David Rothkopf: Something Broke in America This Week

[CousinIT]

ORIGINAL Twitter thread:

Link to tweet

UNROLLED Twitter thread:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1116811681462616065.html

Something broke in America this week. We have been spiraling downward since Trump's election, but this week, we crossed a line. The President and his men began asserting that they were above the law--and effectively no one in our system did anything to stop them.

The Attorney General sneered at the Congress and placed himself imperiously above its questions. He continued to arrogate onto himself what portions of the Mueller Report--paid for by the people, essentially in its totality to the Congress to do its duty--we would see.

He asserted again that he was the final arbiter of whether obstruction of justice by the president had taken place. He even went so far as to imply that law enforcement authorities carrying out their duty to protect America were somehow "spying", perhaps illicitly...

on the Trump campaign. (Ignoring that the reasons for the investigation in question were not only sound...but the core reason...that Russia had sought to aid the Trump campaign in the election had been proven again by Mueller.)

At the same time, the Secretary of the Treasury and the head of the IRS determined to violate a law that required in no uncertain terms for them to provide the president's tax returns to the chairman of the House Ways and Means committee.

At the same time a purge at the Department of Homeland Security took place and it became quickly clear it was because the president and his team were frustrated that officials would not act in violation of the law. We learned that the White House promised pardons...

to those who break the law, encouraging a crime and abetting it. We learned that they considered an egregious abuse of power that would involve releasing illegal immigrants in sanctuary cities controlled by Democrats.

We saw the president complain that our military would not rough up immigrants. We saw him continue the charade of an emergency at our southern border which was an excuse for him illegally divert government resources to an unnecessary, racist, vanity project.

The president repeatedly called law enforcement officers who investigated him traitors, guilty of treason--a crime that carries with it the death penalty. We discovered that the president considered appointing his grossly unqualified daughter to be head of the World Bank.

It is the stuff of the world's most dysfunctional governments. But rather than generating a response from within our system commensurate with the threat, nothing occurred. The GOP leaders in the Senate circled round the president and supported his abuses.

In so doing, they sent a message that they would never challenge him much less convict him of the myriad crimes he has committed. The checks and balances our system was built upon are gone. Worse, the courts are being packed with Trump cronies--often unqualified.

Agencies are being left to appointed caretakers some outside the normal chain of succession, many unconfirmed for their current posts by the Senate. Political opponents tip-toed around these crimes daring not to appear "too extreme."

This is how democracies die. The rule of law is slowly strangled. The unthinkable becomes commonplace. The illegal becomes accepted--from violations of the emoluments clause to self-dealing to Federal election law crimes to serial sexual abuse.

What once was black and white blurs into grey. Right and wrong, old principles, enduring values, fade from memory. Authoritarians arrive in our midst not in tanks but in bad suits and worse haircuts.

I have long thought our system was better than this--more resilient. But candidly, I'm no longer sure. I remain hopeful...hopeful that the next election cycle can redress this manifold wrongs. But it will not be easy. It will be too close. Trump may be with us for six more yrs.

Why? Because we allowed ourselves to become inured to the unthinkable. We are dying the death of a thousand cuts. Right now, this week, the president and his band of thugs are winning. They have become unabashed in their attacks on the law.

They are daring someone to enforce it. But what if...what if the courts rule against them but they ignore it? What if the Treasury Secretary has violated a law and no one arrests him. What if the president steals and canoodles with enemies and he goes unpunished?

Their crimes will only grow more egregious and their ways will only grow more ingrained in our system. Their violations will in fact become the system itself. Corruption will be the norm-greater corruption,to be sure,since it it was corruption that got us here in the first place.

Our only hope is recognizing the seriousness of our situation. This is not politics as usual. This is not an erosion of what was. This is a full blown crisis, the greatest American politics has faced in half a century...perhaps much longer.

It is not a time for equivocation. It is not a time for patience. It is time for those who seek to protect the rule of law to step up to protect it or the chance may not soon again return.

[msdogi]

1. exactly

this where we are, and it is terrifying.

[sarabelle]

57. Not even the media seemed to blink! What is going on. is there no turning back from this abyss? n

[LenaBaby61]

74. Not even the media seemed to blink!

It's extremely unfortunate, but most in the corporate media LOVE all of the CHAOS, ratings and high ad buys.

[Kurt V.]

2. K&R

[dewsgirl]

3. You could just feel it all week, it is more terrifying each and every day.

[UniteFightBack]

4. GULP. nt

[ananda]

22. I know.

It makes you feel sunk.

[BigmanPigman]

5. This is how I feel...

Last edited Sat Apr 13, 2019, 08:30 PM - Edit history (1)

after the past two weeks. The sudden death of my healthy dad doesn't help my overall mood much.

*** Thank you to all the kind Dems who have given me support here on DU. I appreciate it A LOT!

[cilla4progress]

8. So sorry, Bigman!

Holding you in my thoughts!

[BigmanPigman]

11. Thanks.

I didn't think I could feel much worse than I did after 2016 Election Day, now I found out I can. Watch my poor little dog die next and him get reelected. That would be the trifecta of pure misery.

[cilla4progress]

16. I hear you.

I foresaw this terror on election night. Had a total meltdown. Please dear god let something change soon. Maybe the old guard dems have to get out of the way and let the young ones lead!

[xxqqqzme]

54. I did too.

I looked to the future and in a rush I saw abandoned regulations destroying the environment, National Parks and monuments sold off and their resources plundered. The issues President Obama tried to address with executive orders shredded, because the republicants refused to legislate. Tears began falling and I could not stop them. All that looked promising was disappearing as quickly as I saw it.

I fear for my grandchildren and the future that will be stolen from them. What happens to my son's middle child who has no language because of his autism. Will he be ridiculed by some bully and not get the help he needs because we are not in the 2%? I know my son is trying to use the resources for his son that are available now because he fears those will disappear.

Is my daughter, husband and their child in danger because they are an ethnically mixed family. Will they face a reborn discrimination that seemed to be gathering strength during the campaign of hate.

These are my mysteries. I am 70. I will not witness most of what I 'saw' on election night. I hope it turns around. But our country is being dismantled as an unimaginable pace. How is this destruction addressed so it does not happen again? Or can it even be fixed?

There might not be a Shire, Pippin.

[triron]

13. The death of a parent is never easy.

It seems especially hard in these times. My sympathies.

[rebe303]

14. Condolences

I am so sorry about your loss.

[BigmanPigman]

26. Thank you. This sucks!

[calimary]

44. Awww... so sorry to hear about your dad, BigmanPigman.

Lots of shoulders here, ready for you to lean on.

[BigmanPigman]

46. Everyone on DU has been very kind,

including you. I appreciate it. I may be in a more negative mood for a while, I didn't think that was possible.

[uponit7771]

51. Condolences

[denvine]

63. So sorry for your loss!

I can't imagine going through that grief at the same time as we are seeing the loss of our checks and balances as well as our Democracy! My heart goes out to you! It truly is an insane time! Responses from the republicans are like a version of 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'.

[LenaBaby61]

75. The sudden death of my healthy dad doesn't help my overall mood much.

For Dad:



And for you:

[CentralMass]

76. My condolences on your loss..

[The_jackalope]

6. Like Caesar, Trump has crossed the Rubicon. nt

[Ponietz]

38. Interesting comparison

Caesar had an army with him, but it seems our Pentagon disses the turd regularly. I’m still hoping the Generals know better.

[The Blue Flower]

7. The best summation to date

This is so frightening. I feel that a very dark time has begun. The foundations of our system are being dismantled. What happens when it's done? I've always been optimistic about America's DNA being unbreachable, but that doesn't mean it can't be seriously harmed.

[Ferrets are Cool]

9. Not only did no one do anything about it

I sense no urgency from those in power to stop him and his fascist regime.

[certainot]

28. it's up to us we need offense directed at the only advantage trump/republicons have

protests don't work anymore because a few hundred shits on 1500 radio stations yell over them for as long as it takes for republicans to get over it - like iraq, like ows

if protests and activism gets media attention the think tanks yawn, design a PR response that can include any lying they want, and spew it out of those radio stations as long as they need. like the 'deep state' bullshit the last 2 years from limbaugh. and unlike fox those stations can be locally coordinated. and they can say anything they want without being noticed by liberals/dems until it shows up coming out of trump or barr's mouth, for instance.

the most effective get-the-boulder-rolling place to protest is RW stations, or better yet, the 88 universities that support 260 limbaugh stations - which are easier to protest - - the stations and the unis are everywhere and the GOP and their think tanks who depend on those stations will freak out. that will get media attention and scare away most of the advertisers left and force the ad industry to force many radio stations to drop limbaugh/hannity/levin/savage - rw radio - they want those loud stations and the huge audiences.

any attention - protests at stations and the universities that support RW radio stations (even better), and boycotts - ANY attention to republican radio will expose that it is now very vulnerable thx to AI

with artificial intelligence-enhanced transcription it's now possible to digitize large samplings of republican talk radio so it's invisibility cloak can be pulled off and it can finally be pushed into the free speech spectrum.

protests at a few of the 88 universities will spread - rw radio won't survive

it can be recorded and transcribed on the local level too and all advertisers listed and associated directly with the hate and lies they sponsor - with very little listening required. RW radio's already 20BIL+ in debt and as soon as the ad industry realizes a stoprush x100 is now possible it will cause them to start asking clients if they really want to support trump, racism, global warming denial, etc.

that will finally apply market demand and destroy the 20-1 monopoly, democratize it.

it is really stupid dems continue to ignore the right's best weapon, the only reason trump can push the gop to protest him is the russian tool limbaugh and the 300 liars on 1500 radio stations that follow him.

it would also help if the dem party and or the media would poll for talk radio....

[Ferrets are Cool]

41. Liberal (progressive) talk radio has been around for many years

it has pretty much failed miserably, compared to the "reich" wing side of it. I would love for your scenario to have any chance of success.....it doesn't. Hell, we can't even get it off of the American Forces Network.

[certainot]

47. it's not about competing with a 20-1 monopoly or market demand for hate and lies

it's a fucking propaganda monopoly the russians have been using for at least a decade and now piggyback with their trolling.

it's wall mart vs mom and pop and dems let them send death threats at aoc and omar

waiting for liberal billionaires or 'market forces' to fix this is silly. it wouldn't take much activism to get the ad industry to do most of the work but i think i only found on instance of a protest directed at a rw radio station. and even though the stoprush action by a very few activists with a very narrow focus cost the right a lot of advertisers

but the left orgs continue to bend over for limbaugh

[cilla4progress]

10. I agree with

Rothkopf.

The Dems under Pelosi are going to have to do what they don't want to do, and will take great courage, and prosecute this criminal president and administration sooner rather than later.

We've reached the tipping point.

[triron]

15. I fear they are not up to the task. I hope so much I am wrong.

[area51]

39. +1 n/t

[Ferrets are Cool]

42. I fear you are correct.

[ananda]

53. I have the same fear..

..

[cilla4progress]

23. I guess I'm in good company

Link to tweet

?s=19

[PufPuf23]

27. That view is blatantly obvious to me.

Time for our Democratic leadership to act with force and determination.

[cilla4progress]

31. Yep,

If they want to maintain their credibility.

[JudyM]

61. This is it, in a nutshell, no doubt in my mind.

[c-rational]

12. Well said and agreed. Truly frightening. This is a long way from normal, and "not time for

patience." Their outright smugness is stunning. The gloves need to come off.

[montanacowboy]

17. But Impeachment is off the table

Blah blah
It’s too soon
We have to see the Mueller report
Let the courts take care of it

Am I missing something

[Ponietz]

30. The "Pence would be worse" apologists

[Bettie]

35. You forgot it must be overwhelmingly bipartisan

and the senate won't convict so there's no point.

And we watch our code of laws burn, because apparently, laws only apply if you don't have an "R" after your name.

[uponit7771]

52. +1

[triron]

18. Yet most of the media, the public and much of congress pretend or ignorantly believe everything

is ok.

[cilla4progress]

19. Yes, stunning how every day life continues

normally.

I'm so fearful they will go after Obama himself.

And the fact that they are armed to the teeth...I honestly believe this is backing off Dem leadership.

At the risk of sounding apocalyptic - I think some are going to be asked to put their lives on the line

Talk me down?

[nancy1942]

77. I wish I could.

Unfortunately I tend to share your feelings. I feel as though the country is in its' final throes and not enough of the population even notices the destruction. Trump and the Republicans are going to destroy us. They're all using a big stuck and we seem to be speaking softly and being polite.

[TeamPooka]

20. K&R

[Amaryllis]

21. Disagree with this: Because we allowed ourselves to become inured to the unthinkable.

Many of us have done/ are doing everything we can think of to set things right. I, and many others I know, have in no way allowed ourselves to become inured. We simpley dont know what else to do other than what we are doing.

[Ligyron]

24. Start impeachment in the House

The majority of America will be behind us.

What do we have to lose? They win anyway if we don't.

[KPN]

55. THIS

It’s time to ITMF!

[Fiendish Thingy]

25. To bad "THE MATH" is preventing Congress from growing a spine

And protecting the Constitution...

[Ponietz]

33. In January it was "patience grasshopper"

My party needs to do the right thing, and its leader will need to be as formidable as FDR.

[anarch]

29. this is exactly how I've been feeling all week

It's so frustrating...I want to scream, I want to tear my hair out, I want to march to the capitol and demand that they do something, that we don't just abandon the rule of law and let these motherfuckers just get away with whatever they want.

Here we have multiple examples of our laws being blatantly violated, clear abuse of power, and when a perfectly reasonable request for congress to assert its oversight powers as allocated in the constitution is met with a sneering "ehh, nope, we're not going to do that; you can't make us. fuck off!" and everybody just says "oh, ok." And that's it? What the actual fucking fuck??

This cannot be allowed to stand, or that's it for our republic. If we are not a nation of laws, then we have no nation.

Or to put it another way, as I keep thinking of from the movie Billy Jack, "When policemen break the law, then there isn't any law...just a fight for survival."

I mean, if this is how it goes when these fuckers just blatantly thumb their noses at any kind of rules or laws, if nobody will correct them on this matter, then that's the end of it. If that's how it is now, why shouldn't they just postpone the next presidential election cycle indefinitely, due to the ongoing "crisis at the border" or whatever other reason, or for no reason at all, just because it looks like the GOP might get voted out? What would anyone do? "This is highly unusual; we should follow what the law says about elections." GOP: "yeaaah, no. we're not going to do that; national security too important and all. We'll just have to wait 'til we get through this crisis."..."Oh, ok." and then no more elections ever?

[cilla4progress]

32. This community here

Is very precious.

You know, we often hear that politicians are, to some degree, waiting for pressure from the public, i.e. public demonstrations. Even Obama said this.

What better time

[defacto7]

34. This decree deserves national attention.

I can't recommend any statement more. It summarizes exactly where we are in this dismal time in US history and the history of humankind.

[DirtEdonE]

36. This is exactly what our teachers warned us about back in the 50s/60s

They lived through The Great Depression and WWII with all the horrors and they knew this was coming back again some day. They wanted us to know, to be prepared to recognize it and nip it in the bud. They had us read all of the history and the dystopic novels about an authoritarian future. And here it is.

This evil trump blight we're living reads exactly like one of those dystopic novels. I can't believe we've done this to ourselves. And no one seems to know what to do other than "discuss".

It only took 243 years to end this so-called "experiment in democracy" - in total failure.

Greatest country on earth (TM) - please. Go tell it to a magat.

New American Century? Hell, we didn't even get an American decade.

Rule of law. lol

Checks and balances. hahaha

Lights out, democracy. We were never what we claimed to be anyway. It was always just a reality tv game show for the entertainment of the idiot masses and the benefit of the very select few.

This reminds me of the last few days of the Obama administration before trump took office - the feeling of hopelessness and inevitability.

I'm scared.

[Ponietz]

37. Our party will be irrelevant unless it acts now to protect the rule of law.

Last edited Sat Apr 13, 2019, 11:42 AM - Edit history (4)

The infection must be cut out and the wound must be cauterized or the patient will die.

Too many voters will, irrevocably, lose respect for our party, while others, completely stymied in their efforts to protect and preserve the truth, will take it out sideways on representatives who choose the “best not rile him” approach. Meanwhile, the lights are ever blinking red. Impeachment appears the only real option.

[Wednesdays]

40. So then, what do we do?

Seriously, what do we do? Take to the streets? Millions of us, marching in solidarity.

Then everybody has to go home, eventually.

And nothing changes.

[oasis]

43. "the unthinkable becomes commonplace". nt

[marlakay]

45. I guess he's right

He could kill someone in the street and his people would still love him especially if it was a Democrat.

[IamFortunesFool]

48. Yup...

It has been torches and pitchforks time for a while now...

And yet here we all sit.

By the time things are bad enough for the spoiled, apathetic, bovine masses to begin to finally fight back, it won't be a fight for our country, but a fight for survival.

This moment for the "conservative" movement has been 40 years in the making. Anybody thinking we can vote our way out in 2020 isn't paying attention. These fascist won't relinquish power without a fight. We are their stated and visceral enemy. They will not yield the power Trump has seized and will continue to seize.

When our institutions have conpletely failed us (We are nearly, if not already there), we will have nothing left but ourselves and the military.

My biggest question is how the loyalty of our military will shake out... that's where the real fight will be. All the MAGAts and their guns are irrelevant compared to the modern weaponry of our armed forces.

America descending into a second civil war would drag the world down with it.

[TexasBlueDog]

49. I've never had this feeling...

...like the earth has shifted on its axis, something is fundamentally wrong. Every rightwing yapper talks about nothing but coming investigations, investigations already going on. I'm living in a world in which a 16 year old boy has mighty WAPO hopping round over a 250 million dollar lawsuit, where a principle is getting sued for sending a baby magat home with his t shirt, what the fuck is going on?

Why is the media so quiet? Are they scared???? Here's the thing, the first story about these 'great job numbers' or some designer offering to dress Melania you better start packing. If those media turds start worrying about being sued rather than doing their jobs where does that leave us?? I am terrified and don't know where this is going!

[DLevine]

50. K&R

[Arkansas Granny]

56. K & R. Thanks for posting.

[Buckeyeblue]

58. Something did break and I'm not sure it's able to be fixed

In the back of my mind, I've wondered what would happen if the president decided he/she was going to do whatever he/she wanted with no regard for the law. In some ways, W did and probably Reagan. But they both seemed to have their limits. I don't think 45 has any limits. For him, nothing is off the table.

Couple that with Republican Senators who are seemingly ok with this. Those Senators whose states 45 won probably feel compelled to let him do his thing, even if the disagreed with him. These are not principled and courageous people.

And you hope that at some point people come to their senses and demand something better. But the reality is, 35% of the public likes what's going on. Another huge percentage of the public doesn't pay attention and has no idea what's going on because they either don't care or they are working their asses off to stay above water.

Given that, I don't know who we need to look to or what needs to happen. Because he is in a position right now where he looks untouchable. But things can change quickly.

[JudyM]

62. It is time for a strong leader to emerge. We have a mass of folks running for President.

We shall see who might have the smarts to rally the public. This is no time for infighting.

[GusBob]

59. Well that was depressing

If the rule of law has been set aside, its time for action, not words in its defense

Without laws its chaos and anarchy

Without actionable defense there is destruction

Putin has achieved his goal of destroying our democracy

[JudyM]

60. THIS: "Their violations will in fact become the system itself."

Our relative complacency to extreme self-serving actions is lowering the bar so dramatically that commonplace corruption seems like nothing. We need a people’s revolution of another kind, entirely.

[colsohlibgal]

64. Colbert Went There This Week

He had Anderson Cooper on and Cooper said the Supreme Court might Vote 5-4 to force Donnie to fold but Colbert asked what happens then if Twitler says no. Who enforces that?

This is dangerous uncharted waters we are in. Nixon folded when Goldwater, Hugh Scott, and Howard Baker went to him and told him he was going to get impeached, they could no longer support him. So he quickly resigned. But what if he had said go to Hell, I’m staying no matter what?

Right now Law dictates that Trump must fork over his tax returns. I wouldn’t hold my breath on that happening.

Trump is evil, crazy, dumb, and in age related mental decline I think. I, like most all of us, am going about my life as usual but these are not normal times.

[UniteFightBack]

65. I'm gettin bout ready to take to the streets and some prolonged civil unrest. I need to go

to a rally and YELL...and boy do I YELL LOUD.

[Paladin]

68. See you there. (nt)

[ancianita]

66. Where is the mechanism in government to back up court rulings? That's why courts are under siege.

or court rulings ignored. "Contempt of court" means nothing to those who think they're above the law.

There appears to be no law enforcement mechanism to use against the Executive branch.

If there is, what is it, and who orders it to act.

The whole "Make me" attitude of subpoena refusers is the other part of this call for more rigorous court enforcement -- which we don't see.

[orangecrush]

67. K&R

[BamaRefugee]

69. At least Mike Pence lost his office space in the House building! We're kicking ass!

[BarbD]

70. We need to pull out all the stops. Now!

"We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields and the streets......." In 1940 when Britain faced the Nazi juggernaut, Winston Churchill rallied the populace.

We are now faced with the danger of losing our freedom. There is no option but to fight and we need to make a lot of noise.

[srobertss]

71. I'm urging my representative to go for impeachment.

I’ve been hesitating on this for many reasons. Not the least of which is galvanizing his base. But since he is urging officials to break the law, we don’t have a choice. Even though there’s no chance of conviction. You still have to do it. He’s violating his oath of office. I’m afraid the witnesses will melt away under scrutiny. But maybe we can get him on the stand and he’ll shoot himself in the foot because he’s such an idiot.

[Pauldg47]

72. To the streets...harass and surround all Senate offices opposed. I am sick of these traitors.

[Pauldg47]

73. Not harras... Just March.