Indivisible is planning to put up billboards in Red states to keep it in the forefront of people's minds that the Trump regime and their R enablers are doing everything they can to keep the Epstein files from becoming public. If you want to contribute to those billboards (since this is not a budgeted expenditure), Indivisible's website https://indivisible.org/ describes this very important initiative and how to contribute.
Still disappointed that the parties and counsel fail to take advantage of Roberts' Code of Conduct for Justices, which was issued on November 13, 2023, which established rules and principles for the justices' conduct, marking the first time the Court had its own code.
CANON 2: A JUSTICE SHOULD AVOID IMPROPRIETY AND THE APPEARANCE OF
IMPROPRIETY IN ALL ACTIVITIES.
A. RESPECT FOR LAW. A Justice should respect and comply with the
law and act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the
integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.
B. OUTSIDE INFLUENCE. A Justice should not allow family, social,
political, financial, or other relationships to influence official conduct or
judgment. A Justice should neither knowingly lend the prestige of the judicial
office to advance the private interests of the Justice or others nor knowingly
convey or permit others to convey the impression that they are in a special
position to influence the Justice. A Justice should not testify voluntarily as a
character witness.
C. NONDISCRIMINATORY MEMBERSHIP. A Justice should not hold
membership in any organization that practices invidious discrimination on the
basis of race, sex, religion, or national origin.
28 U.S. Code § 455 - Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge says in part: (a)Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
For a District or Circuit judge, by analogy, the rule is:
28 U.S. Code § 144 - Bias or prejudice of judge
Whenever a party to any proceeding in a district court makes and files a timely and sufficient affidavit that the judge before whom the matter is pending has a personal bias or prejudice either against him or in favor of any adverse party, such judge shall proceed no further therein, but another judge shall be assigned to hear such proceeding.
The affidavit shall state the facts and the reasons for the belief that bias or prejudice exists, and shall be filed not less than ten days before the beginning of the term at which the proceeding is to be heard, or good cause shall be shown for failure to file it within such time. A party may file only one such affidavit in any case. It shall be accompanied by a certificate of counsel of record stating that it is made in good faith.
So far nobody has filed a motion to recuse, which requires an affidavit.
The standard is not an actual conflict or bias, all that's reqired is the appearance of a violation.
"The standard is not an actual conflict or bias, all that's required is the appearance of a violation."
There must be someone, even someone who has the financial capability to pose as an existing Democrat, who is willing to take the torch and run with it? This forgotten piece of work, along with Epstine and the many other singularly important and obvious ways to attack Trump and the Republicans, remain buried in the minds of the leaders of the Democratic Party! WHY?
Somehow, they must be replaced, and sooner than many realize. November is creeping up on us, and that means only one year until the Mid-Terms, assuming Trump will not delay them in a National Security Emergency! If you think that is not in the works, think again!
We've lived near Washington, DC, for over 41 years and never attended a protest until this year. We attended the "No Kings Day" and just attended a "Good Trouble" event. We feel it's so important to get out there for democracy.
Thank you Norm for this and for all that you are doing to fight in court against this regime. I also so appreciate all of your writing here on the Contrarian to keep us informed and to keep our spirits strong.
The Epstein files if allowed to be open, will be further evidence of what we already know about Trump. He is a racist, sexist, abusive killer. I have advocated for a daily count of how many people Trump and his mafia gang have killed in the US and the world since he took Office. He has killed and starved mothers and babies, we know he is a sexual predator so he has emotionally killed young women that he has touched and many many who has not physically touched, but who has ruined their lives.
This is another huge distraction from all the Daily damage he does to people. Why aren’t they keeping track of how many children he is starving. Why aren’t they keeping track of how many people, including women without healthcare Have been killed.
Perhaps Lawrence O’Donnell is right that there is a larger agenda of getting JD Vance to the presidency. He is just as dangerous, and he’s a Nazi.
We are much too early to say "hopeful" in a struggle that is either going to leave us with an authoritarian non- democratic government or allow us to redeem those values of democracy that are so special and important for the long term survival of our country. The battle we are engaged in is being fought of so many levels and so consuming that it is hard to find mount a strong defense especially when the guardrails that were in place are now so corroded and rotten. They keep hitting us with disinformation, lies and blatant propaganda. One of the most frightening is the dismantling of research, monitoring, information collecting together with dismantling education and training. These losses are going to make the US no longer a leader and will erode the power influence of the country. There is also a secondary effect and that is there will be a lack of factual information or factual basis to try and solve problems leaving those with no shame but power to mold information and programs to meet their personal agenda.
Our current goal must be to make our analysis and information more main stream to insure that the falseness of their message is exposed.
I was disappointed all day on Thursday as t the lack of reporting on demonstrations. I was not well enough to go myself, but even my local news made no me lion of demonstrations. We are not gaining ground when the country at large is not noticing!
They are laughing at us and plowing ahead. If the resistance doesn't start blocking roads and refusing to work, nothing will happen. There is so much broken now it will never get rebuilt under the political system we have. They are winning. The optimism here is blind.
It's not surprising. The mainstream McNews has been directed to pretend no one is upset and all is well. But make no mistake - it had an effect and the ones we wanted to notice DID notice.
A great post. I am an unashamed pollyanna in many ways. Since Trump's election last November I've been wracking my brain to find some sort of positive result of the American electorate putting what I consider a lunatic back into office. I finally discovered it. I never had to think much about appreciating democracy. Yes, I've always been grateful to have been born American. I especially appreciated it back in the 1940's after WWII, (okay, I'm 83 years old) when hearing about the Communist countries where children were encouraged to turn their parents in to the authorities for not preaching the party line. But now, it's different. The title of this post, 'Reasons for hope in American democracy,' really pulled me up short. Hope? Finally struck home with me that we need hope (and action, of course) in the American way of life. Because like it or not, it's eroding into undisguised (in my opinion) fascism. Glad to get this off my chest, although I wish I didn't have the concerns I have now.
I am angry, frustrated, and disheartened by what is happening to my country. So I write because, at 92, housebound, living on a pension with diminishing energy, I can only write and think. I want to help, I want to fight. I want to yell from the church tower like Paul Revere and shout, 'The enemy is coming, the enemy is here, the enemy is winning.' But I sit at my desk in my wonderful house in the Berkshires and wage a mental war against my country's enemy, and all I can do is write. It makes me feel better, so I write.
When our flag was raised at the Olympics, I had to hold back my feelings of pride. Compared to that, this past Fourth of July, I couldn't feel proud of my country when half of them believe in and cheer for Trump.
Warriors, when preparing for a battle, develop war plans or battle plans and follow specific procedures. First, they learn about their enemy. Second, they choose the location where the battle will happen. Third, they understand and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their forces.
And so I develop my battle plans. My enemy is massive and consists of three entities: one is the dark money forces, the second is capitalism, and the third is the middle class.
Trump is not my enemy; he's a clown, buffoon, puppet whose voice is that of the dark money billionaires and multi-millionaires. This enemy, the dark money, is well-organized, well-funded, with billions of dollars at its disposal, and has a long history of an active campaign to change how our government functions to better align with its financial interests.
The second enemy is difficult to define because it is a cultural belief system that is accepted and promoted by the elite and our society as a whole. We have all lived with this mindset without questioning it: that certain people in our culture deserve to be paid more than others. No one questions this; we all agree and see no problem with it. Doctors, surgeons, star athletes, and entrepreneurs should all earn more than the average person or those in other professions. People with a college degree should make more than those with only a high school diploma; this is the core of capitalism, and it is how billionaires are created.
We all think this is right, this is never questioned, this is a socially accepted belief, except maybe it is questioned by some crazy Marxist or Socialist. There may be those whom we agree should earn and deserve more pay than the general public, but a thousand percent higher is creating billionaires. No one ever considers what a reasonable increase should be. I offer for consideration two examples of societies that operate under different guidelines for compensating individuals. One is the Mongragon Corporation in Spain, founded by a priest, and has a unique structure where employees are also owners of the business. The other is Marinleda, a town in Spain located in the province of Andalusia.
The third problem is the middle class, both now and in the past. My middle-class never aspired to be millionaires. We wanted a way to have a comfortable life with a lovely house, a job that we liked, good healthcare, possibly a family, and living in a neighborhood with other people like us. We believed in caring for others and left the operation of our country to the politicians. We drank the Kool-Aid provided by the dark money propaganda machine. We avoided our reality by not being concerned with the Tea Party or the fact that Obama's health plan was crippled. That's it! We were essentially asleep at the wheel; we were lost in our dream state. But my middle class is walking out the door, and is already a dying breed. My concern is with the middle class of today, who are foreigners to me, and I don't know how to warn them about the fate of their country. They seem to be a friendly bunch, neither aggressive nor thinking of war or fighting. The idea of being successful and becoming a millionaire is prevalent in their culture. I may be wrong because I have a limited sample of this population. Somehow, this should be their war, but I am not sensing any overt concern with stopping Trump and his band of marauders. I know that I have read and outlined Project 2025, a 900-page book, and that there are excellent books that summarize it. However, I do not know of anyone else who has read it, including the network commentators, and I doubt that this middle class has taken the time to read this book.
The terrain where the battle will take place presents problems because our enemy already has an advantage, having no resistance from Congress and the courts, and with massive amounts of dark money, has already established a beachhead and launched a total invasion and occupation of Washington.
Upon reviewing my weapons, I realize they are no match for my enemy. Half of Congress is dead in their chairs, nodding in accord with Trump. So I cannot assume they will offer any resistance. The Democratic Party is useless and is led by weak, aged nonfighters who caused Trump to be elected the second time by not acknowledging that Biden was obviously deteriorating. They waited three months before the election to announce that Biden was not running, giving Vice President Harris three months to defeat Trump without their assistance.
I do not see any way to match their funding, which comes from billionaires who started in 1977, such as the Koch brothers, and will continue into the future. I don't think that there is a match for Trump's "Truth Social" with 6.3 million active participants and his fellow billionaires controlling the press and the broadcasting systems. I think the Democrats will take control of Congress in November. Still, the dark money will continue to finance those who support their government takeover. There is the truth that the Republican Party will retake control of Congress in the future elections. The dark money will finance and lobby to obtain its goal of a government designed to increase its wealth.
The dark money has effectively campaigned against any ideas or programs that promote the concept of a country with less capitalism, such as a national health plan, free college tuition, and an increase in social security benefits, and above all, stronger unions.
I return to the idea that the only effective organization to take on the battle is the democratic states that can match the financial resources of the billionaires and reduce the power of the president, as well as control the billionaires' ability to buy members of Congress, because the states are better controlled by their citizens. I wish I had another idea, and if you have one, please share. So I feel as though I've fought my battle, and now I can rest.
The ‘good book’ commiserates with us here — “I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.” Eccles. 9:11
At age 75, after a healthy & reasonably successful life, my pride has suffered a few personal blows — deaths in the family & a health condition befell me … I am therefore increasingly humbled, but not without hope.
I have limited hope in mankind’s ability to set its paths straight, at least not in a way it can maintain. For centuries now civilization has been making progress and then retreating, the latest version of this reminds me of Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities : It was the best of times, it was the worst of times … Yes, at the zenith of scientific & other worldly achievements, we are still a ‘walking contradiction’ in terms of human achievement.
1 John 5:19 tells us that “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.”, 🪱
and Rev. 12:12 says why : “rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short." 🔥
— Yes, there the Devil gets kicked out of heaven for ongoing contrariness, to say the least, and ‘woe to the earth’ indeed, as we are seeing.
Jesus told his followers that they were to be “no part of this world, just as I am no part of this world.” ie, holding no political office or any titles of importance. Why? His kingdom was ‘not of this world’.
What hope for us after all this time then, if mankind continues to progress/ regress, and we are not supposed to take up arms or hold political office?
— Romans 16:20 states that "the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly," emphasizing God's power over evil and the assurance of victory for believers.
— So while I partake to a certain degree in voicing concerns & critiquing, I accept that in the final analysis the ‘battle belongs to God’ — certainly mankind has not produced lasting results in our error-prone self-governing for centuries now.
Why does God allow all this suffering in the meantime?
— he gave us free will, mankind has chosen its path, and just as with the choice of electing uncouth vulgarians such as Trump to lead us — it takes *time for people to experience the results of their choices and learn from them.
Eventually, our ‘learning experience’ will be sufficient for our Creator to step in and declare ‘final exams’, and a truly lasting solution will be realized.
Well … at least so goes the Bible. Although I am a believer in the above, I still indulge in degrees of complaining, being mortified & mystified at ‘man’s inhumanity to man’ and all that. I praise both those who are taking the lead politically/morally and those who take the lead spiritually, for we have a fight not just against the earthy agents of evil, but also of the ‘agents of darkness’ : back to 1 John 5:19 We know that we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the power of ‘the wicked one’ - of whom DJT et al are mere pawns.
Wishing you the best in your earnest endeavors to finding solutions … JJ 🦋
State Rights is everything now. Way to get to 92. Im sorry so many people in our nation suck. I appreciate your words. And keen observations. Future generations won't know the nation you did. But I'm not giving up. I'm speaking out and showing up.
I understand the Orange Hemorrhoid has fired a few Immigration judges and is replacing them with loyalists. I have a feeling that the Heritage Foundation cabal , Russell Vought , JD Vance and Peter Thiel to just name a couple are using Trump to get the agenda on a boil. Trump appears to be using Viktor Orbans's playbook. I recall Viktor was visiting Trump just last year. Trump invited him to his coronation. Not sure if Viktor made it. Orbans ten steps to Hell.
One: take over your party and enforce internal party discipline by using political threats and intimidation to stamp out all dissent.
Two: build your base by appealing to fear and hate and branding immigrants and cultural minorities as dangers to society, and demonizing your opponents as enemies of the people.
Three: use disinformation and lies to justify what you’re doing.
Four: use your election victory to claim a sweeping mandate — especially if you don’t win a majority.
Five: centralize your power by destroying the civil service.
Six: redefine the rule of law as rule by executive decree.
Seven: eliminate checks and balances and separation of powers by taking over the legislature, the courts, the media, and civil society.
Eight: rely on your oligarchs to supervise the economy, and reward them with special access to state resources.
Nine: ally yourself with other authoritarians like Vladimir Putin and support his effort to undermine European democracies and attack sovereign countries like Ukraine.
Ten: get the public to believe all this is necessary, and resistance is futile
RESISTANCE IS NEVER FUTILE. Trump seem to be fast tracking all these steps. Once he gets the agenda rolling along smoothly the Heritage cabal will kick him to the curb and instill JD Vance who is just as dangerous as Trump .
Indivisible is planning to put up billboards in Red states to keep it in the forefront of people's minds that the Trump regime and their R enablers are doing everything they can to keep the Epstein files from becoming public. If you want to contribute to those billboards (since this is not a budgeted expenditure), Indivisible's website https://indivisible.org/ describes this very important initiative and how to contribute.
Done!
Norm - is there ANY way we can stop SCOTUS from allowing more damage to be done?
Still disappointed that the parties and counsel fail to take advantage of Roberts' Code of Conduct for Justices, which was issued on November 13, 2023, which established rules and principles for the justices' conduct, marking the first time the Court had its own code.
CANON 2: A JUSTICE SHOULD AVOID IMPROPRIETY AND THE APPEARANCE OF
IMPROPRIETY IN ALL ACTIVITIES.
A. RESPECT FOR LAW. A Justice should respect and comply with the
law and act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the
integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.
B. OUTSIDE INFLUENCE. A Justice should not allow family, social,
political, financial, or other relationships to influence official conduct or
judgment. A Justice should neither knowingly lend the prestige of the judicial
office to advance the private interests of the Justice or others nor knowingly
convey or permit others to convey the impression that they are in a special
position to influence the Justice. A Justice should not testify voluntarily as a
character witness.
C. NONDISCRIMINATORY MEMBERSHIP. A Justice should not hold
membership in any organization that practices invidious discrimination on the
basis of race, sex, religion, or national origin.
28 U.S. Code § 455 - Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge says in part: (a)Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
For a District or Circuit judge, by analogy, the rule is:
28 U.S. Code § 144 - Bias or prejudice of judge
Whenever a party to any proceeding in a district court makes and files a timely and sufficient affidavit that the judge before whom the matter is pending has a personal bias or prejudice either against him or in favor of any adverse party, such judge shall proceed no further therein, but another judge shall be assigned to hear such proceeding.
The affidavit shall state the facts and the reasons for the belief that bias or prejudice exists, and shall be filed not less than ten days before the beginning of the term at which the proceeding is to be heard, or good cause shall be shown for failure to file it within such time. A party may file only one such affidavit in any case. It shall be accompanied by a certificate of counsel of record stating that it is made in good faith.
So far nobody has filed a motion to recuse, which requires an affidavit.
The standard is not an actual conflict or bias, all that's reqired is the appearance of a violation.
Thank you for this.
"The standard is not an actual conflict or bias, all that's required is the appearance of a violation."
There must be someone, even someone who has the financial capability to pose as an existing Democrat, who is willing to take the torch and run with it? This forgotten piece of work, along with Epstine and the many other singularly important and obvious ways to attack Trump and the Republicans, remain buried in the minds of the leaders of the Democratic Party! WHY?
Somehow, they must be replaced, and sooner than many realize. November is creeping up on us, and that means only one year until the Mid-Terms, assuming Trump will not delay them in a National Security Emergency! If you think that is not in the works, think again!
NOLT THE PARTY'S FAULT. Those are caps.
It's the cowardice of the plaintiffs and lawyers and even the other justices involved. IMHO any justice who has knowledge hasa duty to come forward.
Peaceful continuous mass demonstration in front of SCOTUS house is the only way.
Glad you are spreading the word about the Federal Workers Legal Defense Network.
We've lived near Washington, DC, for over 41 years and never attended a protest until this year. We attended the "No Kings Day" and just attended a "Good Trouble" event. We feel it's so important to get out there for democracy.
Thank you Norm for this and for all that you are doing to fight in court against this regime. I also so appreciate all of your writing here on the Contrarian to keep us informed and to keep our spirits strong.
The Epstein files if allowed to be open, will be further evidence of what we already know about Trump. He is a racist, sexist, abusive killer. I have advocated for a daily count of how many people Trump and his mafia gang have killed in the US and the world since he took Office. He has killed and starved mothers and babies, we know he is a sexual predator so he has emotionally killed young women that he has touched and many many who has not physically touched, but who has ruined their lives.
This is another huge distraction from all the Daily damage he does to people. Why aren’t they keeping track of how many children he is starving. Why aren’t they keeping track of how many people, including women without healthcare Have been killed.
Perhaps Lawrence O’Donnell is right that there is a larger agenda of getting JD Vance to the presidency. He is just as dangerous, and he’s a Nazi.
We are much too early to say "hopeful" in a struggle that is either going to leave us with an authoritarian non- democratic government or allow us to redeem those values of democracy that are so special and important for the long term survival of our country. The battle we are engaged in is being fought of so many levels and so consuming that it is hard to find mount a strong defense especially when the guardrails that were in place are now so corroded and rotten. They keep hitting us with disinformation, lies and blatant propaganda. One of the most frightening is the dismantling of research, monitoring, information collecting together with dismantling education and training. These losses are going to make the US no longer a leader and will erode the power influence of the country. There is also a secondary effect and that is there will be a lack of factual information or factual basis to try and solve problems leaving those with no shame but power to mold information and programs to meet their personal agenda.
Our current goal must be to make our analysis and information more main stream to insure that the falseness of their message is exposed.
I was disappointed all day on Thursday as t the lack of reporting on demonstrations. I was not well enough to go myself, but even my local news made no me lion of demonstrations. We are not gaining ground when the country at large is not noticing!
They are laughing at us and plowing ahead. If the resistance doesn't start blocking roads and refusing to work, nothing will happen. There is so much broken now it will never get rebuilt under the political system we have. They are winning. The optimism here is blind.
You call this "making trouble?" No, it's not.
John Lewis's trouble was very troublesome to the status quo. You're right, Thomas.
It's not surprising. The mainstream McNews has been directed to pretend no one is upset and all is well. But make no mistake - it had an effect and the ones we wanted to notice DID notice.
Another exhausting week, which we are coming to expect! Thanks, Norm, for reminding us …
A great post. I am an unashamed pollyanna in many ways. Since Trump's election last November I've been wracking my brain to find some sort of positive result of the American electorate putting what I consider a lunatic back into office. I finally discovered it. I never had to think much about appreciating democracy. Yes, I've always been grateful to have been born American. I especially appreciated it back in the 1940's after WWII, (okay, I'm 83 years old) when hearing about the Communist countries where children were encouraged to turn their parents in to the authorities for not preaching the party line. But now, it's different. The title of this post, 'Reasons for hope in American democracy,' really pulled me up short. Hope? Finally struck home with me that we need hope (and action, of course) in the American way of life. Because like it or not, it's eroding into undisguised (in my opinion) fascism. Glad to get this off my chest, although I wish I didn't have the concerns I have now.
And so I write
I am angry, frustrated, and disheartened by what is happening to my country. So I write because, at 92, housebound, living on a pension with diminishing energy, I can only write and think. I want to help, I want to fight. I want to yell from the church tower like Paul Revere and shout, 'The enemy is coming, the enemy is here, the enemy is winning.' But I sit at my desk in my wonderful house in the Berkshires and wage a mental war against my country's enemy, and all I can do is write. It makes me feel better, so I write.
When our flag was raised at the Olympics, I had to hold back my feelings of pride. Compared to that, this past Fourth of July, I couldn't feel proud of my country when half of them believe in and cheer for Trump.
Warriors, when preparing for a battle, develop war plans or battle plans and follow specific procedures. First, they learn about their enemy. Second, they choose the location where the battle will happen. Third, they understand and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their forces.
And so I develop my battle plans. My enemy is massive and consists of three entities: one is the dark money forces, the second is capitalism, and the third is the middle class.
Trump is not my enemy; he's a clown, buffoon, puppet whose voice is that of the dark money billionaires and multi-millionaires. This enemy, the dark money, is well-organized, well-funded, with billions of dollars at its disposal, and has a long history of an active campaign to change how our government functions to better align with its financial interests.
The second enemy is difficult to define because it is a cultural belief system that is accepted and promoted by the elite and our society as a whole. We have all lived with this mindset without questioning it: that certain people in our culture deserve to be paid more than others. No one questions this; we all agree and see no problem with it. Doctors, surgeons, star athletes, and entrepreneurs should all earn more than the average person or those in other professions. People with a college degree should make more than those with only a high school diploma; this is the core of capitalism, and it is how billionaires are created.
We all think this is right, this is never questioned, this is a socially accepted belief, except maybe it is questioned by some crazy Marxist or Socialist. There may be those whom we agree should earn and deserve more pay than the general public, but a thousand percent higher is creating billionaires. No one ever considers what a reasonable increase should be. I offer for consideration two examples of societies that operate under different guidelines for compensating individuals. One is the Mongragon Corporation in Spain, founded by a priest, and has a unique structure where employees are also owners of the business. The other is Marinleda, a town in Spain located in the province of Andalusia.
The third problem is the middle class, both now and in the past. My middle-class never aspired to be millionaires. We wanted a way to have a comfortable life with a lovely house, a job that we liked, good healthcare, possibly a family, and living in a neighborhood with other people like us. We believed in caring for others and left the operation of our country to the politicians. We drank the Kool-Aid provided by the dark money propaganda machine. We avoided our reality by not being concerned with the Tea Party or the fact that Obama's health plan was crippled. That's it! We were essentially asleep at the wheel; we were lost in our dream state. But my middle class is walking out the door, and is already a dying breed. My concern is with the middle class of today, who are foreigners to me, and I don't know how to warn them about the fate of their country. They seem to be a friendly bunch, neither aggressive nor thinking of war or fighting. The idea of being successful and becoming a millionaire is prevalent in their culture. I may be wrong because I have a limited sample of this population. Somehow, this should be their war, but I am not sensing any overt concern with stopping Trump and his band of marauders. I know that I have read and outlined Project 2025, a 900-page book, and that there are excellent books that summarize it. However, I do not know of anyone else who has read it, including the network commentators, and I doubt that this middle class has taken the time to read this book.
The terrain where the battle will take place presents problems because our enemy already has an advantage, having no resistance from Congress and the courts, and with massive amounts of dark money, has already established a beachhead and launched a total invasion and occupation of Washington.
Upon reviewing my weapons, I realize they are no match for my enemy. Half of Congress is dead in their chairs, nodding in accord with Trump. So I cannot assume they will offer any resistance. The Democratic Party is useless and is led by weak, aged nonfighters who caused Trump to be elected the second time by not acknowledging that Biden was obviously deteriorating. They waited three months before the election to announce that Biden was not running, giving Vice President Harris three months to defeat Trump without their assistance.
I do not see any way to match their funding, which comes from billionaires who started in 1977, such as the Koch brothers, and will continue into the future. I don't think that there is a match for Trump's "Truth Social" with 6.3 million active participants and his fellow billionaires controlling the press and the broadcasting systems. I think the Democrats will take control of Congress in November. Still, the dark money will continue to finance those who support their government takeover. There is the truth that the Republican Party will retake control of Congress in the future elections. The dark money will finance and lobby to obtain its goal of a government designed to increase its wealth.
The dark money has effectively campaigned against any ideas or programs that promote the concept of a country with less capitalism, such as a national health plan, free college tuition, and an increase in social security benefits, and above all, stronger unions.
I return to the idea that the only effective organization to take on the battle is the democratic states that can match the financial resources of the billionaires and reduce the power of the president, as well as control the billionaires' ability to buy members of Congress, because the states are better controlled by their citizens. I wish I had another idea, and if you have one, please share. So I feel as though I've fought my battle, and now I can rest.
The ‘good book’ commiserates with us here — “I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.” Eccles. 9:11
At age 75, after a healthy & reasonably successful life, my pride has suffered a few personal blows — deaths in the family & a health condition befell me … I am therefore increasingly humbled, but not without hope.
I have limited hope in mankind’s ability to set its paths straight, at least not in a way it can maintain. For centuries now civilization has been making progress and then retreating, the latest version of this reminds me of Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities : It was the best of times, it was the worst of times … Yes, at the zenith of scientific & other worldly achievements, we are still a ‘walking contradiction’ in terms of human achievement.
1 John 5:19 tells us that “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.”, 🪱
and Rev. 12:12 says why : “rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short." 🔥
— Yes, there the Devil gets kicked out of heaven for ongoing contrariness, to say the least, and ‘woe to the earth’ indeed, as we are seeing.
Jesus told his followers that they were to be “no part of this world, just as I am no part of this world.” ie, holding no political office or any titles of importance. Why? His kingdom was ‘not of this world’.
What hope for us after all this time then, if mankind continues to progress/ regress, and we are not supposed to take up arms or hold political office?
— Romans 16:20 states that "the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly," emphasizing God's power over evil and the assurance of victory for believers.
— So while I partake to a certain degree in voicing concerns & critiquing, I accept that in the final analysis the ‘battle belongs to God’ — certainly mankind has not produced lasting results in our error-prone self-governing for centuries now.
Why does God allow all this suffering in the meantime?
— he gave us free will, mankind has chosen its path, and just as with the choice of electing uncouth vulgarians such as Trump to lead us — it takes *time for people to experience the results of their choices and learn from them.
Eventually, our ‘learning experience’ will be sufficient for our Creator to step in and declare ‘final exams’, and a truly lasting solution will be realized.
Well … at least so goes the Bible. Although I am a believer in the above, I still indulge in degrees of complaining, being mortified & mystified at ‘man’s inhumanity to man’ and all that. I praise both those who are taking the lead politically/morally and those who take the lead spiritually, for we have a fight not just against the earthy agents of evil, but also of the ‘agents of darkness’ : back to 1 John 5:19 We know that we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the power of ‘the wicked one’ - of whom DJT et al are mere pawns.
Wishing you the best in your earnest endeavors to finding solutions … JJ 🦋
State Rights is everything now. Way to get to 92. Im sorry so many people in our nation suck. I appreciate your words. And keen observations. Future generations won't know the nation you did. But I'm not giving up. I'm speaking out and showing up.
… accidental double posting
Thank you, Norm and Contrarians.
Thank you for all of your Good Trouble! I am a proud Contrarian.
I understand the Orange Hemorrhoid has fired a few Immigration judges and is replacing them with loyalists. I have a feeling that the Heritage Foundation cabal , Russell Vought , JD Vance and Peter Thiel to just name a couple are using Trump to get the agenda on a boil. Trump appears to be using Viktor Orbans's playbook. I recall Viktor was visiting Trump just last year. Trump invited him to his coronation. Not sure if Viktor made it. Orbans ten steps to Hell.
One: take over your party and enforce internal party discipline by using political threats and intimidation to stamp out all dissent.
Two: build your base by appealing to fear and hate and branding immigrants and cultural minorities as dangers to society, and demonizing your opponents as enemies of the people.
Three: use disinformation and lies to justify what you’re doing.
Four: use your election victory to claim a sweeping mandate — especially if you don’t win a majority.
Five: centralize your power by destroying the civil service.
Six: redefine the rule of law as rule by executive decree.
Seven: eliminate checks and balances and separation of powers by taking over the legislature, the courts, the media, and civil society.
Eight: rely on your oligarchs to supervise the economy, and reward them with special access to state resources.
Nine: ally yourself with other authoritarians like Vladimir Putin and support his effort to undermine European democracies and attack sovereign countries like Ukraine.
Ten: get the public to believe all this is necessary, and resistance is futile
RESISTANCE IS NEVER FUTILE. Trump seem to be fast tracking all these steps. Once he gets the agenda rolling along smoothly the Heritage cabal will kick him to the curb and instill JD Vance who is just as dangerous as Trump .
We don't like fascists!
Also, to paraphrase the Bandit with the gold sombrero in John Huston's The Treasure of the Sierra Madre,
"Fascists?
Fascists!
We don't need no stinking fascists!"