We’re now into 80d of the Cheeto Strongman’s Nazi regime and a long way to go but the immoral unconstitutional treatment of immigrants is reprehensible And now there is the beginning of the family separation policy that occurred during the last Nazi regime In this police state people are swept off the streets, visas unknowingly revoked, and now the combing of government IRS data to “get the goods” on tax paying immigrants so that their citizenship can be deleted so that they can be sent to concentration camps domestically and to foreign countries This patriotic cleansing is monstrous activity is condemnable on so many levels but of course the point is not anything more than cruel Just as the ongoing Gaza genocide is happening and Americans are unsettled with that, Americans stand by justified in their country’s disgusting treatment of fellow human beings is shameful Currently the regime is asking for billions of dollars more in the budget to support this sadistic policy
How can it be that we a nation of immigrants treat our successors with such inhumane dictums? If you have any sense of common decency or for that matter a soul such treatment should be vehemently
Unless we speak out we are complicit with these disgusting treatments of our fellow human beings Because this purge is just the beginning Next it could be LGBTQ+ advocates, drag queens, student who speak out, news organization celebrities critical of the regime, comedians who joke about the Der Fuhrer, any marginalized group will be sent off to the gulag
Protest loud Protest often Make your voice heard This is not acceptable in America and we need to let the Nazis know our disgust
I'm glad the perp turned his hateful self in and is being charged with terrorism, attempted homicide, aggravated arson, burglary, reckless endangerment, loitering and two counts of aggravated assault.
Simon, I am a big fan of Hopium as well as a subscriber. I urge all democrats at whatever level to sign onto your Opportunity and Prosperity strategy. It is the correct one. American people want a philosophy of hope and optimism now. It can work against the negativity and nihilism of Trump. However please consider that Dems should also stress somewhere in their strategy that order not disorder is imperative for a modern mutilethnic,
Multicultural society. Even in deep blue areas there is a sense of insecurity and crime, rampant shoplifting.
Dems must attack this issue responsibly and strategically. It is not aimed at any one person or group but meant as a necessity for the community at large.
While I agree with much of what is written here need to go look for polling data to back up this line - Multicultural society. Even in deep blue areas there is a sense of insecurity and crime, rampant shoplifting.
If it true polling data can back this up. Will make your argument stronger, more convincing. For we need to be clear that violent crime rates in America are half of what they were 35 years ago, and over crime rates came way down under Biden after rising under Trump.
Simon, I agree statistically crime might be moving in the correct direction. That argument did not help Biden or democrats this past election cycle. I live in deepest blue Davis, Ca and even people here worry and talk about crime, homelessness and disorder. I also have a place in DC and our local CVS has many products behind locked doors with security guards 24/7. People unwilling to drive at night because of fear of carjacking.
Look, I’m just stating my preference that Dems not relinquish this issue to republicans and send a message that we also have a strong position to enhance security everywhere.
there was some talk about this and walgreens iirc admitted much of it was bullshit. and locking up their stuff has actually hurt sales of some items.the stores didn't want to spend money on additional staff, overstated their losses, and were hoping municipalities would step up police surveillance. me, i go to independent pharmacies where shit is not locked up....
You may want to believe people in communities aren’t concerned about crime and disorder. That’s on you. Democrats ignore this issue at their peril. Republicans will continue to exploit this for their cynical benefit. It’s an issue.
Michael, I am going to dive back in here for a few reasons. First no one is arguing the other side of your point. But there are problems with how you are engaging here. 1) we cannot understand an issue or make policy based on "people are saying" or anecdotes. It's why I asked you to provide polling data to back up your point. Open to it. But has to be more than people I know believe xxx.... 2) Your litany of uglies makes America sound like a urban hellscape, when violent crime is half of what it was 35 years ago and all measures of crime have come way down since COVID. Here we have to distinguish between what people believe and what is true. 3) The argument that we lost the election therefore I am right about my reason why is just not acceptable. Do you think we lost the election due to perceptions of crime and not inflation, the economy, trans, Biden's approval rating, immigration and the border? What about all those races Dems won across the country? 4) No one is telling Dems to ignore this. And I actually agree with your broader point. But you need to back up your arguments here with data to make them more powerful and reverting to "people are saying" is not acceptable here.
We need to talk to people in plain language. Stop with the use of oligarchy (do most folks even know what that means?) Everybody knows what is meant by dictator and tyrant. He lied to and betrayed his supporters. He's making them and all of us poorer, sicker, less free, and less secure. If he gets away with forcibly removing immigrants with no trial or hearing, and sending them to a horrible prison and what's to stop him from doing that to anybody for any reason? Plain talk to not college educated folks who need to understand how he's betrayed them. Stop talking about "the economy" and talk about how people will pay more for everything thanks to his policies.
Lee I am asking you take this post down and rewrite it for two reasons: 1) here it appears that you are impulsively telling me what I must do (twice) rather than making suggestions in a respectful discussion. 2) We are not speaking to voters here. We are teaching the teachers so to speak. My work here is to help us come to a better understanding of what is happening and yes we can use big words and concepts to do so. The notion that speaking in sophisticated, erudite language is somehow a problem is in my view bananas. From understanding comes narrative, argument, message but it begins with understandings. That is what we do here.
Substack has helped me so much over these last several weeks to feel less confused and more in command of what these many current events signify and the direction we are heading in. I also agree that the complexities have to get translated into messages that have impact and that are relatable and understandable. For my part, even making relatable protest signs has taken a lot of thinking and effort. LOL.
Thank you, Simon. And, may I say, this idea that ppl don't understand words like oligarchy and economy is just ... let me say patronizing and other adjectives that don't come to mind at the moment. Also, let me say I find posts talking down to you highly offensive - I usually just 'like' your replies but today am weighing in on the topic. Do ppl think you just fell off the turnip truck? or are they just so full of themselves?
Ezra Klein is a co-author of the. excellent new book Abundance which has some powerful ideas for the opportunity strategy Simon is advocating. A must-read.
Im so happy to say that I am pushing Hopium Chronicles on everyone I know who will listen (and telling them to pay for it!). Simon, you have managed to coalesce the best of the data, the best of what is going down, the best of what is going well, and the best TO DO lists anywhere, not to mention all those amazing interviews. Yes I'm overwhelmed, but I can sort and choose what I focus on. Right now it's the betrayal of the constitution. Working hard on calling Rs to join with Tim Kaine and get rid of the tariffs. Also someone near and dear to me who has been hesitant to join in, is now on fire about Trumps selling out of Ukraine to Putin. He is going to start pressing on this issue with calls. Plus I often see people on other Substack groups expressing so much despair. I'm commenting on every one and telling them to GET ON OVER HERE and get to work. I get tons of Likes and appreciation. Maybe they are joining!!! Have a good weekend everyone.
For what it's worth, I thought Simon's piece today was magnificent. Yes, oppose and propose - and let's build a new coalition. I salute Simon and Hopium.
We need Hopium today more than ever. A personal note . . .
50 years ago the National Endowment for the Humanities celebrated 50 years of grantmaking in support of our country's history and accomplishments. Among the 50 grants noted as the "top 50" was The Mark Twain Papers & Project at UC Berkeley, an editorial project from the Twain archive in the Bancroft Library.
To commemorate the NEH's upcoming 60th anniversary, the Trump administration has cancelled about 85% of its grants for 2025 - among them the Mark Twain Project. The obvious hostility toward American universities and colleges is clear - especially in fields of medicine, science, and the humanities. This is just one example of hateful decisions being made without any thought of consequences. We will be losing not only our history but also our reality. Is it time for a new "wokeness"? WAKE UP Republicans! Return America to greatness, not continue this slide to ignorance and mediocrity!
For me, "waking up" means being able to reflect on one's actions and decisions and admit the possibility that one has been wrong. Among ordinary people, this is a rare quality. Among today's Republicans, fuhgeddaboudit.
I will make my calls to Sens. Booker & Kim today about the SAVE Act and about the tariffs.
I am really upset by the arson at Gov. Shapiro's house - he is a fantastic, dynamic leader for the state of PA and a star in the Democratic Party.
I was unable to do the Tesla Takedown yesterday but I think they got good attendance again. I am heartened by AG's strong response to Law Barbie, but kind of disappointed in Gov. Murphy's response, he's a little too cozy w the dark side. We have work to do here in the Garden State to register and turn out voters bc it's clear Orange has targeted NJ as "flippable". I don't believe it is, and am really frustrated that he's getting welcomed as a property owner here. I know we will get a lot of outside help, but so will they. UGH.
We need help with governor's race this year and postcarding is happening - I think w Progressive Turnout Project - I'll post here after their announcement, which is this week.
oh, it's flippable, after two terms of a dem governor. it's rare for a dem to even win two terms in a row here. i just got called by the fulop campaign a few minutes ago, though i am backing spiller. note, my caps function is not working. every flier i get is running on anti trump, but people want to know about the bane of our existence, property taxes. it's kryptonite for us. the press, what's left of it here, will be no help. i don't know if running anti-trump will be enough or not. but a republican governor will be a predictable disaster, as always. we've got to pull out all the stops, and that means getting the big cities out to vote; the suburbs are fickle, many went for christie a few years back.
Next week, Pete Buttigieg is coming to my town and I have tickets! After a huge turn out Hands Off rally last Saturday in our town, I am feeling so hopeful and connected to my community. I think this is so important right now, find your community!! That is what will empower us and give us strength moving forward. The Bernie/AOC rally last night was monstrously huge in LA yesterday, and then on to Coachella, where Bernie cautioned our younger generation not to sit around quietly and to get involved. While chaos is all around us hour by hour and day by day, we need to focus on what is working and build from there. Stay positive folks!
"As we discuss here in the age of Trump it’s easy to fall into “chasing the new,” as part of his strategy is to “flood the zone” everyday to keep us pre-occupied with new, shiny things that make it harder to keep stay focused on the things that really matter. It’s why “responding” or “countering” Trump is by design almost impossible. We must every day put the new into its proper place and maintain our gritty focus on what’s important. Like a ship in a stormy sea we must have a place where we are going, a course to follow, and work with everything we have to not get blown off that course."
Simon reminds us all of the most important thing going on under Trump - that so much of what the legacy media chases and features in their top stories is what Trump and Co. want them to talk about to cover up the insidious, longer term effort to overturn our democratic republic and turn it into a Family and Friends dictatorship and system of spoils.
While the media gave almost 100% of their coverage to the tariffs and some to the Abrego Garcia case, Trump was busy cutting more deals with big law firms to agree not to represent plaintiffs against his administration and to offer him pro bono representation for his own priorities. Co-opting the courts and legal system is a key feature of establishing an authoritarian regime. The effort to extort and intimidate competent law firms from representing plaintiffs against government actions is a direct assault on civil and constitutional rights. DOJ lawyers finally told the judge that Abrego Garcia is in El Salvador under the control of the Salvadoran government but failed to say what, if anything, the government has done to facilitate his return to the US, despite the Supreme Court ordering it to do so.
Trump issued an executive order targeting former Trump CISA director Chris Krebs and former Trump DHS official Miles Taylor ordering the DOJ to investigate them, stripping them and Kreb's firm employees of security clearances and accusing Taylor of treason. This is yet another attempt to silence critics for telling the truth. The use of the DOJ, with clear complicity of AG Pam Bondi, to attack critics is yet another example of an authoritarian power grab. Also, Brian Auten, an FBI analyst who was on FBI Director Kash Patel's "enemies list" was placed on leave.
DOGE was put in charge of the US federal grants system including research grants to universities. Now, DOGE personnel, with no background in biomedical science, will have the final say in which NIH grants are approved and funded.
These are just a few examples of actions we know about taken by Trump to assume more power over the entire federal government. One suspects that this is the tip of the iceberg and there is far more below the surface that we don't know.
The more I listen, the more I am convinced that the surest, fastest way out of this nightmare lies with our Constitution. At the very root of the problems faced is the horrendous evidence of mass constitutional illiteracy. Americans can disagree about many things, but our Constitution is our foundation. The bedrock.
Yesterday, I read the stats that fully one-third of Americans are fine with the president completely encroaching on Congress's authority over tariffs. I have no idea how many more just fine with more serious violations. It's like the rule book has been completely discarded by so very, very many.
I’d be curious to see polling on this issue 5 years out once trump is no longer in office- I wonder how much of this support is a part of his cult figure status and how much of it are their general beliefs about the constitution.
I agree with you 100% that the Constitution should be out north star in this crisis, and that constitutional illiteracy is a big problem. We have lost the ideas of "civic society" and "commonwealth" i.e that we have a responsibility to the community at large to take care that liberty and opportunity are available to all.
Social media has created isolated ecospheres where hate and insurrection can be fomented, and without a grounding in the knowledge of the 3 branches of government and how they create checks and balances on power, we have the mess we see today.
The social order is dependant on the constitutional order. It needs to be infused in our messaging.
Good points. When I was growing up in the 50s and 60s, Scouting was a big thing, and the qualities of being a good citizen were reinforced there. (Reinforcement of the civics lessons we got in school.)
Like the proverbial frog being put into a slowly warming pot of water, the messing up of our constitutional order took place over a decades with the acquiescence of both parties -- when it favored them. It has long ago become normalized, which is why we're sitting ducks today.
I think it's going to take a major shock to the system IF we can ever return to what our Framers intended. They understood human nature extremely well.
Well these last 80 days has certainly been a major shock to my system... Its the billionaire takeover that is the new development, at least being out in the open, instead of behind the scenes. They think they have enough power to pull it off in gbroad daylight now... but we'll see.
Stop the Immigration Cruelty
We’re now into 80d of the Cheeto Strongman’s Nazi regime and a long way to go but the immoral unconstitutional treatment of immigrants is reprehensible And now there is the beginning of the family separation policy that occurred during the last Nazi regime In this police state people are swept off the streets, visas unknowingly revoked, and now the combing of government IRS data to “get the goods” on tax paying immigrants so that their citizenship can be deleted so that they can be sent to concentration camps domestically and to foreign countries This patriotic cleansing is monstrous activity is condemnable on so many levels but of course the point is not anything more than cruel Just as the ongoing Gaza genocide is happening and Americans are unsettled with that, Americans stand by justified in their country’s disgusting treatment of fellow human beings is shameful Currently the regime is asking for billions of dollars more in the budget to support this sadistic policy
How can it be that we a nation of immigrants treat our successors with such inhumane dictums? If you have any sense of common decency or for that matter a soul such treatment should be vehemently
Unless we speak out we are complicit with these disgusting treatments of our fellow human beings Because this purge is just the beginning Next it could be LGBTQ+ advocates, drag queens, student who speak out, news organization celebrities critical of the regime, comedians who joke about the Der Fuhrer, any marginalized group will be sent off to the gulag
Protest loud Protest often Make your voice heard This is not acceptable in America and we need to let the Nazis know our disgust
Please include Kristi Noem in the litany of vile and maleficent.
www.opb.org/article/2025/04/12/trump-administration-ends-temporary-status-for-afghans/
So glad Gov. Shapiro and his family are safe!
I'm glad the perp turned his hateful self in and is being charged with terrorism, attempted homicide, aggravated arson, burglary, reckless endangerment, loitering and two counts of aggravated assault.
Simon, I am a big fan of Hopium as well as a subscriber. I urge all democrats at whatever level to sign onto your Opportunity and Prosperity strategy. It is the correct one. American people want a philosophy of hope and optimism now. It can work against the negativity and nihilism of Trump. However please consider that Dems should also stress somewhere in their strategy that order not disorder is imperative for a modern mutilethnic,
Multicultural society. Even in deep blue areas there is a sense of insecurity and crime, rampant shoplifting.
Dems must attack this issue responsibly and strategically. It is not aimed at any one person or group but meant as a necessity for the community at large.
While I agree with much of what is written here need to go look for polling data to back up this line - Multicultural society. Even in deep blue areas there is a sense of insecurity and crime, rampant shoplifting.
If it true polling data can back this up. Will make your argument stronger, more convincing. For we need to be clear that violent crime rates in America are half of what they were 35 years ago, and over crime rates came way down under Biden after rising under Trump.
Simon, I agree statistically crime might be moving in the correct direction. That argument did not help Biden or democrats this past election cycle. I live in deepest blue Davis, Ca and even people here worry and talk about crime, homelessness and disorder. I also have a place in DC and our local CVS has many products behind locked doors with security guards 24/7. People unwilling to drive at night because of fear of carjacking.
Look, I’m just stating my preference that Dems not relinquish this issue to republicans and send a message that we also have a strong position to enhance security everywhere.
there was some talk about this and walgreens iirc admitted much of it was bullshit. and locking up their stuff has actually hurt sales of some items.the stores didn't want to spend money on additional staff, overstated their losses, and were hoping municipalities would step up police surveillance. me, i go to independent pharmacies where shit is not locked up....
Listen,
You may want to believe people in communities aren’t concerned about crime and disorder. That’s on you. Democrats ignore this issue at their peril. Republicans will continue to exploit this for their cynical benefit. It’s an issue.
Michael, I am going to dive back in here for a few reasons. First no one is arguing the other side of your point. But there are problems with how you are engaging here. 1) we cannot understand an issue or make policy based on "people are saying" or anecdotes. It's why I asked you to provide polling data to back up your point. Open to it. But has to be more than people I know believe xxx.... 2) Your litany of uglies makes America sound like a urban hellscape, when violent crime is half of what it was 35 years ago and all measures of crime have come way down since COVID. Here we have to distinguish between what people believe and what is true. 3) The argument that we lost the election therefore I am right about my reason why is just not acceptable. Do you think we lost the election due to perceptions of crime and not inflation, the economy, trans, Biden's approval rating, immigration and the border? What about all those races Dems won across the country? 4) No one is telling Dems to ignore this. And I actually agree with your broader point. But you need to back up your arguments here with data to make them more powerful and reverting to "people are saying" is not acceptable here.
As I write bellow Michael you are creating a straw man here to argue against. Not the way we do things here.
We need to talk to people in plain language. Stop with the use of oligarchy (do most folks even know what that means?) Everybody knows what is meant by dictator and tyrant. He lied to and betrayed his supporters. He's making them and all of us poorer, sicker, less free, and less secure. If he gets away with forcibly removing immigrants with no trial or hearing, and sending them to a horrible prison and what's to stop him from doing that to anybody for any reason? Plain talk to not college educated folks who need to understand how he's betrayed them. Stop talking about "the economy" and talk about how people will pay more for everything thanks to his policies.
Lee I am asking you take this post down and rewrite it for two reasons: 1) here it appears that you are impulsively telling me what I must do (twice) rather than making suggestions in a respectful discussion. 2) We are not speaking to voters here. We are teaching the teachers so to speak. My work here is to help us come to a better understanding of what is happening and yes we can use big words and concepts to do so. The notion that speaking in sophisticated, erudite language is somehow a problem is in my view bananas. From understanding comes narrative, argument, message but it begins with understandings. That is what we do here.
Take my post down.
Substack has helped me so much over these last several weeks to feel less confused and more in command of what these many current events signify and the direction we are heading in. I also agree that the complexities have to get translated into messages that have impact and that are relatable and understandable. For my part, even making relatable protest signs has taken a lot of thinking and effort. LOL.
Thank you, Simon. And, may I say, this idea that ppl don't understand words like oligarchy and economy is just ... let me say patronizing and other adjectives that don't come to mind at the moment. Also, let me say I find posts talking down to you highly offensive - I usually just 'like' your replies but today am weighing in on the topic. Do ppl think you just fell off the turnip truck? or are they just so full of themselves?
Ezra Klein is co-author of Abundance which has some po
Powerful ideas for a positive oppprtunity argument per Simon’s suggedtions
https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/almost-three-months-in-some-sunday/comment/108552968?r=27is3y&utm_medium=ios
Ezra Klein is a co-author of the. excellent new book Abundance which has some powerful ideas for the opportunity strategy Simon is advocating. A must-read.
Can be read in conjunction w/ Klein:
The Meager Agenda of Abundance Liberals
What the Democratic Party’s most buzzed-about policy movement gets right—and wrong.
by Paul Glastris and Nate Weisberg
March 23, 2025
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2025/03/23/the-meager-agenda-of-abundance-liberals/
Im so happy to say that I am pushing Hopium Chronicles on everyone I know who will listen (and telling them to pay for it!). Simon, you have managed to coalesce the best of the data, the best of what is going down, the best of what is going well, and the best TO DO lists anywhere, not to mention all those amazing interviews. Yes I'm overwhelmed, but I can sort and choose what I focus on. Right now it's the betrayal of the constitution. Working hard on calling Rs to join with Tim Kaine and get rid of the tariffs. Also someone near and dear to me who has been hesitant to join in, is now on fire about Trumps selling out of Ukraine to Putin. He is going to start pressing on this issue with calls. Plus I often see people on other Substack groups expressing so much despair. I'm commenting on every one and telling them to GET ON OVER HERE and get to work. I get tons of Likes and appreciation. Maybe they are joining!!! Have a good weekend everyone.
For what it's worth, I thought Simon's piece today was magnificent. Yes, oppose and propose - and let's build a new coalition. I salute Simon and Hopium.
We need Hopium today more than ever. A personal note . . .
50 years ago the National Endowment for the Humanities celebrated 50 years of grantmaking in support of our country's history and accomplishments. Among the 50 grants noted as the "top 50" was The Mark Twain Papers & Project at UC Berkeley, an editorial project from the Twain archive in the Bancroft Library.
To commemorate the NEH's upcoming 60th anniversary, the Trump administration has cancelled about 85% of its grants for 2025 - among them the Mark Twain Project. The obvious hostility toward American universities and colleges is clear - especially in fields of medicine, science, and the humanities. This is just one example of hateful decisions being made without any thought of consequences. We will be losing not only our history but also our reality. Is it time for a new "wokeness"? WAKE UP Republicans! Return America to greatness, not continue this slide to ignorance and mediocrity!
"WAKE UP Republicans!"
For me, "waking up" means being able to reflect on one's actions and decisions and admit the possibility that one has been wrong. Among ordinary people, this is a rare quality. Among today's Republicans, fuhgeddaboudit.
Wonderful essay today, thank you!
I will make my calls to Sens. Booker & Kim today about the SAVE Act and about the tariffs.
I am really upset by the arson at Gov. Shapiro's house - he is a fantastic, dynamic leader for the state of PA and a star in the Democratic Party.
I was unable to do the Tesla Takedown yesterday but I think they got good attendance again. I am heartened by AG's strong response to Law Barbie, but kind of disappointed in Gov. Murphy's response, he's a little too cozy w the dark side. We have work to do here in the Garden State to register and turn out voters bc it's clear Orange has targeted NJ as "flippable". I don't believe it is, and am really frustrated that he's getting welcomed as a property owner here. I know we will get a lot of outside help, but so will they. UGH.
Keep going!
we cant lose NJ!!!
We need help with governor's race this year and postcarding is happening - I think w Progressive Turnout Project - I'll post here after their announcement, which is this week.
That's awful! I had not heard about the arson attack at Gov. Shapiro's. Wow.
oh, it's flippable, after two terms of a dem governor. it's rare for a dem to even win two terms in a row here. i just got called by the fulop campaign a few minutes ago, though i am backing spiller. note, my caps function is not working. every flier i get is running on anti trump, but people want to know about the bane of our existence, property taxes. it's kryptonite for us. the press, what's left of it here, will be no help. i don't know if running anti-trump will be enough or not. but a republican governor will be a predictable disaster, as always. we've got to pull out all the stops, and that means getting the big cities out to vote; the suburbs are fickle, many went for christie a few years back.
Next week, Pete Buttigieg is coming to my town and I have tickets! After a huge turn out Hands Off rally last Saturday in our town, I am feeling so hopeful and connected to my community. I think this is so important right now, find your community!! That is what will empower us and give us strength moving forward. The Bernie/AOC rally last night was monstrously huge in LA yesterday, and then on to Coachella, where Bernie cautioned our younger generation not to sit around quietly and to get involved. While chaos is all around us hour by hour and day by day, we need to focus on what is working and build from there. Stay positive folks!
"As we discuss here in the age of Trump it’s easy to fall into “chasing the new,” as part of his strategy is to “flood the zone” everyday to keep us pre-occupied with new, shiny things that make it harder to keep stay focused on the things that really matter. It’s why “responding” or “countering” Trump is by design almost impossible. We must every day put the new into its proper place and maintain our gritty focus on what’s important. Like a ship in a stormy sea we must have a place where we are going, a course to follow, and work with everything we have to not get blown off that course."
Simon reminds us all of the most important thing going on under Trump - that so much of what the legacy media chases and features in their top stories is what Trump and Co. want them to talk about to cover up the insidious, longer term effort to overturn our democratic republic and turn it into a Family and Friends dictatorship and system of spoils.
While the media gave almost 100% of their coverage to the tariffs and some to the Abrego Garcia case, Trump was busy cutting more deals with big law firms to agree not to represent plaintiffs against his administration and to offer him pro bono representation for his own priorities. Co-opting the courts and legal system is a key feature of establishing an authoritarian regime. The effort to extort and intimidate competent law firms from representing plaintiffs against government actions is a direct assault on civil and constitutional rights. DOJ lawyers finally told the judge that Abrego Garcia is in El Salvador under the control of the Salvadoran government but failed to say what, if anything, the government has done to facilitate his return to the US, despite the Supreme Court ordering it to do so.
Trump issued an executive order targeting former Trump CISA director Chris Krebs and former Trump DHS official Miles Taylor ordering the DOJ to investigate them, stripping them and Kreb's firm employees of security clearances and accusing Taylor of treason. This is yet another attempt to silence critics for telling the truth. The use of the DOJ, with clear complicity of AG Pam Bondi, to attack critics is yet another example of an authoritarian power grab. Also, Brian Auten, an FBI analyst who was on FBI Director Kash Patel's "enemies list" was placed on leave.
DOGE was put in charge of the US federal grants system including research grants to universities. Now, DOGE personnel, with no background in biomedical science, will have the final say in which NIH grants are approved and funded.
These are just a few examples of actions we know about taken by Trump to assume more power over the entire federal government. One suspects that this is the tip of the iceberg and there is far more below the surface that we don't know.
The more I listen, the more I am convinced that the surest, fastest way out of this nightmare lies with our Constitution. At the very root of the problems faced is the horrendous evidence of mass constitutional illiteracy. Americans can disagree about many things, but our Constitution is our foundation. The bedrock.
Yesterday, I read the stats that fully one-third of Americans are fine with the president completely encroaching on Congress's authority over tariffs. I have no idea how many more just fine with more serious violations. It's like the rule book has been completely discarded by so very, very many.
I’d be curious to see polling on this issue 5 years out once trump is no longer in office- I wonder how much of this support is a part of his cult figure status and how much of it are their general beliefs about the constitution.
Five years out? Trump is openly announcing he rejects the 22nd Amendment that would deny "any person" a third term.
This is how openly bad it has gotten.
I agree with you 100% that the Constitution should be out north star in this crisis, and that constitutional illiteracy is a big problem. We have lost the ideas of "civic society" and "commonwealth" i.e that we have a responsibility to the community at large to take care that liberty and opportunity are available to all.
Social media has created isolated ecospheres where hate and insurrection can be fomented, and without a grounding in the knowledge of the 3 branches of government and how they create checks and balances on power, we have the mess we see today.
The social order is dependant on the constitutional order. It needs to be infused in our messaging.
Good points. When I was growing up in the 50s and 60s, Scouting was a big thing, and the qualities of being a good citizen were reinforced there. (Reinforcement of the civics lessons we got in school.)
Like the proverbial frog being put into a slowly warming pot of water, the messing up of our constitutional order took place over a decades with the acquiescence of both parties -- when it favored them. It has long ago become normalized, which is why we're sitting ducks today.
I think it's going to take a major shock to the system IF we can ever return to what our Framers intended. They understood human nature extremely well.
Well these last 80 days has certainly been a major shock to my system... Its the billionaire takeover that is the new development, at least being out in the open, instead of behind the scenes. They think they have enough power to pull it off in gbroad daylight now... but we'll see.
Are the job creation numbers just them rehiring everyone back that the courts required them to rehire? Just been curious...
It just seems off given :waves hands in every direction: