When I was a lawyer in the White House, I can’t stress enough how much we all cared about following the rules - the black letter law and the informal limits of tradition, morality and shame. You really can’t fathom yet what it will mean for the most powerful actors to care about none of that.
Terrifying
@ian - I feel frustrated. Dems voluntarily follow the rules and are less effective, imho. Repub disavow standards of behavior and get re-elected. Any thoughts to quench my cynicism or give hope for a future return of values and mores?
This falls square on the shoulders of the media, who refused to think about the laws and more about the drama and the dollars it would give them
Since our justice system has failed to hold Trump accountable for his crimes, many Americans do not believe he is guilty.
I’m glad I live in the UK , for all its faults, I really worry about the future of your country. Watching from abroad looks like some sort of collective madness , I hope it can recover!
Unfortunately the consequences of this won't be limited to our country. They will be felt worldwide.
Thank you! It’s no fun living in collective madness!
This proves that we need a comprehensive government reform program to address each branch of government. Perhaps consider it something that would be reevaluated ever decade?
Oh I think we can, because we have.
Sure we can. Too bad 49.8 whatever couldn’t. Now they’ll get the mob run hell they asked for. Sigh
We all will.
We saw in the first administration how the non-stop corruption, the non-stop conflicts of interest and the almost daily violations of the Hatch Act were just ignored and became gradually "fine" "It's FINE the president has a local hotel where foreign countries and lobbyists can easily bribe him!"
It's fine that he sends all troops and dignitaries to his own properties and charges the US government exhoribitan rates that go directly into his pocket
Last time, he was swatted down immediately from his proposal to bring the - I think - G20 to his Doral property. I don't forsee any swatting down this time around.
I hold out some hope that lawyers can be reminded that they may lose their licenses if they cross lines. But of course, that's not the same as scrupulously following the rules.
I think I can, and that's why I cannot seem to get rid of this rigid stress in my jaws and neck. Pit of my stomach unrest continually. Will use all of that energy to counter power all this cataclysmic waste before us...as I am able. 💙🇺🇸🦅🗽🕊💙
I lose sleep thinking about it all the time.
Same.
I don't think the public yet gets how unpredictable and unsettled life will be with no rules.
Just look at the numbers of Americans that are going overseas for the next five years plus. Nobody trusts Trump and his criminals to run the country. They are there for themselves and to pocket as much money as they can.
We'll have the appearance of rules. We'll have talking heads tell us everything is fine, and Ai slop pushing that narrative everywhere. The cognitive dissonance will be something else.
We can and do fathom it. It’s not so dense a reality that one cannot grasp it, especially if one wasn’t caught off guard, as some were. But the salient issues now are: What do we do? How? When? With whom?
He’s giving police free rein. Honestly what hope do we have to be honest. Think about it!
There are people throughout the federal government who behave the same, sometimes against hefty odds. These people have managed to demonize us in the eyes of the American people. This could get very bad very quickly. 50 days.
How about the history of Hitler's "rule"?
Right. We’ve moved from Weimar to Nazi era.
Who and how many does Trump have arrested combined with what he does for Putin all in his first 100 days will indicate whether we are a fascist dictatorship or just a very weakened democracy.
Not yet, but we soon will. We will, it's coming BlueSky arrived just in the nick of time.
It's going to suck. But we can't fall into the trap of fear and handwringing. No panicking. We're at war now. We have to keep our wits about us and be ready to act when it becomes necessary.
Well put and I fully agree
Wthere are many dem lawyers. Dem governors to help fight back. And it is evident many many countries are not afraid of Trump and will push back
That’s the right attitude! Unfortunately, there is no force to counter the malfeasance. No House, no Senate, no Supreme Court will protect us. And Trump’s people will commit illegal acts without fear of repercussion. The press is and will remain cowed. I don’t know what we can do—yet.
Me either. Going to meet up with a resistance group formed in 2017 to see what they’re thinking but as a SW my instinct is to focus on vulnerable populations: trans kids, young pregnant people in red states , migrants etc.
There are some good suggestions here: open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...
Right, there's nothing that we can do about that at this time. Maybe the Dems in Congress can figure out a game plan but that's their task, not ours. Our work, I suggest, is to wait in calmness. As the I Ching says, "A challenge lies ahead. Ready yourself by deepening the stillness within."
Starve the attention seekers… including the media.
Start stockpiling rations and make sure your self-defense training is up-to-date.
😳
At 64 & having ataxia self defense isn’t rational along those lines. But being part of the ultimate solution is for my families future. I will be a martyr. "I'll be our huckleberry" … "I'm up for the job". I have no fear of personal finality and a willingness to engage in conflict. I won’t go back
Solidarity, my friend. ✊🏻
I understand. Take care. -Kevin in DC
There is a counter force! The Democrats need to get off their asses and fight. They keep bringing knives to a gunfight! This they go low and we go high is getting our butts kicked! I’m not saying we stoop to lying but the Democrats need conservative media exposure!
Let the politicians figure that out. All this agitation about stuff that we have no control over is poisonous. We are having our chains yanked constantly by the media and the pundit class. They want us all riled up so they can sell ads. We have to stop playing their games.
We are losing playing our game. I’m not riled up because I did my part and voted and I have the receipts to express my disappointments with the game. Women are dying because we played our version of the game. Rapists are ascending to power because we are playing our game!
I agree, the whole thing is frustrating and enraging. But we can't do anything about it right now. It's out of our hands. I suggest we spend our energy cultivating a firm resolve so when things really hit the fan we'll be prepared.
What can we all do to hold them accountable? Everywhere we turn is another active threat.
We must think. We must act as each hurdle presents before us. Contact those with power of the pen, the word, the presence, and the strength to lead. They are everywhere and need to know they have our support. I'll meet you out there. 💙🇺🇸🦅🗽🕊💙
I suspect we'll learn rather quickly!
I’m a veteran. I cried watching J6 unfold. I raged when the orange guy disrespected and disregarded the office. I was appalled when he was televised stealing as he left. Knowing he might have been testing limits terrifies me.
I absolutely can fathom the consequences. We used to assume the Republican Party would somehow restore itself to a "normal" political party. It is very difficult to see a pathway for that now.
At a basic level it’s going to be a clusterf*ck. Set aside the inherent incompetence of trumps chosen “leaders”. They’re going to build their little fiefdoms based on what they want & a lot of infighting in their chaotic pursuit of greed & power.
What I’m hoping for is another country starts worrying about him having all that power, including the military, and nuclear weapons, that they take care of our problem for us …the ultimate solution
You served in the Obama administration which was anomalous for the lack of corruption or unlawful activity.
I don’t think voters ever gave a shit about that, nor understood why it was important. They just thought of it as self-important “holier than thou” stuff and despised politicians that respected it as weak.
They will also not care about any court other than SCOTUS
And with this SCOTUS of activists, they are literally hand picking the cases they want to hear - in order to use them to change law. It’s frightening to imagine what this MAGA administration, along with this Supreme Court, could do to this country. Putin must be so effing thrilled!
Utterly frightening.
When I worked for the IC, we were taught to think how our actions would look if we were to see them on the front page of the Washington Post. I think the current nominees would enjoy seeing their exploits on the WaPo.
Oh yes we can. It’s not like there isn’t precedent around the world.
It just means he's acting like a pirate
When politicians orated about America being an idea, they weren’t kidding. Our entire democracy is based on an assumption of goodwill & moral courage in our leaders. It lasted 243 years before the concerted twisted intents & efforts of a few corrupt men overwhelmed every defense w/I the law.
What can we do? Do you have an idea?
The ruin of the traditional structure of awe and respect, discipline and order, surrounding the WH is not the least of Trump’s crimes.
Theres a huge number of people that can absolutely fathom that fact which why there are so many people rending their clothes over it.
oh yes I can… try me.
Remember, a pathological narcissist is morbidly self obsessed. He’s cunning, trust less and disloyal, but he is not is intelligent or a strategist. It’s short term “FeedMe” stuff. That’s what any intelligent opponent must exploit. As Rex Tillerson said “He’s a f***ing moron”. That’s the weakness.
Dems need someone who goes for the jugular and gives no mercy to criminals and traitors - and time to hire an army of private investigators to root out all criminal activity and get them arrested on state charges - and jailed with no bail pending trial
Every time someone talks about the “guardrails of the constitution,” I get angry. The constitution is only as strong as the judicial branch, and the SCOTUS has already abdicated.
It won't be pretty.
It was our job not to elect him.
I didn't.
Collectively, it was our job.
We failed to get enough people off the couch to vote. It was a failure to convince enough people to save Democracy.
If you think the new residents of Pennsylvania Ave are going to smash hundreds of years of democratic bone China in two years and replace it with something glittering and new, you are giving them more credit than they deserve.
we can fathom it, the question is, will the larger public just go along, I cant imagine they will, not one decent human will exist in govt. this time around, it will be very clear, very fast
In 100% agreement about the calamity that looms, but we need to replace the "you really cannot fathom..." talk with some predictive creative writing on the subject. The under-informed—I include myself—could really use some tangible sense of what horrible shit is likely in the offing.
If we are post rules and post law, then the Dems need to step up and do the same. Can't have one party ignoring laws and the other following.
Nah some of these people aren't going to get confirmed because they'll be seen as a danger to the power of the people who have to confirm them. I think to trump having some of them fail is a feature.
Is it possible to just ignore “them”? To continue to do the people’s business by simply following the rules and excluding their corruption? I don’t know but if the agencies just stuck them in their own bubble, they would be too blindly ignorant to know the difference.
This has me terrified!
Worse, it’s a post-fact culture. Without facts there is no scientific method, no law, no common reality. It is as though we were all psychotic.
Exactly. I just don’t know how to deal with people who live in their own reality. And *yet* have power.
Bold choice of us to FINALLY stress-test our democracy, 249 years after founding. That was one helluva beta period. We're going to learn so many lessons in the next four years.
Unless it breaks
Dude you had bush torturing people in black sites, Obama assassinating citizens with drones, and Biden sending bullets and bombs to Israel. What black letter law?
bruh, “waddaboutobamadoe” is soooo 2016, we’re not buying it anymore. Either leave that shit to the PedoCons, or take that shit back to Twitter.
If you prefer get high on propaganda instead of looking at what the government actually does, that's a you problem
Liberating, I'd imagine. Our culture is predicated on taking advantage of the rules.
For democracy to function correctly, it requires a leader with integrity and empathy; neither of these qualities exists in Trump.
For democracy to function correctly we need to get money out of politics and have publicly funded elections. That's the only way to get candidates who are not rich or controlled by the rich. We also need ranked choice voting, and to abolish the electoral college and the Senate.
Unfortunately, I can (and sure all lawyers can, too).
I may be naive, but I believe that there are at least a few Republicans in the house that believe what's going on is just a bridge too far.
Unfortunately the Senate will be in lockstep.
Oh I can. I have pretty vivid nightmares.
How did we get into the position where our laws are insufficient to protect us from the people empowered to enforce our laws?
Fox News. Talk Radio. Oligarchs.
Don’t leave out “We the People” who allowed our government to legislate our lives from birth to death while allowing them to skate by only bound by their “oaths”, “ethics”, “norms”, and “policies”. We’ve been lied to on many levels and in many ways. Now we will see truth, and it will be awful.
We willingly put mobsters in charge of the police department, prosecutors office, and the bank.
The same government that enacted these rules just let the pos walk free on all of his crimes, so why wouldn’t he do this.
and his administration all have pardons waiting if they ever actually need them. probably not, but they’re there for them.
You underestimate how truly some of us can fathom that idea and the darkness it has brought to the world.
Dems care about the law fascist magats not one bit
It is amazing how closely Musk’s business record has followed Trump’s. The same practice of flouting laws and when confronted, either just ignoring or litigating the issue to death.
I’m enraged & fearful. I flew the only Harris/Walz banner in my hood. What will happen to the rule of law and order? Will the Klan and J6 militias be rampaging in the streets, led by an angry Hegseth?
Yeah, he has no respect for the law and Constitution, most of his party will go along with anything he wants, and he controls a lot of the judiciary including the Supreme Court. The people with the power to stop him so far have shown little inclination to do that.
Crooked Republican Party.
As an outsider looking in I think the single greatest failure of the current administration it is that it didn’t move to effectively codify ethics, transparency, and safeguard against abuses of power and blatant corruption that’s seems to be, at best, implied in the current system.
The stuff they ignore is already codified. It doesn’t really matter when majorities in Congress and the Courts are on the same team.
There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of enforceable laws against hiring your family, or convicted felons, financial transparency, mandated background checks, or doing personal business and side deals with foreign states etc… by codified I mean legislated with serious penalties
I see. I guess the problem is that there are so few politicians—on both sides—who don’t benefit in some way from self dealing like this. So it’d be asking them to legislate against their own interest.I dont have much faith in our Govt anymore. It’s become so much of what our founders fought against
Have you considered that you were focused on the wrong things? Or, more likely, the wrong interests?
👉THIS IS NOT CONSPIRATORIAL -- WHY AREN'T DEMS DEMANDING A RECOUNT IN SWING STATES??? www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrFb...
It’s horrifying that I have to agree with what you articulated so perspicaciously. This is post-democracy, post-Weimar (un)reality. Starting with concentration camps for “unwelcome/ unerwünscht” brown people.
They want judges to use Grok -- which Elon can personally manipulate and control -- to create legal rulings, I guess not based on evidence or facts, just his individual vibes? So, it's unfathomably terrifying.
Ok, so now what?
Yes, the West Wing series sure made it seem like people gave a shit about such things, not so in Trump’s white house. Anything goes!
We live in interesting times.
Overrated.
Unfortunately, I think I can
Dictators do not care about rules or norms or laws. This is going to go pear shaped really quick
This is what keeps me up at night. We have no idea what we are in for...the corruption, the bribes, the flat out law breaking...
What keeps me up is that we aren't hearing about tens of thousands of phone calls, every single day, to members of the Senate, both Dems and Republicans. Makes it seem like none of us really care . . . coming here to complain is not enough. We should be hearing about an outcry.
I fathom and it puts me in a dark place