yellow dahlia
yellow dahlia's JournalI posted this to DU on December 28 of 2024. The destruction has been worse than I anticipated.
I was thinking about the “Cabinet of Destructioneers and Dunces” and how effective they have been - so I resurrected this piece.[b]What would the Founding Fathers do?
What would the Founding Fathers do? This is a refrain that keeps playing in my mind the past several weeks.
Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Madison, Hamilton and Paine have gone down in history as the brilliant minds responsible for the crafting of our Constitution and Declaration of Independence. They fought a war to get out from under an oppressive (and “mad”) king. They crafted the founding documents to create a new nation which would not be a monarchy. We (meaning the country, the current administration and its current leaders) are preparing to hand all of it over to a Mad King, a self professed dictator, an authoritarian. What would George Washington do?
This Mad King (who I refer to as the grifter) will surround himself with court jesters. They are there for his amusement, because to him everything is a show, for his benefit. But these court jesters will now also be Cabinet Secretaries who will be empowered to destroy all that the Founding Fathers envisioned and all that many generations have built to create a governmental infrastructure. The grifter and his “Cabinet of Destructioneers and Dunces” are laying their plans out in full view. They are not keeping it a secret – they are telling us exactly what they plan to do. These Cabinet Secretaries will take an oath they have no intention of keeping. They are not being chosen for their ability to manage our precious institutions, but rather to destroy them.
Why is there no stopping this? We have some brilliant minds and Constitutional scholars in our midst, such as Jamie Raskin and Laurence Tribe. Have they no ideas? Are there no protections in our Constitution to prevent what is about to happen? What would Thomas Paine do?
The grifter ran for the title of President to avoid jail and to surround himself with power. He doesn't even want to be President in the way our Founding Fathers structured the role. He is a con man and cult leader, but he is NOT a President. He doesn't want to govern as prescribed in our Constitution. He has even said he wants to get rid of the Constitution. He does not respect the Separation of Powers. But the current administration is rolling out the red carpet and handing over the keys (to the kingdom) anyway. The current administration and our Congressional Leaders are caught up in traditions, such as peaceful transition of power. Nothing about this is normal. There will no longer be any norms and traditions, when autocracy takes over. Our “leaders” are acting as if Democracy will still be there for the saving in four years. Project 2025 and the infrastructure of personnel around the grifter have no intention of that being the case. What would John Adams do?
Musk and the other oligarchs are in place to pillage and make themselves richer, while making the rest of the citizenry poorer. The grifter plans to sell off whatever he can of our country to the highest bidder (briber). It is what he did the first time he took up residence at the White House. He violated the emoluments clause to no end, and nothing was done about it. It is going to be worse this time. This is all happening in plain sight.
The grifter and his Band of Destroyers plan to deliberately dismantle and destroy our government and the infrastructure that makes our Democracy and our country function. Is destroying our government from the inside not an insurrection, albeit it a “quiet” one? The reins (reign, if you will) are being handed over to someone who has already committed sedition and espionage against this country. Top Secret documents will never be safe again. Our National Security will no longer be in good hands.
How can we knowingly stand by and allow this to happen? A Republic if we can keep it!? What would Benjamin Franklin do?
The grifter does NOT have a mandate. I will not argue whether malfeasance before and during the election affected the numbers. Let's say for argument sake he got the number of votes being reported – it is still less than 50% of those who voted. If he indeed got enough votes to reach the numbers for the popular vote and the electoral college win, then it was due to misinformation and lies – but that is a separate discussion. He does not have a mandate to destroy the country for the benefit of himself and his cronies and minions. He does not have the mandate/right to make this country unliveable for at least half of us. What about government for the people and by the people? What would Madison do?
The grifter and his Destructioneers are threatening all of our institutions. They plan to use the institutions against us. They aren't keeping a secret. If the grifter gets his way the Justice Department will represent him and his whims, not the American people. They are threatening everyone who stands in their way. They are threatening the press. What about the First Amendment? There will be no checks and balances. What would Thomas Jefferson do?
Our financial infrastructure will be under attack. Disbanding the FDIC? That could trigger a worst case scenario – bank failures wiping out the savings of a large portion of the population. Meanwhile, tariffs, tax cuts, and mass deportations are already predicted to upend the economy, and inflation will return. Musk has no problem with the “regular guy” experiencing some pain. They are announcing their plans of pain and destruction. And yet, the MSM and the current administration are acting like everything is “normal”. What would Alexander Hamilton do?
The grifter is more than just a Mad King. He is a sociopath and a bully. He is even more dangerous than the petulant child that he presents as. (The jokes and memes sometimes distract us.) The damage he did last time will be with us for eternity, (eg: Covid). The damage he will do this time may not be something we can come back from. He is all the worst aspects of what our Founding Fathers warned against.
The grifter is an absolute threat to Democracy. On Inauguration Day, he will take an oath he has no intention of keeping. He will take an oath he already violated once, by planning an act of sedition against the United States. How is there no protection in the 14th Amendment or otherwise?
What would our Founding Fathers do?
Everything we hold dear and sometimes take for granted will be under attack. Agencies that keep us safe will be eliminated (FDA, EPA, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, FDIC...). The threats are not euphemistic. The threats are real - the plans are in place. The worst case scenarios are at our door step, and being given a path down Pennsylvania Avenue.
What can WE do?
Sick and Sinister! It is always projection from this grifting monster.
For those of you not torturing yourselves, like me. The grifter is currently speaking to justify the attack on Iran. He described the Irani regime as sick and sinister.
And as is his wont he described horrendous gory injuries with a sadistic enjoyment. Sick and sinister!
And how sick is this? He was referring to someone (in the press) saying he would get bored with this war in Iran soon. He said: it's not boring...this isn't boring at all. And he looked to Kegsbreath and said: this isn't boring, right Pete? SICK! To speak of an attack that has already and will continue to take lives in that way. Not boring - but is he implying it is exciting? SICK and SINISTER!
Quintessential Rachel Maddow! Who benefits?
Rachel was on MSNOW earlier, with a 19 minute commentary about the motivations behind the act of war against Iran. 19 minutes of truth and analysis, as only Rachel can do it.
Anthropic stands up for safety, human rights, and integrity - how can we show our support?
Plenty of articles are available online.
Here is a link to an article from POLITICO - By Brendan Bordelon, 02/26/2026 06:08 PM EST
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/26/anthropic-rejects-pentagons-ai-demands-00802554?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=dlvr.it
Anthropic rejects Pentagon’s AI demands
“[T]hese threats do not change our position,” Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei wrote in a blog post.
SNIP
Anthropic’s defiance follows unprecedented pressure from the Pentagon to abandon its restrictions on the military’s use of Claude. In a Tuesday meeting with Hegseth, Amodei reiterated his red lines — a ban on the technology’s use to surveil American citizens or to empower autonomous weapons.
SNIP
Hegseth had threatened to designate Anthropic a risk to the Pentagon’s supply chain if it failed to comply by 5:01pm Friday. The label is almost always reserved for foreign firms with ties to U.S. adversaries, and could be used by the government to blacklist Anthropic and prevent it from working with other companies.
SNIP
Hegseth’s move to invoke the DPA suggests that the Pentagon sees Anthropic’s AI models as critically important to U.S. national defense — a stance some lawyers and AI policymakers said was contradictory, given the Pentagon’s concurrent claim that the company may be a national security risk. The discrepancy was highlighted by Amodei in his blog post.
Note: I am not a big fan of AI, but when business owners stand their ground for the security of this country, I applaud...and will use my purchasing power when appropriate.
Quintessential Colbert!
You have to get through the first 1:35 to get to the segment about why Stephen is NOT interviewing James Talarico tonight.
Hint: It has something to do with (the prickly, tee hee) Brandon Carr...and how CBS is caving in advance.
The segment is 8 minutes and 27 seconds long. It gets better and better as it goes on. But wait for it - the end is truly the punch line...worth waiting for. I was laughing so hard, I thought I would wake the neighborhood.
Thank you for the hearts! And thank you for being the DU community that I love.
This community of information sharing and intelligent analysis has been a place to ground myself, in this topsy turvy world.
DU is a daily gift. Thank you to Earl G and Elad...and Skinner.
Gym Jordan just said: you don't have a right to enter the Capitol and disrupt Congress.
Okay - you probably want the context. Pam Bondi is before the House Judiciary Committee, and Jordan was setting up his discussion/question with her about the First Amendment.
In framing the upcoming assertions regarding the First Amendment, he said to Bondi: "You have a right to protest in the streets, but you don't have a right to enter the Capitol and disrupt Congress. Am I right?" 
His set up was to discuss the case against Don Lemon for following protestors into a church.
But is the irony totally lost on him?
Hearts are fun!
It as much fun to give as it is to receive.
Thank you for the hearts!
Thank for being here, you fabulous DU community.
Halftime Update - Time for the show!
I'm not watching the game. But, I have been keeping an eye out on the timing.
I, like many others, want to see Bad Bunny.
Lawrence O'Donnell hates Scott Bessent as much as I do.
He is reviewing Bessent's testimony today at the Senate, and yesterday at the House of Representatives.
He applied his quintessential Lawrence O'Donnell indignation when describing Bessent as condescending...and a liar.
And Lawrence used one of the words I always use when referring to Bessent - creepy.
He pointed out that the Cabinet Secretaries from this regime are disrespectful when they appear before Congress. A posture never taken before by the members of previous administrations. He called them Trump's quislings. They are insulting to the Congress Critters. And they lie!
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