Martin Eden
Martin Eden's JournalWho is to BLAME for a pathologically unfit felon winning the GOP presidential primary?
THAT is the biggest issue here, regardless of who the Democrats nominated.
An utterly corrupt lying sack of orange shit could NOT have won a major party nomination without a mainstream media that ignored its responsibility as the Fourth Estate to the degree of complicity.
Nor without the system of legalized bribery reinforced by our Supreme Court in the Citizens United case.
Or conservative "Christian" religious leaders who elevated the most amoral POtuS ever to befoul the White House to the status of America's saviour, anointed by God Almighty.
BUT the so-called "liberal media" chooses to focus their energy and "journalistic expertise" on the Party that actually tried to prevent the disaster which has befallen us?
Sure, it was very likely a serious mistake for Joe to run for a 2nd term at the end of which he would have been 86 years old. An open primary putting forth younger more energetic leaders could very well have produced a nominee who inspired more souls to the polls and more forcefully exposed The Felon for what he is -- in a campaign not hastily organized while our incumbent president was pressured to finally withdraw.
But to blame Joe Biden and the Democrats for the criminal fascist thrust upon us by the Republican Party is beyond the pale.
Republicans PRETEND to be "Fiscal Conservatives"
So why is that budget deficits always INCREASE when they're in power -- are they too stupid to understand the consequences of their own policies?
NO. This is deliberate.
They have long wanted to shrink government to a size that can be "drowned in a bathtub." The strategy is to starve the beast. This means starving federal government programs of funds.
They know that trying to dismantle Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid by direct legislative assault is political suicide. Instead, they drive up deficits with tax cuts for the rich and costly wars of choice, then put on their "fiscal conservative" masks and solemnly declare that hard decisions must be made about the cost of "entitlements" we can no longer afford.
These are the earned benefits working Americans already paid for with deductions from every paycheck our entire working lives. It is a strategy to transfer more wealth from you and me to the billionaires who finance the Republican Party.
We have to stand up and say NO!!!!!!!
He plans to use tariffs as extortion to gain power
Corporations will lobby for relief, and will comply with his demads on bended knee. Tariffs are a means of coercion, just as he has pressured universities and law firms.
The Felon plans to remain in office as long as he wants. He's itching to invoke the Insurrection Act and declare martial law.
As protests grow, Proud Boys and their ilk will incite violence. The Felon will do what he wanted to do during the George Floyd protests -- use the military to shoot protesters.
Do not underestimate what The Felon will do, or try to do. The scenario in the previous paragraph could be orchestrated in the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections, which would then be canceled or controlled with the iron fist of a dictator and his Republican cohorts who are equally determined not to lose their House and Senate majorities.
They have already shown an utter disregard for American institutions, our Constitutional rule of law, and truth.
Do you really think that once they've thrown their lot in with a dictator-- which they have already done -- that there is a line they will not cross?
I'm not saying they will succeed.
I'm saying they must be stopped.
Fascist is as fascist does
Of course Trump has no ideology other than his ingrained misogyny, racism, and feeding the bottomless pit of his greed, ego, and lust for power.
But his actions to consolidate dictatorial power are that of a fascist. Furthermore, he is enforcing an ideology which seeks to suppress and erase from history the long struggle of people other than straight white "Christian" males to gain equal rights and justice in this country.
Trump is not Hitler, but he directly channels the Nazi in his targeting of brown immigrants as "poisoning the blood of our country." His rise to power has been a cult of personality supported by neo-Nazis, white supremicists, "Christian" nationalists, wealthy business owners, and the politicians who serve them.
How narrowly defined must "fascism" be in applying the term to 21st century manifestations of authoritarianism? That latter term covers a lot of ground, lacking specificity.
Perhaps a new term can be created for the specific means and ideological dismantling of the American republic currently in process, but I doubt the new word would be readily understood or effective in raising the necessary public alarm to preserve our Constitional rule of law.
General Mark Milley warned us that Trump is "fascist to the core."
I'm gonna go with that.
Yes. A sliding scale between Left and Right is 2-Dimensional
And a lot of baggage gets loaded along the way which obfuscates the most important issues.
Voters need to assess how policies of the federal government impact not only them directly but the American people as a whole and sustainability for future generations.
My highest priorities as a voter are:
Be responsible stewards for the ecosystems of Earth which sustain life itself.
Protect and improve our Constitional rule of law, including the right to vote. There should be no discrimination or special privilege based on race, religion, gender identity, etc.
Foster an educational system that helps every student become a good citizen and reach their potential, providing equal opportunity for.
The concentration of wealth in a few hands is detrimental to all the above. Innovators, entrepreneurs, and successful business leaders deserve the fruits of their hard work. Marxism is a failed idea which ignores human nature.
However, no wealthy individuals can succeed without the working contributions of the majority. Living paycheck to paycheck and/or going bankrupt for medical reasons is unacceptable amidst vast wealth.
Do the values expressed above make me "hard" or "far" left? If so, I embrace that with pride.
Democrats should have walked out en masse from a speech full of lies and insults
They should have known going in what what the speech would be like. To sit their silently is a tacit acceptance of all the lies and abuse hurled at them.
Donald Trump is a treasonous convicted felon who incited a violent mob to assault our nation's Capitol as part of a conspiracy to overturn a free and fair presidential election.
Only a highly partisan supreme court and the timidity of an attorney general too worried about being perceived as partisan kept justice from being done to a domestic enemy of the United States who absolutely belongs in prison.
"Decorum" requires respect be shown to the office of the president, but the survival of our Constitutional democracy DEMANDS bold action. Democrats should NOT have sat silently while the treasonous felon hurled lies and abuse.
What's happening to our government MUST NOT BE NORMALIZED in any way, shape, or form.
Democrats walking out en masse or being escorted out piecemeal by following Al Green's bold example would have captured the news cycle for days on end.
No doubt the rightwing and compliant mainstream media would have expressed indignation and heaped scorn upon Democrats for their indecorous demonstration.
But it also would have provided a platform for our Democratic Party not to play defense but to boldly make the case why opposing this treasonous felon and his effort to destroy our Constitutional government is the duty and obligation of every true American patriot who cares about our country's future.
I watched it, because my wife always watches these things. It got my blood boiling.
I shouted so many loud profanities at the television that our dog came over to comfort me.
Of course the felon LIED and LIED and LIED. Representative Al Green would have none of it, was quite vocal, and forcibly removed for violating "decorum."
Decorum??!!! The felon is a walking talking violation of decorum and every American value his republican sycophants defecate on -- just as his minions smeared feces on the walls of our Capitol after sending more than a hundred police officers to the hospital. The felon pardoned those criminals, then has the gall to assert he's a champion for law an order.
I wish our Democrats would have stood up and walked out en masse with Al Green. They sat there mostly silent as the felon trashed Joe Biden and LIED and LIED and LIED some more. At one point he uttered "radical left lunatics" as he turned and gestured towards them sitting there like props in tacit acceptance of the rhetorical feces being smeared all over that room.
My blood was boiling. During the campaign candidate felon directly quoted Adolf Hitler by saying immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country." The felon is worse than any abscess or infected pustule because he is poisoning the soul of our country, turning against our allies in the free world while proving to be an asset for the murderous dictator of Russia.
The felon, his billionaire accomplices, and the bought-and-paid-for republicans in congress are illegally dismantling every agency that serves the American people. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Veterans benefits, cancer research, consumer protection, and more are being chainsawed while they prioritize more tax cuts for billionaires; tariffs that will raise prices for families struggling to get by; stripping rights from women and vulnerable minorities being scapegoated; spewing more toxins and greenhouse gases into our atmosphere with drillbabydrill held as a virtue; and ravaging our life sustaining Mother Earth in service to unfettered greed.
THEY MUST BE STOPPED.
End of rant. I needed to get that off my chest, but it's still there.
Maybe, maybe not. One thing is certain:
Trump, Musk, and the Republican Party will do everything they possible can to ensure they don't lose control of the House and Senate -- no matter how badly their poll numbers sink.
Since 2020 red state governments have ramped up their gerrymandering and voter suppression, including mass purges of voter rolls, especially People of Color. They have also introduced legislation by which any challenge to election results could enable Republican controlled state legislatures can overturn election results. The Jan 2021 conspiracy to overturn the presidential election included false slates of Electors in key swing states, with a backup plan to put the election on the hands of the Republican controlled House.
There are many scenarios in which the 2026 midterm elections are held, but the results are illegitimate.
There is also a very possible scenario in which mass protests heading into the election, possibly with violence sparked by Ptoud Boy infiltrators, provide Trump with an excuse to declare martial law and cancel the elections.
Yes, Republicans have cravenly sold their souls
They know that Trump is abandoning our NATO allies to align the United States with the Russian dictator, and all but the dumbest of them could see the televised performance in the Oval Office for what it was intended to do -- put an end to any pretense of helping Ukraine, then blame the ruined relationship on Zelensky.
I loathed Ronald Reagan, but he at least opposed the "Evil Empire" as did both the Republican and Democratic parties for generations. America as leader of the free world was was something to be proud of, and invest in.
Not any longer, for the Republican Party. Did their transformation happen overnight, out of pure cowardice?
I will argue it did not. For years now the Republican Party and CPAC have fawned over Hungary's autocrat Victor Orban, and embraced his repressive regime as a model for the United States government.
Republicans have known for a long time, and sometimes openly acknowledged, that they can't win national elections when more people vote. Red states have pushed gerrymandering and voter suppression as far as the courts will allow, and the Supreme Court is firmly in their hands.
For their own political careers and for the oligarchs who fund their campaigns, Republicans have for decades rejected the highest ideals of America's Founding.
Their support for the dictator sitting in the White House and the unconstitutional actions of his billionaire henchman is not entirely a cowardly submission. They have long wanted to destroy regulatory agencies and social programs which benefit the American people, which is now being accomplished at breakneck pace.
The Republican Party has steadily progressed towards authoritarianism, which ideologically aligns them with the Russian dictator.
Normally negotiations are done in advance before heads of state meet
It seems obvious Zelensky wouldn't sign a deal to give away half his country's mineral wealth in return for what -- a "peace" brokered between Trump and his idol Vlad Putin, leaving Ukraine and Europe with no input?
So, WHY was Zelensky invited to the White House?
Results speak for themselves. The leader of a small country heroically fending off an invasion from a much larger agressor was not treated with kindness and respect by the host of the meeting. Instead he was confronted with contempt and lies, then loudly berated when he had the unmitigated temerity to stand up for himself and his country.
It was a performative ambush for the cameras, intended to place the blame for America's abandonment of Ukraine on Zelensky -- accusing him of being disrespectful and ruining negotiations.
And that's the way Fox News and the rightwing media portrayed it, for MAGA consumption.
Of course, the rest of the world, aghast, saw the meeting for what it really was.
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Gender: MaleHometown: Chicagoland
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