This minor item seems like trivia compared to the other stuff you're discussing, Robert, but as a Tesla owner it's personal so I want to make something clear to your readers. I'm on your side in all this, regardless of the car I drive! We bought our Tesla for environmental reasons before Musk turned into a complete flaming idiot and oligarchic co-President and, frankly, apparent Nazi. When you're asking the #TeslaTakedown crowd not to get violent, I agree 100%. I hope you can also advise your readers that no one should be even implicitly celebrated for calling me a Nazi because I own a Tesla -- seriously, this has not actually happened to me or any other Tesla owner I know, but of course it could, and would be most disconcerting and alarming coming from a political ally who just doesn't realize it. Moreover, I believe the vast majority of current Tesla owners are just like me in this respect: why they bought a Tesla (in the past).
I wish I shared your high regard for S&C and Biglaw firms. Sadly it seems that while they haven't necessarily gone directly against democracy before this move, I can't say they have worked to support it. Follow the money - how many people have they harmed by supporting big business all these years? I do hope the legal profession sees this as a wake up call.
Robert, if it looks like a Pig, sounds like a Pig and smells like a Pig. It's probably a PIG. "Turning against" America no, they are just PIGS. In it for themselves and money. No defense.
Well folks, maybe it's time to add S&C to the Tesla Takedown! They have offices in NY, Los Angeles and D.C. Lots of people who can protest in those areas. The protests against Tesla have been so successful, we need to react to EVERY company that capitulates to the Felon (all 34 counts). Show them that there ARE consequences. We also need to boycott resellers of Musk's Starlink internet service.....starting with T-Mobile. Something to think about....
We should also boycott Amazon and Air B & B Ask they are as bad as musk. We have been in Finland Estonia and Denmark. The people have asked us why we are not protesting and doing anything against Trump. Over here you do not hear about the protest. Bezos has a control of what gets said in the news, so you don’t hear what’s going on in Europe. It is Trump focused. People think that the Americans are not protesting and they are not upset because you don’t really hear about it over in Europe. You hear what Trump does. We need to protest and boycott Amazon, Amazon, fresh and Airbnb. Those billionaires are kissing the butt of Trump. They want to take your money and then take your money through taxes because they don’t wanna pay. If we can hit Bezos in his pocket like musk is being hit, I think he will maybe consider changing his mind. Beso has a lot of things delivered to a lot of people all over the world as he screws the American people. if we hit him in his pocket like mask then maybe we have a leg to stand on. The billionaire CEO of Airbnb has joined the billionaires on the hill. We need to protest with them too.
We talked to these people from Finland and it broke my heart when her granddaughter who lives in Greenland is scared to death that Trump is going to come take their island and throw them into the sea. These are the words of the three year year-old child — Trump has no mercy and doesn’t care what other people feel. that’s so sad and it broke my heart that that three year-old is terrified because of what the inconsiderate Butthead does. it’s not right somehow we need to dethrone him and get rid of Vance and Johnson out of there. I don’t know how we can do that we just need to go in and put them all in jail.
Some Danish people are canceling their trips to the US. A lady in the Super at market asked me if she should go and I told her no it’s not safe and they need to hit us in our pocket to get the point across. We need to turn this around. I will be back to being proactive activities when I get home from our trip in Denmark, Finland andEstonia. We have told people what we thought about our situation. they need to know we don’t like them because they don’t hear very much of that over here.
America has fallen to below Ukraine and people to trust America. It’ll take us a long time to get that trust back. We need to start working on that now. I don’t know what to do. Thank you for reading this.
We should also boycott Amazon and Air B & B Ask they are as bad as musk. We have been in Finland Estonia and Denmark. The people have asked us why we are not protesting and doing anything against Trump. Over here you do not hear about the protest. Bezos has a control of what gets said in the news, so you don’t hear what’s going on in Europe. It is Trump focused. People think that the Americans are not protesting and they are not upset because you don’t really hear about it over in Europe. You hear what Trump does. We need to protest and boycott Amazon, Amazon, fresh and Airbnb. Those billionaires are trumping on the side of Trump to take your money and then take your money through taxes because they don’t wanna pay. If we can hit Bezos in his pocket like musk is being hit, I think he will maybe consider changing his mind. Beso has a lot of things delivered to a lot of people all over the world as he screws the American people if we hit him in his pocket like mask then maybe we have a leg to stand on. The billionaire the CEO of Airbnb has joined the billionaires on the hill. We need to protest with them too.
I'm tempted yet again by Robert's photo and stats to attempt perspective and arithmetic: 5.88 trillion miles = 1 light year; so 5.88 trillion x 42 million light years = 24,696 + 16 zeroes miles. 246,960,000,000,000,000,000 miles. Is there a word for this many zeroes? Correction welcome!
Robert, Thanks for the much-needed break from democracy work and worrying!
Donald Trump’s victory has understandably triggered infighting inside the Democratic Party and it looks ugly. But fear not. These recriminations and finger-pointing are necessary to move forward. In Turkey, Hungary and Poland, it was only after the opposition parties faced their strategic and ideological misalignment with society that they were able to begin to effectively fight back.
1. A brilliant discussion by very well spoken and interesting Sen Chris Murphy. Some items surprised me:
"Six Weeks In, This White House Is On Its Way To Being The Most Corrupt In U.S. History"
"WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday spoke on the U.S. Senate floor to expose the unprecedented corruption of the Trump administration’s first six weeks in office. Murphy condemned Trump’s normalization of pay-to-play politics, where billionaire donors dictate policy and taxpayer money is funneled into the pockets of the president, Elon Musk, and the corporate elite."
March 9th Heather Cox Richardson wrote elegantly about the history of struggling for democracy in the US. Read it to understand how we are repeating our history; it's excellent.
Then answer her implied starting question. Are you a NPC? She starts with how Musk calls people (NPC's)Non Player Characters) from the gaming world. That is an irrelevant character who acts on a set script to fill out a game. ARE YOU AN NPC OR WILL YOU EFFECT OUR OUTCOME?
As far as I can tell, only John Fetterman (D-PA) has said he will vote for the GOP’s bill. He says doing otherwise is voting for “chaos.” But that leaves them needing six more votes. That’s a lot.
If enough Democrats contact their senators in the next couple days, they will fall into line. That’s in your hands. The future is really in your hands.
Does Fetterman think that if the votes for the bill, we won't have chaos? No appropriations bills should be voted until the Executive Branch faithfully executes appropriation laws enacted previously.
It’s unlikely that the Republican-controlled Congress can pass all three of these measures without securing votes from Democrats. This gives the Democratic minority an opportunity to exact concessions from Republicans.
Communication: Democrats realize they cannot continue to let Donald Trump monopolize the news. In this phase we should expect Democrats to make changes to their communications strategy.
Summary: Phase 2 will determine whether Donald Trump will continue to run roughshod over the Constitution or whether “check and balances” will hold. Whether the courts and Congress will do their job. Phase 2 should also indicate whether Democrats have figured out how to counter the Trump media blitz.
If the unifying theme of phase 1 was executive power, phase 2 will be characterized by pushback from the judiciary and Congress.
Lawsuits: Since Trump’s inauguration more than one hundred lawsuits have been filed to thwart his actions. More than thirty lawsuits relate to Trump's immigration policies. Approximately twenty challenge the actions of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Ten respond to Trump’s transgender policies. The balance oppose the president's unilateral changes to federal funding, government hiring and the structure of federal agencies. Many of these cases are still pending, but most of the judicial decisions favored the plaintiffs -- Trump’s actions have been deemed illegal/unconstitutional.
Congress: Until this point, Trump did not need Congress. Now, Trump faces three deadlines that require him to work with Congress: On March 14h, the federal government runs out of money unless a continuing resolution is passed. Shortly thereafter, government borrowing will reach the debt limit. Next, Congress will consider Trump’s budget: Trump wants his 2017 tax cuts reauthorized (cost $4.5 trillion) and additional funds appropriated for Defense and Homeland Security ($340 billion).
For those who want to make a simple protest, on the Ides of March, (3.15) many of us are sending postcards to the President at the
White House ….. tell him what is important to you or what he should stop doing. Use a museum card, make up your own… and mail it on the 15th.
This minor item seems like trivia compared to the other stuff you're discussing, Robert, but as a Tesla owner it's personal so I want to make something clear to your readers. I'm on your side in all this, regardless of the car I drive! We bought our Tesla for environmental reasons before Musk turned into a complete flaming idiot and oligarchic co-President and, frankly, apparent Nazi. When you're asking the #TeslaTakedown crowd not to get violent, I agree 100%. I hope you can also advise your readers that no one should be even implicitly celebrated for calling me a Nazi because I own a Tesla -- seriously, this has not actually happened to me or any other Tesla owner I know, but of course it could, and would be most disconcerting and alarming coming from a political ally who just doesn't realize it. Moreover, I believe the vast majority of current Tesla owners are just like me in this respect: why they bought a Tesla (in the past).
I wish I shared your high regard for S&C and Biglaw firms. Sadly it seems that while they haven't necessarily gone directly against democracy before this move, I can't say they have worked to support it. Follow the money - how many people have they harmed by supporting big business all these years? I do hope the legal profession sees this as a wake up call.
Robert, if it looks like a Pig, sounds like a Pig and smells like a Pig. It's probably a PIG. "Turning against" America no, they are just PIGS. In it for themselves and money. No defense.
Well folks, maybe it's time to add S&C to the Tesla Takedown! They have offices in NY, Los Angeles and D.C. Lots of people who can protest in those areas. The protests against Tesla have been so successful, we need to react to EVERY company that capitulates to the Felon (all 34 counts). Show them that there ARE consequences. We also need to boycott resellers of Musk's Starlink internet service.....starting with T-Mobile. Something to think about....
We should also boycott Amazon and Air B & B Ask they are as bad as musk. We have been in Finland Estonia and Denmark. The people have asked us why we are not protesting and doing anything against Trump. Over here you do not hear about the protest. Bezos has a control of what gets said in the news, so you don’t hear what’s going on in Europe. It is Trump focused. People think that the Americans are not protesting and they are not upset because you don’t really hear about it over in Europe. You hear what Trump does. We need to protest and boycott Amazon, Amazon, fresh and Airbnb. Those billionaires are kissing the butt of Trump. They want to take your money and then take your money through taxes because they don’t wanna pay. If we can hit Bezos in his pocket like musk is being hit, I think he will maybe consider changing his mind. Beso has a lot of things delivered to a lot of people all over the world as he screws the American people. if we hit him in his pocket like mask then maybe we have a leg to stand on. The billionaire CEO of Airbnb has joined the billionaires on the hill. We need to protest with them too.
We talked to these people from Finland and it broke my heart when her granddaughter who lives in Greenland is scared to death that Trump is going to come take their island and throw them into the sea. These are the words of the three year year-old child — Trump has no mercy and doesn’t care what other people feel. that’s so sad and it broke my heart that that three year-old is terrified because of what the inconsiderate Butthead does. it’s not right somehow we need to dethrone him and get rid of Vance and Johnson out of there. I don’t know how we can do that we just need to go in and put them all in jail.
Some Danish people are canceling their trips to the US. A lady in the Super at market asked me if she should go and I told her no it’s not safe and they need to hit us in our pocket to get the point across. We need to turn this around. I will be back to being proactive activities when I get home from our trip in Denmark, Finland andEstonia. We have told people what we thought about our situation. they need to know we don’t like them because they don’t hear very much of that over here.
America has fallen to below Ukraine and people to trust America. It’ll take us a long time to get that trust back. We need to start working on that now. I don’t know what to do. Thank you for reading this.
We should also boycott Amazon and Air B & B Ask they are as bad as musk. We have been in Finland Estonia and Denmark. The people have asked us why we are not protesting and doing anything against Trump. Over here you do not hear about the protest. Bezos has a control of what gets said in the news, so you don’t hear what’s going on in Europe. It is Trump focused. People think that the Americans are not protesting and they are not upset because you don’t really hear about it over in Europe. You hear what Trump does. We need to protest and boycott Amazon, Amazon, fresh and Airbnb. Those billionaires are trumping on the side of Trump to take your money and then take your money through taxes because they don’t wanna pay. If we can hit Bezos in his pocket like musk is being hit, I think he will maybe consider changing his mind. Beso has a lot of things delivered to a lot of people all over the world as he screws the American people if we hit him in his pocket like mask then maybe we have a leg to stand on. The billionaire the CEO of Airbnb has joined the billionaires on the hill. We need to protest with them too.
I'm tempted yet again by Robert's photo and stats to attempt perspective and arithmetic: 5.88 trillion miles = 1 light year; so 5.88 trillion x 42 million light years = 24,696 + 16 zeroes miles. 246,960,000,000,000,000,000 miles. Is there a word for this many zeroes? Correction welcome!
Robert, Thanks for the much-needed break from democracy work and worrying!
This is an encouraging comment from Asli Aydintasbas --Politico Magazine
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/12/01/anti-trumpists-guide-next-four-years-00191724
3. Don’t Fear the Infighting
Donald Trump’s victory has understandably triggered infighting inside the Democratic Party and it looks ugly. But fear not. These recriminations and finger-pointing are necessary to move forward. In Turkey, Hungary and Poland, it was only after the opposition parties faced their strategic and ideological misalignment with society that they were able to begin to effectively fight back.
Robert,
This was a particularly fine piece of writing, good to be part of the fold. Welcome home!
Cheers!
Two worthy videos:
1. A brilliant discussion by very well spoken and interesting Sen Chris Murphy. Some items surprised me:
"Six Weeks In, This White House Is On Its Way To Being The Most Corrupt In U.S. History"
"WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday spoke on the U.S. Senate floor to expose the unprecedented corruption of the Trump administration’s first six weeks in office. Murphy condemned Trump’s normalization of pay-to-play politics, where billionaire donors dictate policy and taxpayer money is funneled into the pockets of the president, Elon Musk, and the corporate elite."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hycoCYenXls
2. A passionate response from Rep Al Green on censure and a double standard:
"Congressman Al Green’s Floor Speech Addressing His Being Censured"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn1Mtn0RiLY
March 9th Heather Cox Richardson wrote elegantly about the history of struggling for democracy in the US. Read it to understand how we are repeating our history; it's excellent.
Then answer her implied starting question. Are you a NPC? She starts with how Musk calls people (NPC's)Non Player Characters) from the gaming world. That is an irrelevant character who acts on a set script to fill out a game. ARE YOU AN NPC OR WILL YOU EFFECT OUR OUTCOME?
Perhaps Musk's SpaceX wealth will fall along with his flaccid rockets.
Will Dems Pick Up Their Sword?
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/author/josh_m
As far as I can tell, only John Fetterman (D-PA) has said he will vote for the GOP’s bill. He says doing otherwise is voting for “chaos.” But that leaves them needing six more votes. That’s a lot.
If enough Democrats contact their senators in the next couple days, they will fall into line. That’s in your hands. The future is really in your hands.
JM
Does Fetterman think that if the votes for the bill, we won't have chaos? No appropriations bills should be voted until the Executive Branch faithfully executes appropriation laws enacted previously.
FROM BOB (2)
It’s unlikely that the Republican-controlled Congress can pass all three of these measures without securing votes from Democrats. This gives the Democratic minority an opportunity to exact concessions from Republicans.
Communication: Democrats realize they cannot continue to let Donald Trump monopolize the news. In this phase we should expect Democrats to make changes to their communications strategy.
Summary: Phase 2 will determine whether Donald Trump will continue to run roughshod over the Constitution or whether “check and balances” will hold. Whether the courts and Congress will do their job. Phase 2 should also indicate whether Democrats have figured out how to counter the Trump media blitz.
Bob
Bob Burnett bburnett@sonic.net
PHASE 2 of TRUMP 2.0
If the unifying theme of phase 1 was executive power, phase 2 will be characterized by pushback from the judiciary and Congress.
Lawsuits: Since Trump’s inauguration more than one hundred lawsuits have been filed to thwart his actions. More than thirty lawsuits relate to Trump's immigration policies. Approximately twenty challenge the actions of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. Ten respond to Trump’s transgender policies. The balance oppose the president's unilateral changes to federal funding, government hiring and the structure of federal agencies. Many of these cases are still pending, but most of the judicial decisions favored the plaintiffs -- Trump’s actions have been deemed illegal/unconstitutional.
Congress: Until this point, Trump did not need Congress. Now, Trump faces three deadlines that require him to work with Congress: On March 14h, the federal government runs out of money unless a continuing resolution is passed. Shortly thereafter, government borrowing will reach the debt limit. Next, Congress will consider Trump’s budget: Trump wants his 2017 tax cuts reauthorized (cost $4.5 trillion) and additional funds appropriated for Defense and Homeland Security ($340 billion).