Refused to read the MSM "takeaways" from last night's farrago of shite, as the Times, WaPo, et al keep trying to "make sense" of senseless stupidity. Apparently, the fecking eejit spent over 90min. saying...well, saying what? What was it that hadn't been said previously?
And don't get me started on the Dems in attendance with their little auction paddles inscribed with - you know - "strong messages"...the Party just doesn't give a fuck, nor do they have any more fucks to give...brutal.
Fraud is illegal. Proof of fraud would involve arrests/charges. It seems pretty obvious that they haven't found any actual fraud whatsoever.
Indeed. The fraud they claim is just any spending on things Musk, Trump and Co. dislike for culture war reasons.
Don’t look now, but 45 was arrested for fraud, went to trial, and was convicted. Then followed the legal dance of appeals and delays until 45 became 47.
Kudos to Al green
Noticed trump was pissed the democrats were not clapping or standing up for him and berated them.
Like a petulant toddler
Also, just seeing clips actually from ajimmy Kimmel live last evening. It seemed as if more than once people in the audience were actually laughing g at him aloud at some of his lies
For sure one, can’t remember the subject but jimmy Kimmel pointed out as soon as the repubes noticed the laughter, they starred standing up and clapping
I sure missed seeing Nancy Pepsi behind the FFOTUS, at least she was amusing to watch
By the way I wasn’t watching more important things to do
Has to give my dog a bath and trim her up for our trip
I know my priorities in life.
My husband watched with his Bluetooth hearing aids and he was whopping and laughing and mocking the orange blob
This is the guy that was staunch republican until January 6 2021. He was an army ranger
Ps
My dog smells so good and her trim job from me will be fixed by the groomer in a few weeks😂
There's such a thing as trump exhaustion and I've got it, along with millions of rest of you. But my happy news is that, on March 4, in my nice little town of 10,000 in Wisconsin, there was a 50501 rally around our beautiful square with the restored old courthouse, protesting the horrible agenda they're trying to push down our throats, and hundreds of people turned out -- all ages, kids, dogs -- in the rain! with signs in one hand and umbrellas in the other. I thought my heart would burst with joy. It's happening, folksl --it really is. Join the rallies - our power is in our numbers. Jay -- thank you for all you do and are doing. This post of yours clarified so much.
Here is what my family is doing. We are donating to the ACLU. My daughter in law is attending demonstrations every week end. Yes democrats are doing whatever they are able to do. The Democratic party is doing town halls, appearing on TV and even joining demonstrations as they can. We are just not in the driver's seat.
Unfortunately, most of his supporters don’t care about facts and actual numbers. They think he walks on water. It is going to take them losing their livelihoods, their homes, their benefits before they say “”Oh yeah, he lied to us”.
His actual supporters are the wealthy. Then there is the small fraction of cultists, some of whom are starting to waver. Everyone else is just being used, and they are catching on. Note that Trump's approval ratings are dropping rapidly. You could help by showing up and by helping other people put their lives in context of what Trump is doing. Lots of folks out here organizing, or just asking questions to get people to think.
Nah, they will just Blame Biden. It's so predictible.
I think there is an even better question than “Do other politicians, including within the GOP, care about his popularity?” I'll see you and raise you "Do other politician, including within the GOP care about THEIR OWN popularity?" I mean... based on the fact that they decided not to do town halls anymore - they do. The next question is - how much? Considering they are being stripped of their power by the Orange Yam AND of their money by ....same as the stock market tanks. What are they hoping for? Or are they waiting for one of their own kids to get arrested during a college protest?
All is normal in the Republican world. Makes sense they would support the coup, it would keep them in power for the next 50 to 100 years. The only way out is a merciless rebellion by the center and left to cut/root out the extreme right rot.
Trump isn’t going to be removed from office, no matter how many people disapprove of his performance. Our institutions and even the constitution aren’t going to save us. I think it’s time to start thinking of solutions outside of whatever has been thought of or tried before. Our country might not survive much longer.
Now I want a tshirt with a flaming dumpster with orange hair.
Paul Krugman titled his morning Substack column "America is Trapped in a Burning Tesla." (Apparently the doors on Tesla operate electronically, and you have to know just where to find a hidden release if you want to escape from your burning car.)