This is all theater. The only thing anyone should be concentrating on is Musk taking over the Treasury. If he controls the money, Congress isn't needed and will be eliminated next. Congress needs to act NOW.
I’m happy to report that the defendants agreed to the terms of the Court order restricting access of the two DOGE members (now Treasury employees) to read-only and forbidding the sharing of any data outside of the department.
Insisting that no action we take could possibly be effective because they'll just defy it is one more tactic to get us to throw up our hands in defeat in advance.
I'm not throwing up my hands in defeat, but I am getting tired of throwing up every time I hear Donald spout some new evidence of a deteriorating brain.
My question was real, not rhetorical or defeatist. I wanted to know what Jay Kuo bases his thought on that court orders will actually be obeyed. And how are we to know if they are?
Exactly, HarrisWalz. Musk's incels have had access to those systems for days. It would have been a simple matter to copy all the data and send it to a place of Musk's choosing. I think we should assume that any server they got into is compromised. That's just reality.
And I guarantee that the very first tranche of data Musk took was every financial record pertaining to Trump. That was shortly followed by the records of all of his inner circle, appointees, and influential members of Congress.
Wish I could believe them. Who knows what kind of code they’ve already changed. But I’m glad there are some kind of supposed limits, even though I believe these maniacs think they’re above the law.
I've worked on large enterprise-level software as a software engineer, so I wrote a bit of an explainer here on Substack about how difficult it is to make major changes to a system like the government's. It takes time. I say this, and wrote the article, not to dismiss your and other folks' very legitimate concerns, but to emphasize that we have a little time (but not much) to take action, and that every day we don't take action of some kind is a day we don't get back. We do have time. But not much. We can't throw up our hands. We need to discuss how we can fight back. For that, we need some good legal minds, which I am not.
I had just shared with a friend that a family member of mine last wrote software using COBAL--and I was laughing about it--when I then read that, ironically, some of the systems in the OMB/Treasure dept.s are actually running COBAL! LOL And the point made here that the youngsters trying to hijack these systems have never seen a relic like COBAL. As non-coders we all become very afraid of the potential to change these systems, but it's more likely that it is a much harder process than we imagine. And as Charles points out, there is a window of time. Small, yes, but it's there. Try to take the wins, however small they seem.
Thanks. I knew that the feds were pretty deeply mired in COBOL for years, but I didn’t know how much that’s still going on. I’m not surprised Treasury is still using it because migrating out of it would be hellish. I would think that such a project would take years.
What we need now is strategic alliance of expertise— legal, technology, systems, organizing, and more to effectively address the systematic and comprehensive threats posed by Project 2025. Siloed thinking and responses risks forests for trees approaches. We don’t each have to do everything but whatever we do should be informed by bigger picture. We need trees and forests perspectives.
However there is no oversight and Musk likes to do first knowing that he will pay no consequences later. I think we can insist on revoking his US citizenship. Let him get a Chinese passport since that is who he works for.
I have also started to think that the reason Elon is in the treasury, is to set the Dems up to trade his not cutting off social security, medicare, medicaid, USAID and whatever else, for them voting to raise the debt ceiling, because, no matter what he cuts, they are not going to get the tax cuts they want unless Trump can raise the debt ceiling, which up to now he seems to feel he cannot just do with an executive order.
The only effective measure is security by design. Where are the serious IT/security people?? The court order must be implemented by instituting technology measures that ensures security and restricted access and restricted dissemination of the data. The agmt of lawless out-of-control parties is almost worthless without oversight, monitoring and protective measures implemented immediately, plus forensics to see if any data was copied or removed.
Congress won't act and Democrats seem paralyzed beyond issuing strong statements, memos, and a fiery speech or two from Jasmine Crockett. We need to enter the upcoming primary system with proverbial torches and kick every single one of them who is not actively trying to end this out of office. Start with Fetterman, who has gone to the dark side.
All the voter suppression that the Repubbies undertook prior to the 2024 election underscores just how afraid the R's are of a level playing field and of the righteous power of the Dems when they finally finally get fired up.
In regards to a battle, the R's may have a nuke or two but they don't want to use it (too easy for everybody to see and recognize a nuke and call foul)--the R's would far rather rely on the "herding cats" aspect of Dem organization and the R's (somewhat) more subtle voter suppression tactics.
I consider it Trumpamania 2025. Nobody other than magabillys believe he’s real but they’ll fall on their swords to defend the Undertrumper tag team with the Apartheid Billionaire vs Democratis and the Rule of Lawness.
Donnie's hero - Adolph, did just that with the Reichstag. Our little Twitler has already talked about adjourning Congress. I could see him ordering Hegseth to erect a military barricade around The Capitol.
The question there is whether or not SCOTUS realizes that they themselves will be out of work if he becomes the king-dictator he wants to be, whether on his own or sitting on Musk's knee like a ventriloquist dummy.
He might just keep them around for show. They like the perks better than the constitution anyway. As long as they get paid they are happy even if they don't anything all day.
He was talking about it back in the Fall. He wanted the Senate out of the way so he could make up his Cabinet with all Recess Appointments. It had a fair amount of coverage.
Exactly...one wonders how much agency tRump really possesses, and to what extent others are leading on policy, writing his EOs, etc., and leaving him to conduct moronic pressers and post nonstop on social media.
One doesn’t have to wonder. He is merely following directions on what lever to pull next. He is counting on convincing the public that he really is The King and can do what he wants, in the hopes that we will all just capitulate. Don’t believe him. He has completely overplayed his hand right out of the starting gate. Ignore the firehose, it is meant to try and drown you. It’s straight out of the authoritarian playbook.
Just listen to his words, his struggles to complete sentences, his scatter-brained attempts to "define" exactly what the fecking hell his policies really are...demented old sod can't even credibly pull off his figurehead rôle, ffs!
While I agree with this, and am concentrating on Musk taking over the treasury, to the point of having a developed a name for my organization that I have made up in line with republican women called, "Moms Against Billionaires Stealing From the People." I invite anyone to use it when they call no matter what your gender, because Republicans seem to quake against moms looking out for the children.
Still, I have been looking at this so called theater through the Nazi Playbook. This is a Blitzkrieg. Trump is waging war on the American people to Kow us into submission and everything he does domestically and internationally ties into that. In the meantime he is making every country hate us and even our allies are turning to China which appears much more stable and reliable, so China wins.
Trump has a long list of vengeances he wants and so does Musk and they are also playing out in foreign and domestic policy.
Women are clearly relegated to second class citizen status, and so are non-Aryans, or in this case non-Whites. The plan is to turn everyone against us second class citizens and then start carting us off on trumped up charges. The words "trumped up" never have had clearer meaning for me.
Hitler got domestic outcry when he was practicing genocide in his adopted country of Germany, where he started with children and then moved up to institutionalized adults, and then to communists, then to so on, so when he was carting away the Jews he learned to take them elsewhere. Out of sight out of mine. Let Americans see how long they feel concern for immigrants once they are in Gitmo or other far away locations. At Gitmo people can be Vernichtet (destroyed) out of sight. Same with sending them to prisons in El Salvador, which are notorious for people never coming out of them.
There are many more parallels, such as Musk and Trump telling us the hurt they put on us is necessary, just as Goebbels told das Volk as Hitler dragged them into the war that he had promised in his campaign he would not do. Lo and behold, Trump is now starting war in Gaza or not. The EU is sending troops to Greenland, which makes them wide open in Europe. I am sure Putin is rubbing his hands in delight. Everything that is going on benefits Putin and Xi, angering every other country and both Africa and the Middle East and Europe are being stirred up as well as the two countries on our land borders. Does Trump have enough Brown shirts to take all of this on? If the military were to refuse to carry out orders, what would Trump do. If someone has to take over the presidency I would rather have the US military doing it then Musk, JD Vance, or Mike Johnson, although the latter can be intimidated.
Somebody needs to control the money spigot that has been out of control for decades. $4million each to Sean Penn and Ben Stiller to get their pictures taken with Zelensky? $50 million for condoms to Gaza? USAID funding the BBC and Politico?
Musk may actually meet the goal of saving a trillion in waste and fraud this year; hard to say that’s a bad thing.
Exactly right! Of course the condoms weren’t actually sent to Gaza - that’s how money laundering works. And you want your tax dollars laundered, apparently? Why?
It’s simply the first time we’ve had a transparent government audit, and many can’t quite believe/accept the results. It takes time to get one’s mind around just how bad things are.
An idea is floating around that the Democrats should conduct a daily press conference, with some strong communicators to bring home the message. Your article today, emphasizes the critical importance of demonstrating the lunacy and catastrophe that is so prevalent these last few weeks.
For good example of proactive communications, see AOC’s live direct session with her supporters and constituents-excellent, clear update with practical suggestions for what each person can do, that what we each can do is enough. We must not consent in advance. The monsters need our fear, anxiety and paralysis. Her team is also producing “ know your rights” PDFs that can be distributed. We need more local grassroots community efforts like this. https://youtu.be/CVgNJf6CsBA?si=A2rtAqKyPp5xyMlz
New York Times Word Games are the best! I start the day with Connections, Mini Crossword, Strands, Letterbox and sometimes Wordle. Then I read Status Kuo. Pictures of Riley and the pets are much appreciated too, as they add more smiles to the day.
Sounds familiar--I start the morning with Heather Cox Richardson, then my email, then Wordle (256 streak!), Connections, then Kuo and other Substack writers. Ritual and truth are important to combat the chaos.
My concern is that there are too many Substack newsletter and independent news sources, all doing good work, but not consolidated enough to make enough noise to get the message out. And there are way too many to subscribe to. I already subscribe to four, over my budget, and I see another ten I wouldn't mind subscribing to but can't afford yet another $60 a year. And they have Fox "News."
I hear what you are saying about too many subscriptions. I now subscribe to Joyce Vance for the nitty-gritty legal, and Jay Kuo for spot on political analysis (and sheetz and giggles - a lifesaver!)
I switched from twitter to bluesky to get a wide variety of politicals, and to read the comments…always good to have a finger on the pulse of the illiterati
I used to get Richardson but dropped it because I had too much to read and felt that historical context from 50 or 100 or 200 years was interesting but not particularly useful.
I just started getting the
contrarian and I like it, but it is overwhelming. I pick and choose what I read from it.
Since I don't play sort of games this isn't my issue. I meant to cancel the WaPo (I wouldn't go near the NYTimes after ho they elected Trump in 2016) but my subscription renewed before I could and I couldn't get them to refund the money. So I'm stuck until November 2025. Gives me time to respond in comments to their ghastly Trump-fluffing stories and tell them how awful they are.
Me too! My day starts with Wordle, Dordle, Quordle, Connections, Strands, and Blossom. (Some of those are Merriam-Webster, not NYT.) Playing word games takes my mind off my worries, at least for a little while.
When I need to unwind, I watch the Big Bear Valley Eagle cam. Something about that pair of eagles patiently tending to their nest (they have three eggs this year!) creates a whole new perspective. It is extremely meditative.
I am missing out on some fun stuff!! Yes the need to not think about the Orange Sh*t stain and what is that Ahole going to do next to screw up our country.. great idea!! Thank you Deborah!!
Yes they are, but I wish they would focus on more aggressively reporting on what is going on within the administration and the Musk takeover, data theft, etc.
I do the word puzzles in a particular order also, and I noticed most people do. I start with the mini and see it as a harbinger of results to come with the other puzzles.
Then I have several friends on Facebook who post their results and then other friends follow.
My daughter and I compare our scores on the spelling bee throughout the day…
It's the only reason I've held onto my New York Times subscription for this long. At least it's good for something, if not good reporting :(
All of these distractions, while they can (in the case of Gaza, for example) have serious implications, they are just that. That the legacy media as well as some of the independent media focus on them, the real danger. The more print, air, and digital time spent on this reality show game takes *much* needed attention away from the on-going, driving, relentless implementation of P2025 and Musk's sociopathic corruption.
The latter is where the media needs to be laser-focused. Every single thing currently under attack by DOGE and accomplices is right out of P2025. The new piece added to the mix is Musk and his Yarvin-driven megalomania coupled with his racist beliefs. The thread of Yarvin between Musk and Peter Theil is palpable. JD Vance is a protege of Theil and has expressed admiration for Yarvin.
We can't have things both ways. In the campaign, 45/47 was viewed as a doddering crank with no bowel control, multiple felony convictions . . . in short, ready for assisted living. NOW he's being credited for everything. Can we all honestly say we believe that? Both Heather Cox Richardson and Timothy Snyder have raised this issue.
IMO, the 'unspoken' part of P2025 is to get the government gutted, install the aparatchniks, and then get rid of 45/47. They can't do this now -- they need 45/47's charisma with the die-hard MAGA base, but when they don't need that base anymore, 45/47 will go the way of medieval popes who have outlived their usefulness. They can't 25th Amendment him; he'd still be around and a persistent danger to the new regime.
I agree with everything you've said. But remember, it was also said that Trump was only running to stay out of prison, and he has accomplished that. He has almost eliminated all the charges against him too. He doesn't really want to 'president', rather, he wants to swing at golf balls and bask in glory and adoration and steal the country's wealth. He also wants revenge on anyone who has ever said or done anything against him, and he's busy delegating that function to as many people and agencies as possible.
Yeah if Trump doesn't yet realize he is dead as soon as he's outlived his usefulness to the oligarchs, he soon will. Once the coup is complete they'll off him. They can still get to him, secret service or not.
Trump is the consummate conman; flashy items with one hand while the other takes your wallet. In this case he keeps flooding the media with obscure items while the coup is taking place behind the scenes.
Trump needs to keep the American people frightened of fake problems and threatened by his threats so they won’t lift their eyes and see that the emperor has no clothes.
I agree this is all theater. The sad part is that people are believing all this kaka. I asked some friends who support Trump about how they like the price of eggs, and some of the inane choices for his cabinet. They are all for it. Government is too big, they said. He's gonna get it under control. When will they wake up? They believe all these lies, including those he blames his failures on.
One major thing that needs to be done is to make sure the voting equipment and government apparatus is repaired, replaced, or overhauled by the manufacturers. Trump promised some audiences that they'd never have to vote again, and he and his fellow criminals have likely ensured there can be no fair votes in the future. Democrats and Independents should be contacting Dominion and Smartmatic to arrange this.
I think he does all this one, because he is suffering from dementia and needs support for that but also because all this crazy gives the likes of musk all the cover they need to commit their crimes and complete their take over of the government. That’s the real story and all of trumps bullshit needs to be ignored or at least not given the credence or airtime it gets.
Week 3, I'm already tired of the bombardment of crazy from him. It's exhausting. And we shouldn't have to "decode" what our FOTUS really means when he says stuff. He's senile, when do they start calling a spade a spade and do what is best for our country? Oh yea nobody who has control of that really cares
It is largely distractions, to keep the focus away from what Musk is doing, and ALSO what Russell Vought will do if confirmed, with the so-called Sovereign Wealth Fund, which will allow Trump, Musk, Vance or others to BYPASS congress altogether!
Donnie is a nuclear narcissist leaving a chain reaction of chaos in his wake. He will end up removing huge amounts of expertise from the US Government, a huge deficit of trust in the United States, and titanic budget deficits - not to mention all the people he will have caused awful harm to.
Yeah, he's sowing chaos and looking like a savior to his base, but it's all 'look over here' while he's doing truly illegal and despicable things elsewhere. Like gutting the FBI and CIA. That will have long terms effects that we may never come back from. The GOP is no longer a political party; it's a criminal gang doing what any street gang would do if they could -- eliminating those who could police their actions so they could commit at will any crimes it wants, like robbing the treasury.
You state that the “press is dutifully reporting” on these fires, but so far, CBS (whose parent company, Skydance, which includes Paramount, and the founders are Oracle’s billionaires the Ellisons), somewhat CNN, ABC, have either not reported of breezed over the reporting on Muskrat’s coup into the treasury that holds our SS, DFAS, Tax, Medicare/Medicaid payments and ALL our personal information. MSNBC is the only network where I can find more reporting, although USAID has the lion share of the reports on the protests. Please tell me who IS reporting it all.
The even simpler way to think of Trump is that he thinks this is a ‘reality’ TV show where absurd scenarios are introduced and ‘solved’ or ‘resolved’ in 40 minutes or less. I really don’t think he’s quite as cunning as we’re giving him credit for. Gaza is a perfect example of how his mind works. It IS a demolition site. What does a real estate developer do with a demolition site? He rebuilds it with luxury properties of course, especially prime sea side real estate. I don’t understand why anyone is shocked by his and Kushner’s ideas. What does he care about the Palestinians displaced? Their homes have already been destroyed, thanks in part to US complicity. Who’s going to be held responsible for the destruction that’s already taken place?
This is all theater. The only thing anyone should be concentrating on is Musk taking over the Treasury. If he controls the money, Congress isn't needed and will be eliminated next. Congress needs to act NOW.
I’m happy to report that the defendants agreed to the terms of the Court order restricting access of the two DOGE members (now Treasury employees) to read-only and forbidding the sharing of any data outside of the department.
What makes you think that any of these people will obey court orders? And isn't this locking the barn door after the horse is stolen anyway?
Insisting that no action we take could possibly be effective because they'll just defy it is one more tactic to get us to throw up our hands in defeat in advance.
I'm not throwing up my hands in defeat, but I am getting tired of throwing up every time I hear Donald spout some new evidence of a deteriorating brain.
My question was real, not rhetorical or defeatist. I wanted to know what Jay Kuo bases his thought on that court orders will actually be obeyed. And how are we to know if they are?
Or it's more motivation to go in and get them out of there.
Exactly, HarrisWalz. Musk's incels have had access to those systems for days. It would have been a simple matter to copy all the data and send it to a place of Musk's choosing. I think we should assume that any server they got into is compromised. That's just reality.
And I guarantee that the very first tranche of data Musk took was every financial record pertaining to Trump. That was shortly followed by the records of all of his inner circle, appointees, and influential members of Congress.
Why do you think that would be the 1st thing he would go after? So he could blackmail people?
Exactly.
Wish I could believe them. Who knows what kind of code they’ve already changed. But I’m glad there are some kind of supposed limits, even though I believe these maniacs think they’re above the law.
I've worked on large enterprise-level software as a software engineer, so I wrote a bit of an explainer here on Substack about how difficult it is to make major changes to a system like the government's. It takes time. I say this, and wrote the article, not to dismiss your and other folks' very legitimate concerns, but to emphasize that we have a little time (but not much) to take action, and that every day we don't take action of some kind is a day we don't get back. We do have time. But not much. We can't throw up our hands. We need to discuss how we can fight back. For that, we need some good legal minds, which I am not.
I had just shared with a friend that a family member of mine last wrote software using COBAL--and I was laughing about it--when I then read that, ironically, some of the systems in the OMB/Treasure dept.s are actually running COBAL! LOL And the point made here that the youngsters trying to hijack these systems have never seen a relic like COBAL. As non-coders we all become very afraid of the potential to change these systems, but it's more likely that it is a much harder process than we imagine. And as Charles points out, there is a window of time. Small, yes, but it's there. Try to take the wins, however small they seem.
Thanks. I knew that the feds were pretty deeply mired in COBOL for years, but I didn’t know how much that’s still going on. I’m not surprised Treasury is still using it because migrating out of it would be hellish. I would think that such a project would take years.
I really hope you're right!
What we need now is strategic alliance of expertise— legal, technology, systems, organizing, and more to effectively address the systematic and comprehensive threats posed by Project 2025. Siloed thinking and responses risks forests for trees approaches. We don’t each have to do everything but whatever we do should be informed by bigger picture. We need trees and forests perspectives.
However there is no oversight and Musk likes to do first knowing that he will pay no consequences later. I think we can insist on revoking his US citizenship. Let him get a Chinese passport since that is who he works for.
I have also started to think that the reason Elon is in the treasury, is to set the Dems up to trade his not cutting off social security, medicare, medicaid, USAID and whatever else, for them voting to raise the debt ceiling, because, no matter what he cuts, they are not going to get the tax cuts they want unless Trump can raise the debt ceiling, which up to now he seems to feel he cannot just do with an executive order.
The only effective measure is security by design. Where are the serious IT/security people?? The court order must be implemented by instituting technology measures that ensures security and restricted access and restricted dissemination of the data. The agmt of lawless out-of-control parties is almost worthless without oversight, monitoring and protective measures implemented immediately, plus forensics to see if any data was copied or removed.
Does anyone even know what they're doing in there?
What HarrisWalz said. Sadly.
Congress won't act and Democrats seem paralyzed beyond issuing strong statements, memos, and a fiery speech or two from Jasmine Crockett. We need to enter the upcoming primary system with proverbial torches and kick every single one of them who is not actively trying to end this out of office. Start with Fetterman, who has gone to the dark side.
How do you fight a battle with butter knives when the opponents have nukes?
All the voter suppression that the Repubbies undertook prior to the 2024 election underscores just how afraid the R's are of a level playing field and of the righteous power of the Dems when they finally finally get fired up.
In regards to a battle, the R's may have a nuke or two but they don't want to use it (too easy for everybody to see and recognize a nuke and call foul)--the R's would far rather rely on the "herding cats" aspect of Dem organization and the R's (somewhat) more subtle voter suppression tactics.
I consider it Trumpamania 2025. Nobody other than magabillys believe he’s real but they’ll fall on their swords to defend the Undertrumper tag team with the Apartheid Billionaire vs Democratis and the Rule of Lawness.
Donnie's hero - Adolph, did just that with the Reichstag. Our little Twitler has already talked about adjourning Congress. I could see him ordering Hegseth to erect a military barricade around The Capitol.
The supreme court is going to say congress is unconstitutional and shut it down because the fascists won and there are no rules anymore.
The question there is whether or not SCOTUS realizes that they themselves will be out of work if he becomes the king-dictator he wants to be, whether on his own or sitting on Musk's knee like a ventriloquist dummy.
He might just keep them around for show. They like the perks better than the constitution anyway. As long as they get paid they are happy even if they don't anything all day.
Not paid so much as bribed.
On what grounds?
I dunno, theyll make up something. The law is whatever they say it is.
Exactly. I believe something similar was done in other countries when dictators took over.
Stephen, where did you read/hear about adjourning Congress??
He was talking about it back in the Fall. He wanted the Senate out of the way so he could make up his Cabinet with all Recess Appointments. It had a fair amount of coverage.
Exactly.
Exactly...one wonders how much agency tRump really possesses, and to what extent others are leading on policy, writing his EOs, etc., and leaving him to conduct moronic pressers and post nonstop on social media.
One doesn’t have to wonder. He is merely following directions on what lever to pull next. He is counting on convincing the public that he really is The King and can do what he wants, in the hopes that we will all just capitulate. Don’t believe him. He has completely overplayed his hand right out of the starting gate. Ignore the firehose, it is meant to try and drown you. It’s straight out of the authoritarian playbook.
Just listen to his words, his struggles to complete sentences, his scatter-brained attempts to "define" exactly what the fecking hell his policies really are...demented old sod can't even credibly pull off his figurehead rôle, ffs!
Actually, others have pointed out that he doesn't like being told what to do ...
He certainly was not capable of writing the EO regarding "Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias." (OMG)
While I agree with this, and am concentrating on Musk taking over the treasury, to the point of having a developed a name for my organization that I have made up in line with republican women called, "Moms Against Billionaires Stealing From the People." I invite anyone to use it when they call no matter what your gender, because Republicans seem to quake against moms looking out for the children.
Still, I have been looking at this so called theater through the Nazi Playbook. This is a Blitzkrieg. Trump is waging war on the American people to Kow us into submission and everything he does domestically and internationally ties into that. In the meantime he is making every country hate us and even our allies are turning to China which appears much more stable and reliable, so China wins.
Trump has a long list of vengeances he wants and so does Musk and they are also playing out in foreign and domestic policy.
Women are clearly relegated to second class citizen status, and so are non-Aryans, or in this case non-Whites. The plan is to turn everyone against us second class citizens and then start carting us off on trumped up charges. The words "trumped up" never have had clearer meaning for me.
Hitler got domestic outcry when he was practicing genocide in his adopted country of Germany, where he started with children and then moved up to institutionalized adults, and then to communists, then to so on, so when he was carting away the Jews he learned to take them elsewhere. Out of sight out of mine. Let Americans see how long they feel concern for immigrants once they are in Gitmo or other far away locations. At Gitmo people can be Vernichtet (destroyed) out of sight. Same with sending them to prisons in El Salvador, which are notorious for people never coming out of them.
There are many more parallels, such as Musk and Trump telling us the hurt they put on us is necessary, just as Goebbels told das Volk as Hitler dragged them into the war that he had promised in his campaign he would not do. Lo and behold, Trump is now starting war in Gaza or not. The EU is sending troops to Greenland, which makes them wide open in Europe. I am sure Putin is rubbing his hands in delight. Everything that is going on benefits Putin and Xi, angering every other country and both Africa and the Middle East and Europe are being stirred up as well as the two countries on our land borders. Does Trump have enough Brown shirts to take all of this on? If the military were to refuse to carry out orders, what would Trump do. If someone has to take over the presidency I would rather have the US military doing it then Musk, JD Vance, or Mike Johnson, although the latter can be intimidated.
I completely agree with this comment.
The only money spigot that has been opened is the one to the ultra wealthy.
Somebody needs to control the money spigot that has been out of control for decades. $4million each to Sean Penn and Ben Stiller to get their pictures taken with Zelensky? $50 million for condoms to Gaza? USAID funding the BBC and Politico?
Musk may actually meet the goal of saving a trillion in waste and fraud this year; hard to say that’s a bad thing.
$50 million for condoms. That is a lot of condoms ! IT has also already been debunked. Nobody spent that much or sent that many to GAZA.
Exactly right! Of course the condoms weren’t actually sent to Gaza - that’s how money laundering works. And you want your tax dollars laundered, apparently? Why?
Stop watching Fox and stop reading Breitbart,Mtnsmith. What you are posting is hogwash.
Exactly. News is balanced, and F-- is anything but that.
I get it -
It’s simply the first time we’ve had a transparent government audit, and many can’t quite believe/accept the results. It takes time to get one’s mind around just how bad things are.
I’m just a bit less gullible than you (et. al)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/petersuciu/2025/02/07/usaid-didnt-pay-celebrities-to-travel-to-ukraine-despite-new-claims/
An idea is floating around that the Democrats should conduct a daily press conference, with some strong communicators to bring home the message. Your article today, emphasizes the critical importance of demonstrating the lunacy and catastrophe that is so prevalent these last few weeks.
Having Democrats conduct a daily press conference would definitely be
a good way to dispel lies with hared evidence, repeated as often as necessary.
Considering the process Jay has described as the so-called president's way of
creating and then walking away from a problem and distraction, loudly countering
the false assertions regularly is necessary, if only because of many people's short
attention span. Lunacy and catastrophe are apt terms.
For good example of proactive communications, see AOC’s live direct session with her supporters and constituents-excellent, clear update with practical suggestions for what each person can do, that what we each can do is enough. We must not consent in advance. The monsters need our fear, anxiety and paralysis. Her team is also producing “ know your rights” PDFs that can be distributed. We need more local grassroots community efforts like this. https://youtu.be/CVgNJf6CsBA?si=A2rtAqKyPp5xyMlz
Thank you - I would not have known. Learning is at the root of all we are,
and all we hope to be.
New York Times Word Games are the best! I start the day with Connections, Mini Crossword, Strands, Letterbox and sometimes Wordle. Then I read Status Kuo. Pictures of Riley and the pets are much appreciated too, as they add more smiles to the day.
Sounds familiar--I start the morning with Heather Cox Richardson, then my email, then Wordle (256 streak!), Connections, then Kuo and other Substack writers. Ritual and truth are important to combat the chaos.
I love your observation that ritual is important. It’s like feeling some small bit of control when we can’t control the chaos. Well said.
My concern is that there are too many Substack newsletter and independent news sources, all doing good work, but not consolidated enough to make enough noise to get the message out. And there are way too many to subscribe to. I already subscribe to four, over my budget, and I see another ten I wouldn't mind subscribing to but can't afford yet another $60 a year. And they have Fox "News."
I hear what you are saying about too many subscriptions. I now subscribe to Joyce Vance for the nitty-gritty legal, and Jay Kuo for spot on political analysis (and sheetz and giggles - a lifesaver!)
I switched from twitter to bluesky to get a wide variety of politicals, and to read the comments…always good to have a finger on the pulse of the illiterati
I used to get Richardson but dropped it because I had too much to read and felt that historical context from 50 or 100 or 200 years was interesting but not particularly useful.
I just started getting the
contrarian and I like it, but it is overwhelming. I pick and choose what I read from it.
I cancelled both the nyt and wapo months ago. I choose not to support them financially in exchange for the games.
Since I don't play sort of games this isn't my issue. I meant to cancel the WaPo (I wouldn't go near the NYTimes after ho they elected Trump in 2016) but my subscription renewed before I could and I couldn't get them to refund the money. So I'm stuck until November 2025. Gives me time to respond in comments to their ghastly Trump-fluffing stories and tell them how awful they are.
Me too! My day starts with Wordle, Dordle, Quordle, Connections, Strands, and Blossom. (Some of those are Merriam-Webster, not NYT.) Playing word games takes my mind off my worries, at least for a little while.
When I need to unwind, I watch the Big Bear Valley Eagle cam. Something about that pair of eagles patiently tending to their nest (they have three eggs this year!) creates a whole new perspective. It is extremely meditative.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B4-L2nfGcuE
I am missing out on some fun stuff!! Yes the need to not think about the Orange Sh*t stain and what is that Ahole going to do next to screw up our country.. great idea!! Thank you Deborah!!
Yes they are, but I wish they would focus on more aggressively reporting on what is going on within the administration and the Musk takeover, data theft, etc.
I do the word puzzles in a particular order also, and I noticed most people do. I start with the mini and see it as a harbinger of results to come with the other puzzles.
Then I have several friends on Facebook who post their results and then other friends follow.
My daughter and I compare our scores on the spelling bee throughout the day…
It's the only reason I've held onto my New York Times subscription for this long. At least it's good for something, if not good reporting :(
I love crossword puzzles,and do several daily in my emails.They do help calm me down and are a good distraction.
I also get comics in my emails,and I look forward to reading them every day,at work I read them on my lunch break.They are a welcome distraction.
This is one of the best summaries yet of what Trump is up to. Just wish more of the mainstream media would get this.
All of these distractions, while they can (in the case of Gaza, for example) have serious implications, they are just that. That the legacy media as well as some of the independent media focus on them, the real danger. The more print, air, and digital time spent on this reality show game takes *much* needed attention away from the on-going, driving, relentless implementation of P2025 and Musk's sociopathic corruption.
The latter is where the media needs to be laser-focused. Every single thing currently under attack by DOGE and accomplices is right out of P2025. The new piece added to the mix is Musk and his Yarvin-driven megalomania coupled with his racist beliefs. The thread of Yarvin between Musk and Peter Theil is palpable. JD Vance is a protege of Theil and has expressed admiration for Yarvin.
We can't have things both ways. In the campaign, 45/47 was viewed as a doddering crank with no bowel control, multiple felony convictions . . . in short, ready for assisted living. NOW he's being credited for everything. Can we all honestly say we believe that? Both Heather Cox Richardson and Timothy Snyder have raised this issue.
IMO, the 'unspoken' part of P2025 is to get the government gutted, install the aparatchniks, and then get rid of 45/47. They can't do this now -- they need 45/47's charisma with the die-hard MAGA base, but when they don't need that base anymore, 45/47 will go the way of medieval popes who have outlived their usefulness. They can't 25th Amendment him; he'd still be around and a persistent danger to the new regime.
I agree with everything you've said. But remember, it was also said that Trump was only running to stay out of prison, and he has accomplished that. He has almost eliminated all the charges against him too. He doesn't really want to 'president', rather, he wants to swing at golf balls and bask in glory and adoration and steal the country's wealth. He also wants revenge on anyone who has ever said or done anything against him, and he's busy delegating that function to as many people and agencies as possible.
And today's news conference illustrated that to a T.
Yeah if Trump doesn't yet realize he is dead as soon as he's outlived his usefulness to the oligarchs, he soon will. Once the coup is complete they'll off him. They can still get to him, secret service or not.
Trump is the consummate conman; flashy items with one hand while the other takes your wallet. In this case he keeps flooding the media with obscure items while the coup is taking place behind the scenes.
I agree
Trump needs to keep the American people frightened of fake problems and threatened by his threats so they won’t lift their eyes and see that the emperor has no clothes.
I agree this is all theater. The sad part is that people are believing all this kaka. I asked some friends who support Trump about how they like the price of eggs, and some of the inane choices for his cabinet. They are all for it. Government is too big, they said. He's gonna get it under control. When will they wake up? They believe all these lies, including those he blames his failures on.
The fight ahead is to win back Democrats who didn’t vote and to convince the plurality of nonvoters to show up next time.
One major thing that needs to be done is to make sure the voting equipment and government apparatus is repaired, replaced, or overhauled by the manufacturers. Trump promised some audiences that they'd never have to vote again, and he and his fellow criminals have likely ensured there can be no fair votes in the future. Democrats and Independents should be contacting Dominion and Smartmatic to arrange this.
I think he does all this one, because he is suffering from dementia and needs support for that but also because all this crazy gives the likes of musk all the cover they need to commit their crimes and complete their take over of the government. That’s the real story and all of trumps bullshit needs to be ignored or at least not given the credence or airtime it gets.
Your analyses are always superb. Thank you.
Week 3, I'm already tired of the bombardment of crazy from him. It's exhausting. And we shouldn't have to "decode" what our FOTUS really means when he says stuff. He's senile, when do they start calling a spade a spade and do what is best for our country? Oh yea nobody who has control of that really cares
It is largely distractions, to keep the focus away from what Musk is doing, and ALSO what Russell Vought will do if confirmed, with the so-called Sovereign Wealth Fund, which will allow Trump, Musk, Vance or others to BYPASS congress altogether!
Donnie is a nuclear narcissist leaving a chain reaction of chaos in his wake. He will end up removing huge amounts of expertise from the US Government, a huge deficit of trust in the United States, and titanic budget deficits - not to mention all the people he will have caused awful harm to.
Very good perspective piece.
Yeah, he's sowing chaos and looking like a savior to his base, but it's all 'look over here' while he's doing truly illegal and despicable things elsewhere. Like gutting the FBI and CIA. That will have long terms effects that we may never come back from. The GOP is no longer a political party; it's a criminal gang doing what any street gang would do if they could -- eliminating those who could police their actions so they could commit at will any crimes it wants, like robbing the treasury.
You state that the “press is dutifully reporting” on these fires, but so far, CBS (whose parent company, Skydance, which includes Paramount, and the founders are Oracle’s billionaires the Ellisons), somewhat CNN, ABC, have either not reported of breezed over the reporting on Muskrat’s coup into the treasury that holds our SS, DFAS, Tax, Medicare/Medicaid payments and ALL our personal information. MSNBC is the only network where I can find more reporting, although USAID has the lion share of the reports on the protests. Please tell me who IS reporting it all.
Even the so-called independents, Guardian and AP, are not reporting on the coup, barely a mention in AP.
Gaslighting, I guess - or as it’s really known as - State Controlled Media 😡
The even simpler way to think of Trump is that he thinks this is a ‘reality’ TV show where absurd scenarios are introduced and ‘solved’ or ‘resolved’ in 40 minutes or less. I really don’t think he’s quite as cunning as we’re giving him credit for. Gaza is a perfect example of how his mind works. It IS a demolition site. What does a real estate developer do with a demolition site? He rebuilds it with luxury properties of course, especially prime sea side real estate. I don’t understand why anyone is shocked by his and Kushner’s ideas. What does he care about the Palestinians displaced? Their homes have already been destroyed, thanks in part to US complicity. Who’s going to be held responsible for the destruction that’s already taken place?