I’ve heard about the demonstrations in 50 state capitols 2/5 - great if people show up. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, people (promoted by some Indivisible groups) are gathering at Senator Padilla’s office at noon, then possibly moving to Senator Schiff’s, near by.
I have a burning question for Schiff and other Dems who have voted for some of trump’s nominees. WHY? What is the possible reason for doing that? What can possibly be gained? Every one of the nominees will faithfully carry out trump’s dangerous , illegal, extreme, harmful etc agenda. Or, they will be fired. How is it advantageous to support that by voting for them? They don’t even need Dem votes. It isn’t. It’s completely antithetical to our resistance. Do they somehow think that because a few nominees are less bad than others it makes them OK? Normalizing is what the legacy media does all the time. Look where that’s gotten us. Are they still stuck in the “gee, if we make nice they’ll come to their senses “? I am beyond furious at the Dem representatives who are doing this. Hard enough to be trying to fight trump/musk/maga world and feel like our own leaders are betraying us.
Hopefully the Dems will focus on blocking ALL appointments going forward. Letting Bessent in was a humongous mistake. He should be arrested too, and I hope there are law suits against him already.
Impeach on what grounds? The man has hardly been in office. One needs to level charges that will resonate beyond one‘s group of believers.
It‘s important to pick fights one can win. Losing may make a marker with people who already agree with you, but it sets up a reputation for losing. One‘s opponents/enemies need to fear that you will *win*.
You miss the point about Performative. But I would say breaking more laws per minute than any president has ever done, even Nixon. Multiple counts of the Impoundment Law. The Privacy Laws? And no, at this point one’s opponents will have to fear that you will be LOUD and more and more constituents will go “well, hmmm”
Which Dems? You can't block Cabinet nominations with 46 votes. There are 44 in the Senate, plus two Independents. And forget Senator Unfetteredman. He has shown his true colors by voting for Pam Bondi. So you have 44 Dems, 2 Independents and a mole.
Focusing on Vought is a good move, *assuming* that Democrats make a strong *public* case that he is a political Luddite (he is a Luddite, but a compelling public case must be made, else it look like more Democratic flailing.)
But you can block military appointments and I'll take that. Do not let Trump, whom Heather Cox Richardson claims is doddering, and may not be aware of what Musk is doing, make any more crazy military appointments.
We haven't seen the worst yet. Wait until the Führer announces his choice for the Chiefs of Staff and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. There are certain requirements as to rank, former position, etc. to be eligible, so the pool from which to choose is fairly small and most probably only consists of high-ranking officers opposed to denigrate the Armed Forces to a rogue militia, ready to do the dirty work for a dictator.
But surprise, surprise! The President can waive these requirements simply by declaring a national emergency. And there surely are enough little Michael Flynns, eagerly awaiting the Führer's call.
However, Stefan, I am waiting for Hegseth to mess up big. And, there is no sign yet that the military is on board with Trump's coup. That remains to be seen. I notice Trump has not called them out for any protests yet. Heather Cox Richardson pointed out that Trump is old dottard who may not grasp what is going on with Elon other than he is getting more attention. Trump let Musk go to work while he went to the golf course, so Musk is in effect the Acting President.
I am hoping the military does not fall for this. Remember how Hitler demoralized his military by his terrible judgement. Maybe flying drones over Somalia and bombing it, you know some distant land with mostly poor Black people, and claiming he only hit ISiS targets, while radicalizing the entire mid-East and probably Africa too, with his Gaza Vernichtung policy, and then is probably only saying this to gaslight Denmark, the EU, Canada and Panama about his willingness to march in and take countries that don't belong to him.
In a case like Hegseth, yes unfortunately, a combination of screw-ups and possibly, maybe, internal resistance -- DoD is enormous and traditional, after all -- could see him out early. We can hope.
Schumer has lost control and in my opinion should be replaced. Even if we don’t have a Senate majority, shouldn’t we at least be making a unified statement of voting No? This is just another sign of weakness by our leadership in the Senate.
I tend to lean towards this, too. He's not an activist-grassroots profile. He has made unpopular decisions. I know -- please don't flame the messenger. But the Senate, and his experience in it, should not be dismissed so easily. More than any body of high office, Senate relies upon centuries-old tradition. That's also why McConnell could maneuver it so ruthlessly. Those old timers know how to maneuver, as did Pelosi.
The Dems & Ind senators musk shut down the Senate completely. The have the tools. This is going to have to morph into a general strike by the People. Until we shut down the entire country we will not get a handle on this. We are at an extremely vulnerable point to China, Russia, et Al.
Unfetteredman, lol. Love the idea of calling him a mole. I have only ever been so disgusted with a candidate I supported in PA once before, and that was a GOP governor many years ago. I now have no representatives in the Senate or House who are likely to assist me as a constituent with anything at all.
I also am furious at those Dems who voted for these nominees including, of all people, Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego who voted for Bessent. I have seen Kelly's clips speaking out about the plane collisions etc. Dude! You enabled this! Cory Booker too! My conclusion is that their 'yes' votes are to satisfy their corporate donors.
There was another rationale for the D yes votes. They decided to yield on some of the less threatening nominees to focus firepower on the most damaging candidates. Clearly, it was a terrible result. However, while I agree with your assessment 100% on those centrist Senators, the calculus had some merit. Dems do have to be careful with their political capital while in the minority. And they were correct on the surface to identify people like Patel and RFK and Gabbard as sources of the most destruction. Prior to votes Bessent gave impression of a Wall Street hedge fund operator. He caved in a manner so treacherous that even he may not have realized it. I am ready for his impeachment.
I'll bet everyone is now wiser after seeing how cooperating with the Bessent nomination has ended up in the fix we are in right now with Musk. HCR says that Trump is so doddering he does not know what Musk is doing. I can believe that.
I hope you are taking your righteous anger to the source. Indivisible emailed a response tool for complaining to Schiff and the other Dems voting for Trump's nominees:
Let us hope they now know to block all appointments, something they should have known. I also hope they read Project 2025, so they see what is coming. HOwever, HRC says we should save our anger for the ones doing, not the Dems.
I live in a red county in a red state.My anger is directed at my legislators. Call,visit their regional offices.Staffers there deal with constituent issues every day. You could present saying you have an issue with Medicare,SS, or whatever …..and the breach of my personal data !!! Throw out those pebbles.Some of these staffers don’t even know the extent of what is happening.
Disagree. When they vote for his nominees, shut out people from their offices, don’t take a loud stand against what is going on so that they get media attention during this ongoing coup, they need to hear from us. When they do the right things, we thank them.
Last week, HCR said to "yell" at our electeds, not at her. A scary number of Dems have been voting with the Rs in both the Senate and the House on bills and nominees they ought not to have. These Dems do need to be called out, but in doing so, we often take the shortcut of not also "yelling" at the Rs because it's generally presumed we're already upset with the Rs.
Regarding those supposed Feb 5th protests, BEWARE!
Saw this on Facebook:
(from Reddit and other sources)
Community Safety Warning: February Protests
We have, within the past 2 days, received an influx of dozens of posts promoting protests/events occurring in early February. Common terms include “50 protests in 50 states” and “50501”.
A quick review reveals these to be extremely suspect for the following reasons:
1. All have been posted by new accounts, or accounts that have never/minimally been active in /r/Albuquerque.
2. There are never any details issued other than brief “meet at the capitol, meet at city hall,” etc. Information stated in text may conflict with that presented in graphics. No organizers, permits, speakers, etc. are ever mentioned.
3. Follow up questions (both in comments and Mod mail) are unanswered, aside from brief, cryptic comments like “you’ll find out what we’re planning when you get there.”
4. Mentions of this event on other social media are overwhelmingly similarly faceless in nature (e.g, AI voice only, “I [new account] heard about this but I won’t be able to go”).
This is all extremely fishy and we ask you to please treat it with extreme caution."
Simon Rosenberg is also warning against these rallies, unknown leaders.
In 2007, Junk Bond experts traunced thousands of horrible bonds into groups and then had them rated within those horrible groups with “the best of the worst” getting good ratings
They think it shows they're "reasonable." Their political instincts were forged in a different era and many of them are stuck in that mindset. It's infuriating, but public pressure can pry at least some of them out of it.
Sorry I can't cite a source at the moment, but I believe it has been suggested that Trump's idea may be to provoke collapse to allow him to remake everything. From that perspective, appointing incompetents would certainly make sense. The problem, of course, as the Bolsheviks found out when they took over Russia, is that if everything is destroyed, you start from nothing.
In that circumstance, many lives tend not to matter much. The same result might arise from malignant narcissism, as illustrated by Hitler's indifference to the fate of Germany as WWII came to a close. The direction in which Occam's razor cuts I leave to others.
One further thought on the flip side: all the screw-ups present an opportunity. Those who support Trump likely don't care about illegalities, as important as it is to challenge them. They may well care about screw-ups, which can register at a more emotional and immediate level, since they don't require the toils of the legal process to understand. (e.g., the California water releases) For all the talk about "Sleepy Joe" the last four years, we are seeing already the basis for a drumbeat of "Dumbass Donald."
I absolutely agree with you! There is no reason to vote to support any of these nominees except that Dems may want to be seen as not being totally belligerent, thinking there may be a few reasonable people among Trump’s choices. In a normal Congress, they do have to get along. I wonder if they still mix it up after hours with each other, you know, behind the scenes?
Representative Raskin warned that protests should be small and diffuse to avoid becoming targets for the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and their ilk, who would happily create chaos and pave the way for Trump to declare martial law. And then be pardoned. We must recognize the form of this modern war and not look back at images and tactics from 150 years ago. We won't see troops lined up (yet) but the battle has definitely begun.
Agree completely with the approach Raskin is taking in not giving the ‘regime’ an excuse for sending in the mob. I attended the Treasury protest yesterday and it was well done and well attended. They closed the street to accommodate the crowd. Democratic members young and old were welcomed warmly and the emphasis was entirely on Elon Musk. I believe it was the mayor who spoke about the abuse of the laws within the city and certainly the city’s police did well in protecting our right to assembly. We needed this first step. Please everyone join us in the streets, calling members incessantly and financially supporting the legal efforts. Kudos to Move On for an excellent digital system for keeping us informed of the event’s details.
I am a 73 year old woman with a debilitating chronic illness. I am heartsick and terrified about what is being allowed to happen in this country. I have been sending emails to a number of senators expressing my alarm about the Musk invasion. I was somewhat relieved to see the protests outside the Treasury building Tuesday. Read Robert Reich he has a list of what to do. But the Dems have to organize and get loud!
You are not alone. Keep up what you can. Millions of citizens are under administrative assault now, by a demographic wave of ignorance, calculated political sabotage and global crises. As Joyce Vance says, we are all in this together.
It's just so disheartening! I haven't been watching Morning Joe since Joe and Mika went down and kissed the ring so soon after the election. But I tuned in this morning to see what they were discussing. Senator Chris Murphy was just on and he is very alarmed and doing what he can to bang the drum of alarm and oppose the Republicans.
All of what Musk and Trump are doing is illegal, and we act as if that is going to matter, but they don't care. They're going to do it all anyway because there is no police to show up and arrest them.
Of course, we have to keep at it, doing everything, but with eyes wide open. It is only a matter of time before people are laid off when agency funds aren't received, and nursing homes, and schools shut their doors, and police departments cut officers. It will be up to us to be sure that everyone knows who is responsible.
I'm not seeing coverage of the coup, and our response to it on the national news. We have to do that too. Tell people what is happening.
Why can't the mayor of DC send in police to arrest Musk and his teeny-bopping henchmen? Is there any police force that can enter the building?
Also, we should point out to Republicans in Congress who are not millionaires (are there any) that they may not be getting a paycheck and could soon be made totally irrelevant as Trump and Musk find out they can do whatever they want without consequences.
Here is what Heather Cox Richardson is saying about the moment today on her podcast.
Heather Cox Richardson just detailed what coding work is going on at Treasury. The situation is dire. I just retired from 20 years in IT. While I cannot pretend to understand the Treasury system, I know that what is being done to it and the manner it is being done - directly hacking and re-writing code in production, no testing, no quality assurance before implementing is just enormously wreckless. The notion that a planned upgrade she stated is schedule to go in, amid hacker changes is something I would have pulled the plug on at my work and sent up multiple red flags to management. THIS IS BAD.
Meanwhile my Senator Fetterman who voted for Pam Bondi, sent me an emailed letter telling me he is voting for qualified Trump nominees. So he helps give us Marco Rubio who wants to send US citizens to prison in El Salvador and now Pam Bondi. I asked him he plans to vote for Vought also. His theoriy is that the GOP Senators will confirm anyway so his vote won't matter.
Re: Fetterman: he is now a lost cause I believe. It sounds like he has bought in to the cynical logic of MAGA, if not their depraved notion of policy. I just wish he'd switch party affiliation honestly, unless he votes with conference. It's a disingenuous insult.
I think we have to choose battles wisely now, as painful as some of the rolling damage and loss will be. I agree with Robert we won't win all of this now, but at the same time, there is hope and durable progress to be made.
He was gone when he went to Maralago. He seems to think he can "work with them". He has no clue what he is dealing with it seems. I effectively have no democratic representation since we lost Sen. Casey to maga as well.
No I did not get that one. His voting record last week - he confirmed Noem for HS, Bessent for Treasury, Duffy for Transportation, Zeldin for EPA, did not vote at all on Burgum. Voting only against Hegseth. Voted for Rubio before and now Pam Bondi this week. And yet he still claims to be for unions and the working man. He betrays the Democratic party daily and all the Pennsylvanians who supported him against Dr. Oz, and now seems to support him for CMS. Katie Britt and the GOP can have him.
I have called and emailed him daily, sometimes multiple times per day, and I've received exactly one response. The email telling Democrats to stop clutching their pearls. It was a response to me asking him not to support unqualified candidates nominated for Cabinet positions. John Fetterman is a bitter disappointment. I guess the penny should have dropped when he continued to ask for money to do his job as a senator before he was even sworn into office. He has lost my support for good.
After listening to this edition of the newsletter I am compelled to repost earlier remarks to be considered again:
Many are posting writing like this that smack of the “Fierce Urgency of Now!” to quote Dr. King.
It is not lost on me that the notion of turning things around in ‘26 and further in ‘28 is tenuous at best. It seems to me, elevating the impact of Rep. John Lewis’ “Good Trouble” to a much higher degree of pushback in as much real time as possible is required. If ever there was a moment where the phrase “Desperate times, desperate measures” was relevant it is now! An intense opposition to this continued Coup d’état by way of Jan 6th 2021 and continued Nov 5, 2024 against The Constitution by way of all the illegal acts must begin to swiftly coalesce if our country and democracy are to remain free. The thing that will be made harder and harder to use freely and fairly, if at all, and its outcome respected will be the ballot box.
Yes, the country is still under attack! It is most definitely a coup! Where is a significant mission oriented collection of active and or former Congressional Members, Governors, active and or former U.S. Attorneys, C.I.A. Clandestine Operatives, FBI Agents, Navy Seals, Army Rangers, Green Berets who are all on the side of Democracy, loyal to The Constitution who will follow leaders such as a former President, Milley et. al. who can locate Musk, his crew, seize any and all documents and devices in their possession and help them reassess their illegal mission in shackles while in some form of custody! At the same time a similar collection of the same kind can gather SCOTUS together with the help from the Democracy and Constitution loyal three to persuade them to overturn their immunity decision and begin putting an end to this insanity. None of the actions of the current Executive is preserving, protecting or defending The Constitution, or is remotely plausibly within the scope of the Constitutional parameters of the Executive.
One more thing to do: I live in a deep blue state. I contacted my State Attorney General and State Treasurer expressing my deep concerns about the take over of the Treasury Department by musk and his crew. I suggested they join with other state AG's and Treasurers to file a class action lawsuit.
Thank you retired Pastor John and your 'The Beautiful Mess'. The past week+ I have been become an adherent of these missives coming from nearby Wake Forest (north of Raleigh). John validates, comforts and challenges with his spoken words like Robert.
First, Democracy Out Loud & Bull City Indivisible were proud to attend a protest and march at the Federal Building in Raleigh yesterday. Maddow did grant us a shout out and local tv station WRAL had us as their lead story, but focused on USAID, not our larger story of the Vought nomination/OMB/Musk. This is the location of Tillis' Raleigh office. About 350+ folks showed up. Great event, not one counterprostester. I was a marshall to help the event and it was pure joy. The guards were very pleasant and overall flexible. I met folks that came from a variety of background. One compelling one was a local federal contractor who works at a top notch research firm. Her whole department is frozen, but she was representing her team to speak out (and find answers).
Second, I need counter Robert, many are sharing re '50501' or the nationwide protests today. Below is an update from VA's beloved Network NOVA. Be very very careful if you attend. On a similar note, today's Maine-based events have been outted as being infiltrated by right wingers. Some events are confirmed being organized by very 'green' leaders and this could lead to unforeseen consequences.
I have read several warnings also about the Feb 5 protests, that they could be set-ups and target innocent protestors. But I don't have verification either way. I don't want to come off alarmist, but I don't want solidarity to be neutered now. In the worst case we do not want to fuel any incentive for Insurrection Act malarkey, which they have already telegraphed.
Jessica Craven, of Chop Wood, Carry Water, said to keep demonstrations small to minimize the possibility of the Insurrection Act being invoked.
Robert, when you talked in pre-election posts about the hurdles Elon would encounter trying to implement DOGE, did you ever imagine the little musketeers hacking into government computers and stealing the data and rewriting code?
Musk‘s actions have been patently illegal. He has been succeeding at taking over parts of the bureaucracy simply because civil servants allowed themselves to be browbeaten and intimidated, violating their oaths of office.
Per reporting from Wired on the horrific, and seemingly irreversible sabotage being waged to our IT systems (covered well this evening by Heather Cox Richardson), Bessent is lying through his teeth. That should set a stage for punitive matters, including impeachment. That Bessent was doubly appointed as head of CFPB to eradicate it is galling, and emblematic of the logic of this criminal gang of GOP lackeys. All of the political emergencies we are undergoing set up an anxiety-provoking triage situation.
Another whiplash move is the fact that now it feels essential to protect the bulwark of the CIA, despite the unsavory role it has played historically (e.g. reflected in the Church hearings in the 1970s, among others). Dismissing the CIA -- a gigantic, preeminent enterprise -- in world affairs now, however, would severely weaken our security, jeopardize personnel, intelligence and allies. Our intelligence sharing relationships will incur enormous reputational damage and dry up. Adversaries are looking at our weakened position opportunistically. Thankfully the FBI resisted quickly and robustly. Hopefully the CIA follows suit. It is criminal and infantile to blow through these critical institutions like they are mercantile outposts to be salvaged and scorned. Raskin hosted a good roundtable yesterday on key legal organizations that protect federal workers' rights from illegal terminations.
The protests and participation are heartening, along with Democratic Congressional support. Finally we see some blockage attempts with Vought; NY legislature is trying to move back a replacement date for Stefanik's House seat. It appears we will have to wait for more lawsuits to gain traction on some of these issues. Currently there are 31 suits active, and more coming each day. What concerns me most at the moment is Musk's breathtaking damage to our treasury systems, and trying to knee-cap departments so they can no longer operate. There's also reporting that Musk seems to be increasingly out of control, and not even the Trump regime can stop him now. Thus the pending suits -- at least 4 on DOGE already filed -- must gain hold. Some of the EOs are flagrantly illegal, but the erosion they incur in the interim, as we are seeing, can sometimes be irreversible.
Yes. I would listen to last nights Legal AF with Michael Popok on youtube. He is a prosecutor who feels that once orders make their way through courts, marshals will be authorized to arrest or jail parties in contempt (or similar, as I'm not an attorney). He's pretty confident. They want us to feel powerless. We are not, and the courts will be ruling in favor in a majority of many cases. Also track the cases as they arise with Norm Eisen, who has filed several. He is now with Just Security and the Contrarian I believe.
Thanks for the clarification. I am not an attorney and don't always get all the details correct. With the suits themselves, he did emphasize enforcement was likely for those that would apply specifically to these cases. I don't know personally, but it is credible info.
From this very concerned, retired senior American in Virginia Beach, VA; Thank you so much, Mr. Hubbell. I have now subscribed despite my meager retirement, first because I so appreciate your wisdom, second because of my desire to post here:
Arrest Musk, NOW. Is it a coup? If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck......OUR police and military need to counteract this coup, NOW. Illegal activity gives them the authority, IMHO.
Our rally at the State of Maine Capital had to be cancelled due to serious threats of organized violence. Our local Democratic organizations will hold another protest rally after setting up safty barriers.
PS: Very grateful the protest in front of the Treasury was not disrupted. I could not watch it any longer as my heart rate was so high I got a notification on my Apple Watch. And I've had a serious meditation practice for over 20 years.
I’ve heard about the demonstrations in 50 state capitols 2/5 - great if people show up. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, people (promoted by some Indivisible groups) are gathering at Senator Padilla’s office at noon, then possibly moving to Senator Schiff’s, near by.
I have a burning question for Schiff and other Dems who have voted for some of trump’s nominees. WHY? What is the possible reason for doing that? What can possibly be gained? Every one of the nominees will faithfully carry out trump’s dangerous , illegal, extreme, harmful etc agenda. Or, they will be fired. How is it advantageous to support that by voting for them? They don’t even need Dem votes. It isn’t. It’s completely antithetical to our resistance. Do they somehow think that because a few nominees are less bad than others it makes them OK? Normalizing is what the legacy media does all the time. Look where that’s gotten us. Are they still stuck in the “gee, if we make nice they’ll come to their senses “? I am beyond furious at the Dem representatives who are doing this. Hard enough to be trying to fight trump/musk/maga world and feel like our own leaders are betraying us.
Hopefully the Dems will focus on blocking ALL appointments going forward. Letting Bessent in was a humongous mistake. He should be arrested too, and I hope there are law suits against him already.
I am also hoping for punitive actions against Bessent. Possibly impeachment.
That is what I was saying to a friend this morning, that he should be impeached.
I wrote to my representative asking her to start that particular impeachment move.
Great! Who is your representative?
There is petition going around. Can you please consider signing it and sharing it?
https://www.change.org/p/initiate-the-impeachment-process-against-donald-trump-f7fd95a1-bf99-4f93-bb1e-9aef6832c0ed?recruiter=321358055&recruited_by_id=dbde7a00-1547-11e5-8e90-636ededf513a&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&utm_medium=copylink&utm_content=cl_sharecopy_490398377_en-US%3A4
Jayapal. Beat her GOP opponent by 84%. Have signed.
Impeach on what grounds? The man has hardly been in office. One needs to level charges that will resonate beyond one‘s group of believers.
It‘s important to pick fights one can win. Losing may make a marker with people who already agree with you, but it sets up a reputation for losing. One‘s opponents/enemies need to fear that you will *win*.
You miss the point about Performative. But I would say breaking more laws per minute than any president has ever done, even Nixon. Multiple counts of the Impoundment Law. The Privacy Laws? And no, at this point one’s opponents will have to fear that you will be LOUD and more and more constituents will go “well, hmmm”
Which Dems? You can't block Cabinet nominations with 46 votes. There are 44 in the Senate, plus two Independents. And forget Senator Unfetteredman. He has shown his true colors by voting for Pam Bondi. So you have 44 Dems, 2 Independents and a mole.
They are filibustering Vought on the floor. 30 hours of speech to obstruct. It can be done for the others too.
Dan, I could find no source today about filibustering Vought on the floor. Can you please give a source?
There are several. I believe I found mine via Axios. Elizabeth Warren posted on her social media as well. It is verified.
I don't do social media. What do I type in to get "filibuster "today, because using that term turned up nothing?
Focusing on Vought is a good move, *assuming* that Democrats make a strong *public* case that he is a political Luddite (he is a Luddite, but a compelling public case must be made, else it look like more Democratic flailing.)
Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz has put a Hold on all Trump nominees for the State Department. Holds can be put on other nominees.
But you can block military appointments and I'll take that. Do not let Trump, whom Heather Cox Richardson claims is doddering, and may not be aware of what Musk is doing, make any more crazy military appointments.
https://youtu.be/6IkzlB8gLzY?si=RoS9dX-UGahqBj3c
As Hegseth is bombing Somalia and claiming there are no civilian casualties, just ISIS targets, I do not believe a word. What about Gaza now?
We haven't seen the worst yet. Wait until the Führer announces his choice for the Chiefs of Staff and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. There are certain requirements as to rank, former position, etc. to be eligible, so the pool from which to choose is fairly small and most probably only consists of high-ranking officers opposed to denigrate the Armed Forces to a rogue militia, ready to do the dirty work for a dictator.
But surprise, surprise! The President can waive these requirements simply by declaring a national emergency. And there surely are enough little Michael Flynns, eagerly awaiting the Führer's call.
However, Stefan, I am waiting for Hegseth to mess up big. And, there is no sign yet that the military is on board with Trump's coup. That remains to be seen. I notice Trump has not called them out for any protests yet. Heather Cox Richardson pointed out that Trump is old dottard who may not grasp what is going on with Elon other than he is getting more attention. Trump let Musk go to work while he went to the golf course, so Musk is in effect the Acting President.
I am hoping the military does not fall for this. Remember how Hitler demoralized his military by his terrible judgement. Maybe flying drones over Somalia and bombing it, you know some distant land with mostly poor Black people, and claiming he only hit ISiS targets, while radicalizing the entire mid-East and probably Africa too, with his Gaza Vernichtung policy, and then is probably only saying this to gaslight Denmark, the EU, Canada and Panama about his willingness to march in and take countries that don't belong to him.
In a case like Hegseth, yes unfortunately, a combination of screw-ups and possibly, maybe, internal resistance -- DoD is enormous and traditional, after all -- could see him out early. We can hope.
As you know, Linda, Hitler neutered the Wehrmacht by getting its generals to pledge loyalty to him * personally*. That was a critical development.
So non-MAGAites must make certain that the US military stays loyal to the Constitution and our nation, not to an individual leader.
Is Hegseth letting the IDF write his press reports?
Schumer has lost control and in my opinion should be replaced. Even if we don’t have a Senate majority, shouldn’t we at least be making a unified statement of voting No? This is just another sign of weakness by our leadership in the Senate.
Careful. Some wanted to throw out Nancy Pelosi prematurely. Schumer is one of the best we have.
Which is more of a sad comment on the state of the Senate than an accolade for Schumer.
I tend to lean towards this, too. He's not an activist-grassroots profile. He has made unpopular decisions. I know -- please don't flame the messenger. But the Senate, and his experience in it, should not be dismissed so easily. More than any body of high office, Senate relies upon centuries-old tradition. That's also why McConnell could maneuver it so ruthlessly. Those old timers know how to maneuver, as did Pelosi.
The Dems & Ind senators musk shut down the Senate completely. The have the tools. This is going to have to morph into a general strike by the People. Until we shut down the entire country we will not get a handle on this. We are at an extremely vulnerable point to China, Russia, et Al.
You wrote "musk" where you meant "must"
Unfetteredman, lol. Love the idea of calling him a mole. I have only ever been so disgusted with a candidate I supported in PA once before, and that was a GOP governor many years ago. I now have no representatives in the Senate or House who are likely to assist me as a constituent with anything at all.
So unfortunately we probably can’t block but that doesn’t mean our representatives should be complicit
But they must make a compelling case to the nation, not just to other Democrats.
I also am furious at those Dems who voted for these nominees including, of all people, Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego who voted for Bessent. I have seen Kelly's clips speaking out about the plane collisions etc. Dude! You enabled this! Cory Booker too! My conclusion is that their 'yes' votes are to satisfy their corporate donors.
There was another rationale for the D yes votes. They decided to yield on some of the less threatening nominees to focus firepower on the most damaging candidates. Clearly, it was a terrible result. However, while I agree with your assessment 100% on those centrist Senators, the calculus had some merit. Dems do have to be careful with their political capital while in the minority. And they were correct on the surface to identify people like Patel and RFK and Gabbard as sources of the most destruction. Prior to votes Bessent gave impression of a Wall Street hedge fund operator. He caved in a manner so treacherous that even he may not have realized it. I am ready for his impeachment.
I understand deciding which battle to fight, but they have caved on every appointment.
I'll bet everyone is now wiser after seeing how cooperating with the Bessent nomination has ended up in the fix we are in right now with Musk. HCR says that Trump is so doddering he does not know what Musk is doing. I can believe that.
https://youtu.be/6IkzlB8gLzY?si=ChZarAxlSA1q7r6C
A dementia nurse said she has seen this before and he should be in a lock down dementia unit.
I have sung this somg dor a while...digured it would get so noticeable they camt explain it away with "weaving" and other nonsense.
This is a useless, self-defeating line of argument. Focus on Trump‘s and trumpsters‘ *actions*. There‘s more than enough to focus on.
If the Dems get in power again in Congress, first thing should be a statute specifically calling illegal abuse of power a High Crime/Misdemeanor.
I hope you are taking your righteous anger to the source. Indivisible emailed a response tool for complaining to Schiff and the other Dems voting for Trump's nominees:
https://act.indivisible.org/sign/you_need_to_fight/?source=email_20250304&utm_source=email&t=7&akid=115413%2E3419174%2ETCX2yk
Let us hope they now know to block all appointments, something they should have known. I also hope they read Project 2025, so they see what is coming. HOwever, HRC says we should save our anger for the ones doing, not the Dems.
https://youtu.be/6IkzlB8gLzY?si=ChZarAxlSA1q7r6C
I live in a red county in a red state.My anger is directed at my legislators. Call,visit their regional offices.Staffers there deal with constituent issues every day. You could present saying you have an issue with Medicare,SS, or whatever …..and the breach of my personal data !!! Throw out those pebbles.Some of these staffers don’t even know the extent of what is happening.
Disagree. When they vote for his nominees, shut out people from their offices, don’t take a loud stand against what is going on so that they get media attention during this ongoing coup, they need to hear from us. When they do the right things, we thank them.
Last week, HCR said to "yell" at our electeds, not at her. A scary number of Dems have been voting with the Rs in both the Senate and the House on bills and nominees they ought not to have. These Dems do need to be called out, but in doing so, we often take the shortcut of not also "yelling" at the Rs because it's generally presumed we're already upset with the Rs.
Very good tool. I’m using it.
Regarding those supposed Feb 5th protests, BEWARE!
Saw this on Facebook:
(from Reddit and other sources)
Community Safety Warning: February Protests
We have, within the past 2 days, received an influx of dozens of posts promoting protests/events occurring in early February. Common terms include “50 protests in 50 states” and “50501”.
A quick review reveals these to be extremely suspect for the following reasons:
1. All have been posted by new accounts, or accounts that have never/minimally been active in /r/Albuquerque.
2. There are never any details issued other than brief “meet at the capitol, meet at city hall,” etc. Information stated in text may conflict with that presented in graphics. No organizers, permits, speakers, etc. are ever mentioned.
3. Follow up questions (both in comments and Mod mail) are unanswered, aside from brief, cryptic comments like “you’ll find out what we’re planning when you get there.”
4. Mentions of this event on other social media are overwhelmingly similarly faceless in nature (e.g, AI voice only, “I [new account] heard about this but I won’t be able to go”).
This is all extremely fishy and we ask you to please treat it with extreme caution."
Simon Rosenberg is also warning against these rallies, unknown leaders.
Thanks for sharing this. Many well known groups are warning this is not legit. I prefer sticking with groups that have organized backing.
https://open.substack.com/pub/fridaypowerlunch/p/caution-50-state-event-we-do-not?r=6vr32&utm_medium=ios
He has gone back on that, the Feb 5 protests are legit.
They do seem to be as I see a lot of videos of todays events on Bluesky
In 2007, Junk Bond experts traunced thousands of horrible bonds into groups and then had them rated within those horrible groups with “the best of the worst” getting good ratings
They then crashed the economy
Sound familiar?
They think it shows they're "reasonable." Their political instincts were forged in a different era and many of them are stuck in that mindset. It's infuriating, but public pressure can pry at least some of them out of it.
Maybe the strategy is appointment of folks who will screw up.
How is that a strategy ?
It’s the only reason that makes sense.
Sorry I can't cite a source at the moment, but I believe it has been suggested that Trump's idea may be to provoke collapse to allow him to remake everything. From that perspective, appointing incompetents would certainly make sense. The problem, of course, as the Bolsheviks found out when they took over Russia, is that if everything is destroyed, you start from nothing.
In that circumstance, many lives tend not to matter much. The same result might arise from malignant narcissism, as illustrated by Hitler's indifference to the fate of Germany as WWII came to a close. The direction in which Occam's razor cuts I leave to others.
One further thought on the flip side: all the screw-ups present an opportunity. Those who support Trump likely don't care about illegalities, as important as it is to challenge them. They may well care about screw-ups, which can register at a more emotional and immediate level, since they don't require the toils of the legal process to understand. (e.g., the California water releases) For all the talk about "Sleepy Joe" the last four years, we are seeing already the basis for a drumbeat of "Dumbass Donald."
My sister is at the Denver Capitol and it looks like thousands of people are there peacefully protesting
I absolutely agree with you! There is no reason to vote to support any of these nominees except that Dems may want to be seen as not being totally belligerent, thinking there may be a few reasonable people among Trump’s choices. In a normal Congress, they do have to get along. I wonder if they still mix it up after hours with each other, you know, behind the scenes?
See Robert's follow-up Substack post. Be cautious w/r/t protests.
https://open.substack.com/pub/roberthubbell/p/use-caution-attending-protests-on?r=flasu&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
*This is what a Civil War in 2025 looks like.*
Representative Raskin warned that protests should be small and diffuse to avoid becoming targets for the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and their ilk, who would happily create chaos and pave the way for Trump to declare martial law. And then be pardoned. We must recognize the form of this modern war and not look back at images and tactics from 150 years ago. We won't see troops lined up (yet) but the battle has definitely begun.
Agree completely with the approach Raskin is taking in not giving the ‘regime’ an excuse for sending in the mob. I attended the Treasury protest yesterday and it was well done and well attended. They closed the street to accommodate the crowd. Democratic members young and old were welcomed warmly and the emphasis was entirely on Elon Musk. I believe it was the mayor who spoke about the abuse of the laws within the city and certainly the city’s police did well in protecting our right to assembly. We needed this first step. Please everyone join us in the streets, calling members incessantly and financially supporting the legal efforts. Kudos to Move On for an excellent digital system for keeping us informed of the event’s details.
Thank you for attending and reporting on the protest.
Kent State wasn't that long ago.
I am a 73 year old woman with a debilitating chronic illness. I am heartsick and terrified about what is being allowed to happen in this country. I have been sending emails to a number of senators expressing my alarm about the Musk invasion. I was somewhat relieved to see the protests outside the Treasury building Tuesday. Read Robert Reich he has a list of what to do. But the Dems have to organize and get loud!
You are not alone. Keep up what you can. Millions of citizens are under administrative assault now, by a demographic wave of ignorance, calculated political sabotage and global crises. As Joyce Vance says, we are all in this together.
It's just so disheartening! I haven't been watching Morning Joe since Joe and Mika went down and kissed the ring so soon after the election. But I tuned in this morning to see what they were discussing. Senator Chris Murphy was just on and he is very alarmed and doing what he can to bang the drum of alarm and oppose the Republicans.
Murphy has been "banging the drum" about the oligarchy for quite some time. But he has been a voice in the wind of sensational headlines.
TV President $Trump has been distracting the media and America with his performances. Greenland, Panama, Mexico, Canada and now "Mar a Gaza".
All along, the Real President Musk is dismantling our government and taking control of its finances.
Though I think he is serious about his desires of conquest.
Robert- Elon and his people are in NOAA! Please help sound the alarm for people to protest. No privatized weather
I am monitoring this situation. Do you have a cite to an article that says they are "in" the system and have blocked access to weather info?
I know they are "in" the offices at NOAA. I want to be precise about what is going on.
I will share aN article I found. I have their pr contact information- I'll share if privately
I was able to get my local weather online this morning. Hoping it will stay that way.
My "free" (free of ads) weather app from Google won't open.
All of what Musk and Trump are doing is illegal, and we act as if that is going to matter, but they don't care. They're going to do it all anyway because there is no police to show up and arrest them.
Of course, we have to keep at it, doing everything, but with eyes wide open. It is only a matter of time before people are laid off when agency funds aren't received, and nursing homes, and schools shut their doors, and police departments cut officers. It will be up to us to be sure that everyone knows who is responsible.
I'm not seeing coverage of the coup, and our response to it on the national news. We have to do that too. Tell people what is happening.
Why can't the mayor of DC send in police to arrest Musk and his teeny-bopping henchmen? Is there any police force that can enter the building?
Also, we should point out to Republicans in Congress who are not millionaires (are there any) that they may not be getting a paycheck and could soon be made totally irrelevant as Trump and Musk find out they can do whatever they want without consequences.
Here is what Heather Cox Richardson is saying about the moment today on her podcast.
https://youtu.be/6IkzlB8gLzY?si=ChZarAxlSA1q7r6C
And in writing.
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/february-4-2025?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Olga Lautman has a Trump Tyranny Tracker here is day 16.
https://open.substack.com/pub/trumptyrannytracker/p/trump-tyranny-tracker-day-16?r=f0qfn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Heather Cox Richardson just detailed what coding work is going on at Treasury. The situation is dire. I just retired from 20 years in IT. While I cannot pretend to understand the Treasury system, I know that what is being done to it and the manner it is being done - directly hacking and re-writing code in production, no testing, no quality assurance before implementing is just enormously wreckless. The notion that a planned upgrade she stated is schedule to go in, amid hacker changes is something I would have pulled the plug on at my work and sent up multiple red flags to management. THIS IS BAD.
Meanwhile my Senator Fetterman who voted for Pam Bondi, sent me an emailed letter telling me he is voting for qualified Trump nominees. So he helps give us Marco Rubio who wants to send US citizens to prison in El Salvador and now Pam Bondi. I asked him he plans to vote for Vought also. His theoriy is that the GOP Senators will confirm anyway so his vote won't matter.
Re: Fetterman: he is now a lost cause I believe. It sounds like he has bought in to the cynical logic of MAGA, if not their depraved notion of policy. I just wish he'd switch party affiliation honestly, unless he votes with conference. It's a disingenuous insult.
I think we have to choose battles wisely now, as painful as some of the rolling damage and loss will be. I agree with Robert we won't win all of this now, but at the same time, there is hope and durable progress to be made.
He was gone when he went to Maralago. He seems to think he can "work with them". He has no clue what he is dealing with it seems. I effectively have no democratic representation since we lost Sen. Casey to maga as well.
HI, Susan. Was this the Fetterman response that advised Democrats to stop clutching their pearls? If so, I received it too.
No I did not get that one. His voting record last week - he confirmed Noem for HS, Bessent for Treasury, Duffy for Transportation, Zeldin for EPA, did not vote at all on Burgum. Voting only against Hegseth. Voted for Rubio before and now Pam Bondi this week. And yet he still claims to be for unions and the working man. He betrays the Democratic party daily and all the Pennsylvanians who supported him against Dr. Oz, and now seems to support him for CMS. Katie Britt and the GOP can have him.
I have called and emailed him daily, sometimes multiple times per day, and I've received exactly one response. The email telling Democrats to stop clutching their pearls. It was a response to me asking him not to support unqualified candidates nominated for Cabinet positions. John Fetterman is a bitter disappointment. I guess the penny should have dropped when he continued to ask for money to do his job as a senator before he was even sworn into office. He has lost my support for good.
Mine as well.
Yet despite his drawbacks, Fetterman is preferable to Republicans.
We need to make do with imperfect allies.
It seems that Pennsylvania voters had a really awful choice in that election- between Oz the quack and Fetterman.
Sorry to be a pedant, but *reckless. There may be wrecks aplenty.
:-)
Being literate is not pedantry.
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/february-4-2025?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=194st7
After listening to this edition of the newsletter I am compelled to repost earlier remarks to be considered again:
Many are posting writing like this that smack of the “Fierce Urgency of Now!” to quote Dr. King.
It is not lost on me that the notion of turning things around in ‘26 and further in ‘28 is tenuous at best. It seems to me, elevating the impact of Rep. John Lewis’ “Good Trouble” to a much higher degree of pushback in as much real time as possible is required. If ever there was a moment where the phrase “Desperate times, desperate measures” was relevant it is now! An intense opposition to this continued Coup d’état by way of Jan 6th 2021 and continued Nov 5, 2024 against The Constitution by way of all the illegal acts must begin to swiftly coalesce if our country and democracy are to remain free. The thing that will be made harder and harder to use freely and fairly, if at all, and its outcome respected will be the ballot box.
Yes, the country is still under attack! It is most definitely a coup! Where is a significant mission oriented collection of active and or former Congressional Members, Governors, active and or former U.S. Attorneys, C.I.A. Clandestine Operatives, FBI Agents, Navy Seals, Army Rangers, Green Berets who are all on the side of Democracy, loyal to The Constitution who will follow leaders such as a former President, Milley et. al. who can locate Musk, his crew, seize any and all documents and devices in their possession and help them reassess their illegal mission in shackles while in some form of custody! At the same time a similar collection of the same kind can gather SCOTUS together with the help from the Democracy and Constitution loyal three to persuade them to overturn their immunity decision and begin putting an end to this insanity. None of the actions of the current Executive is preserving, protecting or defending The Constitution, or is remotely plausibly within the scope of the Constitutional parameters of the Executive.
The question is whether the military will support an illegal presidency. If not, then bye bye Trump and bye bye Musk.
Our military is supposed to support the Constitution and the People of the United States, not a Presidency.
One more thing to do: I live in a deep blue state. I contacted my State Attorney General and State Treasurer expressing my deep concerns about the take over of the Treasury Department by musk and his crew. I suggested they join with other state AG's and Treasurers to file a class action lawsuit.
Yes, great idea!
Both the state AG's office and the state Treasurer's office sent a reply from staff members stating: "...they were looking into it."
Thank you retired Pastor John and your 'The Beautiful Mess'. The past week+ I have been become an adherent of these missives coming from nearby Wake Forest (north of Raleigh). John validates, comforts and challenges with his spoken words like Robert.
https://open.substack.com/pub/johnpavlovitz/p/we-may-need-to-cut-ties-with-trump
Thanks for sharing these. I’ve subscribed and they are all excellent messages.
Yes! I'm part of John's Empathetic People Network. He and all the people there are awesome!
First, Democracy Out Loud & Bull City Indivisible were proud to attend a protest and march at the Federal Building in Raleigh yesterday. Maddow did grant us a shout out and local tv station WRAL had us as their lead story, but focused on USAID, not our larger story of the Vought nomination/OMB/Musk. This is the location of Tillis' Raleigh office. About 350+ folks showed up. Great event, not one counterprostester. I was a marshall to help the event and it was pure joy. The guards were very pleasant and overall flexible. I met folks that came from a variety of background. One compelling one was a local federal contractor who works at a top notch research firm. Her whole department is frozen, but she was representing her team to speak out (and find answers).
Second, I need counter Robert, many are sharing re '50501' or the nationwide protests today. Below is an update from VA's beloved Network NOVA. Be very very careful if you attend. On a similar note, today's Maine-based events have been outted as being infiltrated by right wingers. Some events are confirmed being organized by very 'green' leaders and this could lead to unforeseen consequences.
https://open.substack.com/pub/fridaypowerlunch/p/caution-50-state-event-we-do-not
I have read several warnings also about the Feb 5 protests, that they could be set-ups and target innocent protestors. But I don't have verification either way. I don't want to come off alarmist, but I don't want solidarity to be neutered now. In the worst case we do not want to fuel any incentive for Insurrection Act malarkey, which they have already telegraphed.
UPDATE FROM RALEIGH TODAY: the rally thus far is going on without any issues. A friend sent some photos even.
Jessica Craven, of Chop Wood, Carry Water, said to keep demonstrations small to minimize the possibility of the Insurrection Act being invoked.
Robert, when you talked in pre-election posts about the hurdles Elon would encounter trying to implement DOGE, did you ever imagine the little musketeers hacking into government computers and stealing the data and rewriting code?
No. The notion that Musk would be allowed to vandalize and hack the US computer infrastructure was not something I anticipated.
I did not imagine such a wild and dangerous scenario either. It feels like a toddler is driving the car at breakneck speed.
Musk‘s actions have been patently illegal. He has been succeeding at taking over parts of the bureaucracy simply because civil servants allowed themselves to be browbeaten and intimidated, violating their oaths of office.
“little musketeers”. Well done, JennSH from NC
from your friend Col from the Bull City 🐂
Dear Robert, My best hour since Nov 5 was joining more than 12,000 others on yesterday's session on UTube with ACLU: https://www.youtube.com/live/qcwNCE4rH14
I hope that you have time to check it out. It might help your mood, as it did mine.
Lionel Spiro (an old supporter and one who is usually quiet)
thanks for the link! i will check it out.
Per reporting from Wired on the horrific, and seemingly irreversible sabotage being waged to our IT systems (covered well this evening by Heather Cox Richardson), Bessent is lying through his teeth. That should set a stage for punitive matters, including impeachment. That Bessent was doubly appointed as head of CFPB to eradicate it is galling, and emblematic of the logic of this criminal gang of GOP lackeys. All of the political emergencies we are undergoing set up an anxiety-provoking triage situation.
Another whiplash move is the fact that now it feels essential to protect the bulwark of the CIA, despite the unsavory role it has played historically (e.g. reflected in the Church hearings in the 1970s, among others). Dismissing the CIA -- a gigantic, preeminent enterprise -- in world affairs now, however, would severely weaken our security, jeopardize personnel, intelligence and allies. Our intelligence sharing relationships will incur enormous reputational damage and dry up. Adversaries are looking at our weakened position opportunistically. Thankfully the FBI resisted quickly and robustly. Hopefully the CIA follows suit. It is criminal and infantile to blow through these critical institutions like they are mercantile outposts to be salvaged and scorned. Raskin hosted a good roundtable yesterday on key legal organizations that protect federal workers' rights from illegal terminations.
The protests and participation are heartening, along with Democratic Congressional support. Finally we see some blockage attempts with Vought; NY legislature is trying to move back a replacement date for Stefanik's House seat. It appears we will have to wait for more lawsuits to gain traction on some of these issues. Currently there are 31 suits active, and more coming each day. What concerns me most at the moment is Musk's breathtaking damage to our treasury systems, and trying to knee-cap departments so they can no longer operate. There's also reporting that Musk seems to be increasingly out of control, and not even the Trump regime can stop him now. Thus the pending suits -- at least 4 on DOGE already filed -- must gain hold. Some of the EOs are flagrantly illegal, but the erosion they incur in the interim, as we are seeing, can sometimes be irreversible.
Yes, all this is illegal but, who is going to enforce legal rulings? Apparently they are already ignoring two freeze injunctions. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/trump-administration-ignores-two-4928252/
Yes. I would listen to last nights Legal AF with Michael Popok on youtube. He is a prosecutor who feels that once orders make their way through courts, marshals will be authorized to arrest or jail parties in contempt (or similar, as I'm not an attorney). He's pretty confident. They want us to feel powerless. We are not, and the courts will be ruling in favor in a majority of many cases. Also track the cases as they arise with Norm Eisen, who has filed several. He is now with Just Security and the Contrarian I believe.
One correction: Popok is not a prosecutor, as far as I know. He is a trial attorney whose work includes criminal defense, among other things.
Thanks for the clarification. I am not an attorney and don't always get all the details correct. With the suits themselves, he did emphasize enforcement was likely for those that would apply specifically to these cases. I don't know personally, but it is credible info.
From this very concerned, retired senior American in Virginia Beach, VA; Thank you so much, Mr. Hubbell. I have now subscribed despite my meager retirement, first because I so appreciate your wisdom, second because of my desire to post here:
Arrest Musk, NOW. Is it a coup? If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck......OUR police and military need to counteract this coup, NOW. Illegal activity gives them the authority, IMHO.
Hi, Gary. Thanks for your note. Please check your email for a message from me.
Our rally at the State of Maine Capital had to be cancelled due to serious threats of organized violence. Our local Democratic organizations will hold another protest rally after setting up safty barriers.
Is Trump/Musk bankrolling thugs in all 50 states?
It now looks like there are people who will rally at theCapital in Augusta, Maine inspite of the threat of violence.
PS: Very grateful the protest in front of the Treasury was not disrupted. I could not watch it any longer as my heart rate was so high I got a notification on my Apple Watch. And I've had a serious meditation practice for over 20 years.