The one thing we mustn’t feel is hope. Along with prayer, it’s toothless. We need strong leaders who act. Waiting for TFG to implode takes too long. Where are the anti-Vietnam War and Million Man March numbers showing our refusal to condone administration policies. We cannot wait.
Along with elderly, out ot touch has been politicians like James Carville, Chuck Schumer & that delusional constitutional law Professor Univ. Baltimore (who says we don't have a constitutional crisis till the mid terms get yanked from under us) who all want to wait 2 years .....for something??! The play dead strategy is also brain dead.
Mary, the attack on ActBlue is a tactic intended to divert our collective attention away from his profiting from his new family meme coin, $Trump -- basically an opaque way to receive money from international "investors" -- very, very dodgy ones at that.
Ironically, all of his crimes are designed to divert our attention from all his other crimes. He recognizes that giving us whiplash will keep us in check.
Another related economic term, "churning", is what the markets (stock, currency, commodities) are being shocked into doing. Churning allows insiders to profit both in an up market by being long, and in a down market by going short. Meanwhile the effect you call whiplash (good term) is keeping folks bamboozled and ineffectual. The churn does that to amateurs in markets; amateurs, sheeple, who are being fleeced.
Oh yeah, big time. The biggest con game of all time.
Good point about the shorting. Apparently there was a very large number of call options executed moments before the big tariff announcements. Very slick insider move for sure.
Doug, the only enjoyment I get out of $Trump coin is that the dupes who buy them are almost by definition all his cult members and they deserve all they get. But his audacity is breathtaking: he’s ripping off his own core supporters.
Will, the problem is not his duped supporters-- it's the foreign actors who can buy influence with no traceability. Crypto, to me, (and mind you I'm no expert -- just extremely skeptical of it) in the felon's hands is like an invisible suitcase of cash.
ActBlue does a good enough job destroying itself. Donating on ActBlue means you will be FOREVER inundated with text messages and emails asking for money from every Tom, Dick and Harry candidate at local, state, and federal levels around the country. It’s much better to donate via snail mail - no phone number or email address required.
It's really hard to take the "dO sOmEtHiNg" crowd seriously at this point.
Yes, slow them down for two years, and hope that it turns out that our electoral system still works. There's no god damn "one weird trick."
What do people EXPECT? I know that they don't know, because nobody ever says. What happens over the next two years was decided IN NOVEMBER, and cannot be canceled out not by hitting the right activism buttons in May.
Trump and the Republicans aren't going to be removed but millions of protestors make a difference. It gives power to the courts and leaders and businesses and universities to balk at Trump's orders.
The larger the protests, the more power we have. The anger is immense and the protests are diverse and decoupled. Some future event or person will coalesce them. As others have said, it will take time. But it is grass roots and working.
You’re right! And I might not have come across clearly as I’d have liked. I DO think activism is important, as is strategy. But a lot of people seem committed to pretending we’re not accomplishing anything, despite dozens of Trump’s orders being blocked (by rulings he has not yet defied) and his approval rating tanking at a historic rate.
And I think there are a lot of different ways to do things. I think there is value in what AOC and Bernie are doing, in what John Fetterman is doing, in what Chuck Schumer is doing. Jim Acosta, Chris Murphy, Jasmine Crockett. There are a lot of angles to attack the situation and a lot of them have merit.
(I am least enthusiastic about what the Ezra Klein set is currently up to, carelessly bashing Democrats for supposed ineffectiveness, and both sanewashing and fatewashing Trump, while still coming off as elitist and pretty far left.)
I don't think Ezra Klein is sane washing at all. He condemns the right and is clearly frightened by what is happening, but he's addressing structural problems within the liberal/Democratic coalition.
There is a serious problem when the Democratic party has lost it's core supporters, working class Americans.
There is a serious problem when voters see nothing from Biden's major policy achievements because it takes 5 to 10 years to get anything done.
He is examining what went wrong and what can be done about it.
It's comforting to blame the Russians and lying right wing elites, but if all was well with the Democratic party they wouldn't have been successful.
Exactly so, Sharon. I think Ezra is trying to play a longer game. He understands that it isn't enough for voters to realize Trump is wrong on policy. He thinks Democrats need to be as right as possible, or at least be seen as taking a different direction than they have in the past. This problem with democracy is going to be around for decades, and Democrats need to be seen as responsive to the policy situations that led to it. Ezra is trying to get Democrats to that place.
I have read Ezra's columns about regulations and "getting stuff done", and seen him interviewed about his book. It is all a simplification of the modern governing world.
This is a big topic in California - but the strong regulatory regime there is a function of a fragile environment with a huge population it cannot support - mudslides, water shortages, wildfires, unstable soils, earthquakes, etc. - so it is a hard, slow, difficult - and very profitable - place to build. Its not all NIMBY-ism and progressive-socialism.
Exxon Valdez would have been prevented with enforcement of a simple regulation requiring drug and alcohol tests for ship captains. The Blue Diamond mine disaster would have been prevented with enforcement of basic methane safety standards. The New Horizon oil well disaster would have been prevented with a better safety enforcement.
Regulations have. a cost. This is why we have big law firms interpreting regulations for clients. This is why we have big engineering firms interpreting construction and environmental standards. Yes, it takes more time, and it is a more expensive - so what is Ezra's point? Eliminate worker safety, environmental, union labor, and other standards?
Al Gore's "Reinventing Government" initiative eliminated 650,000 regulations, reduced Federal employment by 600,000 people, and savied $140 billion in annual operating costs. It took seven years to do this correctly.
I work in engineering/construction/transportation and nobody knows both how obstructive and how INSANELY NECESSARY regulations can be.
I like to say that every regulation that is in place, is in place because either somebody died, somebody blew way more money than complying with the regulation would cost, or both.
And I agree with Ezra in the abstract that there are a lot of gains to be made from limited deregulation. But right now he's just ceding an argument - "the government is bad at stuff and does everything badly" - and saying "hey but maybe it doesn't have to be that way!" That's why he's getting signal boosted by the likes of Musk.
Like, the main argument against what has happened with MAGA is that *shit was never that bad in the first place*. This was not fricking Weimar in 1933 with 100% inflation and 30% unemployment. But liberals refused to ever make even a qualified argument for the status quo, preferring self-flagellation. Ezra is working from a just world fallacy that because Democrats lost, they deserved to, and the error was made by the party and not the voters.
I would rather choose to argue that Democratic governance has been, you know, pretty effective, as evidenced by big Democratic-run cities being very nice places to live, and focus on our achievements in public safety and wealth creation rather than whine about our shortcomings - shortcomings which Republican jurisdictions don't even handle much better, once you control for all the variables.
I like most of what you're saying and agree, except about Ezra and more importantly possibly about defied court orders. He seems to have defied all of the ones that are at the point where defiance would be obvious. It seems like to me he "hasn't yet defied" the ones where it isn't yet settled enough for defiance to be a given.
Maybe I can approach it this way: What court orders has he complied with? Any?
He has complied with a lot of court orders. For example many fired federal workers were rehired on the orders of courts. Google it, there are a ton of examples. You get a hundred injunctions and you’re gonna end up following some just to take the path of least resistance.
Sure, if he wanted to defy them he could. But the administration’s energy and focus is limited and a lot of the undone damage they’re just going to end up living with. This is what mitigation looks like.
Once again I’ve probably spoken indistinctly, about Ezra… I like the “Abundance” policy ideas he is putting forward and there are political upsides to pursuing them. Sometimes (usually?) I disagree more with the books’ critics than the book itself. But I think his message right now, as far as concerns resisting autocracy, borders on useless.
The left and a lot of the mainstream of the party hate it but he is making an attempt to be cooperative and conciliatory with the right, in his rhetoric if not his policy. (His votes for nominees were inconsequential, and he did not vote for all of them.) He is from a purple state whose three-term favorite son senior Senator just lost to a plutocrat from Connecticut, and he embodies some cultural signifiers that are underrepresented in our party.
It's not "the right" thing to do but there IS no right thing to do. He's doing a thing. I don't agree with all of it but he's putting a face on the party - heterodox, moderate - that a lot of people who vote against it do not think exists.
The best candidate for winning big majorities probably isn't going to look like what any single one of us would prefer. The most BROADLY popular Democratic politician since JFK was Bill Clinton, and pretty much every liberal nowadays will shit all over him whenever given the chance. Probably has something to do with why we're losing.
True, except I am not seeing a lot of diversity in the protests. I am hearing, however (and from varying sources) that many people of color are worried about repercussions of joining public protests.
And some black leaders are suggesting that after George Floyd, they are leaving it to white people to actively protest in public.
I also think people under age 60 are not yet consistently joining protests around the country but I think that will come.
I was talking about the many different organizations having protests. Like 50501, Indivisible, MoveOn and many others. There are specific issue protest like government workers and veteran protest and education protest and others. There are also local issues like Missouri abortion ... .
I see a large number of people who are extremly angry and din't want what is happening. It's very grass roots and disorganized which I love to see. It's not a bunch of billionaires and TV stations starting an organization (tea party).
As you said there are a lot of people afraid of joining at this time. But we still had 3 - 5 million a few weeks ago and as the protests grow, the size will encourage others to join.
I went to a Presidents' Day protest with about 300 people. I went to the Hands Off protest with about 3,000 people and with 3 other protests of similar size in the same city.
The recent protest I went to had a wide swath of ages and colors. I suspect it varies.
Yes indeed- I am referring to the gatherings organized by Indivisible, 50501, labor groups, and others. The energy is there and numbers are growing. It was more the people of color and younger people that I'm concerned about.
Some of the gatherings in Seattle have evolved organically which is also a positive. It may be, however, that a more diverse roups is participating in your community and Seattle - for a city of its size - is more white comparable places.
But I'm seeing similar observations re: age, race, and ethnicity from all over the country. Hopefully this will change.
Even though I'm in a blue, sanctuary city, it's totally understandable why the Hispanic/Latino population are reluctant to participate. ICE is here in WA for sure.
1) What does oddball CamelCase "dO sOmEtHiNg" mean? Maybe it means nothing more than a gummy Shift key or is it a deep insightful dig at DJT's capitalization style or a deeper dig at the (to date) largely ineffective opposition to DJT and the kakistcratic DJT administration.
2) The contention what happens over the next two years was decided "IN NOVEMBER (sic)" is demonstrably false by the tariff fiasco. Certainly DJT has seized the initiative now. The idea DJT will retain the initiative for next two years will be a historic achievement.
The weird capitalization thing is a classic rude internet method for doing a mocking voice.
1. I'm not "making a dig" at the "ineffective opposition" because I think our opposition has been as effective as it can be considering the constraints we are under (that people didn't vote for us.)
2. That's fair, of course, the things we do and say matter. I didn't mean to give the impression otherwise, although I can understand how I might've. Like you said, we've had some success, which shows that it's worth it! But what a lot of people seem to want, the only thing they'll settle for - Trump not doing stuff - is not going to happen.
Considering that we ARE successfully slowing him down and a lot of people are pretending we're doing nothing, "November was the time to do something" is a scolding approximation that some need to hear. Especially since there is a overlap in the Venn diagram of people who are telling us Democrats aren't doing enough now, and people who came up with some reason to NOT vote for them in November, and whom I suspect will still have more shitty things to say about Democrats than they do about Republicans 18 months from now.
(For another example of liberal policymakers achieving huge victories over the long term while the rank and file complain that they accomplished nothing, see "climate change.")
It is ridiculous to think authoritarianism will be heralded by 'mid terms being yanked out from under us'. That isn't the way modern authoritarianism works. It works by making things like mid-term elections still happen, but that they are meaningless. Right now, Trump is busy transforming all of Congress from a lawmaking body into a mere advisory committee to the office of the President. If the Baltimore professor can't see this, he's blinded.
absolutely true....elections in U.S. ARE a sham NOW with voter suppression, sabotaging a Dem fundraising arm where the right has Billionaires helping to fund. All this $$$ extorted from law firms and universities will be used AGAINST Dems. We face a 200 ft. hi tsunami in Nov. '26. Even if most voters are disgusted it won't matter. See Putin/Orban method
We were involved with the Viet Nam war for nearly a decade before those marches reached the numbers you're remembering. Heck, we were actively fighting the war for a handful of years before they grew.
Hope is a human necessity. Without hope, there is only despair, and despair doesn't motivate anyone.
So true. In less than a hundred days we've already had demonstrations of over five million across the country. That's almost half of the 3.5% or 12,000,000 that we need to move the needle.
And that's why it's imperative that we continue to Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
May Day is the next nationwide rally, be there or be square!
Hope is necessary. Optimism, not so much. The numbers and persistence are there, and well covered by Rachel Maddow . You’ve already found Mr Krugman and some of the others who made formerly trusted newspapers great. Courage and humility are also necessary.
The key to success is instilling terror in the hearts of Congress so that they fear not being re-elected more than they fear Trump.
Accomplishing that requires taking to the streets in the millions, peacefully but loudly and persistently. Hanging out in the echo chambers of social media does nothing.
Strong leaders? Isn't that exactly what we don't need? We need the people to begin to work on their own behalf and elect leaders who are responsive to their needs.
I have to disagree with your first statement about hope. Knowledge is hope. Read whatever you can get your hands on that is clear, concise, and historically based. If, when you have time read “On Tyranny” by Timothy Snyder, it is a small, quick read, and it has 20 (powerful) lessons from the 20th century. You may just come away with a little more hope because you now know more about what is driving the tank in our country’s government at this moment.
Arm yourself with truths, and never.give.up.hope. ❤️
There is a word for a place without hope. It is 'hell'.
Hope is the positive motivator that drives our self-leadership and it has brought us a lot: vaccines, cancer treatments, peace, and so on.
Also, we are not children in need of strong leaders. We can be strong leaders and guide ourselves with the help of our morals and with awareness for the needs of other beings around us. We need to take back our lives and our freedom and start behaving like responsible adults. And for that we need hope and courage.
So, onwards. Keep hope alive and keep making good trouble.
I have to disagree with you on your first statement we can never not have.Hope. knowledge is hope. Read whatever you can claim more information about what is going on arm yourself with literature that is clear, concise, and historical.
This is the stupidest thing I've ever read in my life.
It's amazing how liberals don't just express negativity, they RELISH in it. There has never been a piece of political satire more on point than The Simpsons (c. 1995) showing a banner at the DNC reading "We Hate Life and Ourselves." (The GOP counterpart was "We Want What's Worst for Everyone.")
I'm not speaking for myself - I'm speaking for all those other jerks! I agree with you!
My beef with liberals is that they won't stop bashing Democrats! From Bernie Sanders to Ezra Klein, sometimes it feels like there isn't a single left-of-center take that isn't working from an assumption that Democrats deserve to lose. Not enough Joe Bidens and Simon Rosenbergs out there, willing to say out loud that we deserve to win because we are the better, more ethical, more responsive and more responsible party.
People who have purity tests for liberals sure seem upset about Trump’s dismantling the things that centrist Democrats worked to build, like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food testing, medical research, the ACA, etc.
Miles, two things can both be true: that Trump and his minions are wannabe autocrats AND that Democrats are ineffectual and show no sign of honestly facing up to why they are so unpopular. To take only teo examples: on his first day in office in 2021, Biden signed an EO mandating “affirmative care” for transgender children yet he took over 30 months to do anything to curb the flood of illegal immigrants across the southern border. To this day, Democrats continue to advocate affirmative care even though it has been widely discredited and abandoned across Europe. Whatever you think about the merits here, this is electoral poison for the Dems. And to this day, they call them “undocumented migrants”, not “illegals” which is what they are. Words matter. We will tone down the criticism when the Democrats show they have learned.
Threaten to send most of the 19-25 year olds in our society into a horrendous meat-grinder war, and then you will see Viet Nam war size marches in the streets. Over half of today’s male population in the 19-25 year age bracket voted for Trump in 2024, so it’s a bit early to expect them to figure out that they were suckers, and then to mobilize in three months time.
Our course on Vietnam took a long time to turn. Many ran to the north, more hid in school. Children were disinherited, jailed, beaten and shot dead. We didn't lose hope. We believed and still do. There's something in our past about sunshine patriots, but I can't dredge it up at the moment.
We are called Indivisible. If you don’t know about our protests then you have been spending too much time complaining because other people are not responding
Also, those of us who have the luxury of peacefully protesting seem not to acknowledge that there is a large body of people with nothing to lose that can't wait much longer. "A riot is the language of the unheard." MLK Jr.
Hope is precisely what the orange-crested kinglet's followers have the most of. They really hope alla the folks what looks differnt magically disappear, and the money they were stealin' from decent folk gets returned to the rightly deserving people pronto. But they also understand it isn't easy being mean*, so they are willing to give the kinglet the benefit of the doubt unto the second or third generation hence, s'long as it all works out fer their spawn**.
*Sorry, Kermit
**I am not making this up – the quotes are in many of the more or less reliable media in the last week or so.
Great thesis today! Pursuing that logic, we see that when the crash becomes severe and the oligarchs panic, they will signal their wholly-owned congresspersons to impeach. $ power exceeds MAGA power, so the impeachment will only take two or three days.
And I just read a commentator yesterday who said that D following Hitler plan IS.EXACTLY what he's doing. Of course Orban & Putin advise the right regularly on steps to take..Precise instructions.. So no...D isn't some political theorist genius as people are helping him STEP BY STEP
I think Trump's team is too incompetent to build it back in spite of his instructions from Putin et al. Putin cannot handle his own economy, other than building palaces for himself outside of his country to hide out with his mistresses while his imposters act through him in Moscow. Although Stephen Miller is now working on a plan to force the SC to allow no judiciary control of Trump. We'll have to see how Roberts handles that one.
It seems likely that the authors of the Constitution anticipated that impeachment would be the safety valve for our very situation. I doubt they envisioned such a subservient Congress. At that time it is likely they believed intelligent, courageous, and patriotic men (men only then, of course) would be serving, not the simpleton toadies of today.
I respectfully suggest that the framers expected the people to vote in a new Congress with greater respect for democratic values as a prelude to impeachment. That’s the stage we’re at now - needing to win back Congress
They devised an "honor" system. It apparently never dawned on them that someone with no honor and no shame would ascend to the Oval Office. Holy s**t did they ever miscalculate.
After this is all over, we'll need a Constitutional amendment to provide a removal and enforcement mechanism beyond impeachment. Even a no-confidence vote isn't sufficient, although it's a good place to start.
While the Trump family rakes in the money Democrats Booker and Jeffries sit on the steps of the capitol. Where is the state prosecutor, like Alvin Bragg, who will prosecute them for a Conspiracy to line their pockets using the power of government to spread lies and fraudulent claims. After conviction they should be fined in an amount equal to what they stole. The state judicial systems of New York, Connecticut or Massachusetts seems immune to the malicious influence of Trump appointed judges. Who will be an American hero?
Alvin did his duty. The electorate overrode the jury's 34 convictions. Booker and Jefferies are doing what is left for them to do. The only potential hero at this point is the voter. The question is does the voter got game?
Even if the voters toss him out there will be residual injuries to our economy at the least, not to mention our power, both military and diplomatic, in foreign affairs. Their use of government power should not go unpunished or the next would be strong man will copy him. Take away all they gained plus make them pay for the losses we suffer by denuding them of everything they own. Any place an act was committed in furtherance of their conspiracy is a proper place to bring an action, civil and/or criminal against them. The Georgia Rico prosecution should have been successful but for the political reality of Georgia Republican power. New York , Connecticut or Massachusetts would be a better place.
Excellent point. As institutions and norms are dismantled, corruption and self-dealing are on the rise. It’s essential to investigate abuses, for example, expose how tariff exemptions are granted, how government contracts are awarded, and who — if anyone — is protecting consumers from predatory practices. Shedding light on corruption can be a powerful force for change.
George, You make a very good point that there must be legal action against Trump’s grifting. I am not sure which state Attorney General would have jurisdiction in this case. State Attorneys General have brought lawsuits in other cases such as DOGE taking private data of their state’s citizens.
All Americans will be affected by the failing economy, and there will be only the core MAGA that will still support him. I agree that the insane tariff plan may be the weak link in their internal Coup.
In the absence of our elected officials the role falls to We the People.
Together we have one very powerful voice to those who should represent us, but we must not falter from the grassroots to the top of the trees, shouting NO, this will not do, this is not what we stand for. We the People will not bow to the authoritarian, we will not relinquish our rights and freedoms as provided for in our Constitution. We have the power to replace a feckless Congress.
"A Republic" said Ben Franklin, "if you can keep it." The ball is in our court, if we are brave enough to commit ourselves and stop looking for someone else to lead.
Another great reminder of the imperative that we continue to Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
May Day is the next nationwide rally, be there or be square!
//
P.S. No, I'm not a bot. I'm repeating myself because I want to spread the message as far and wide as possible. I can't do it myself, so I'm hoping others with join in and spread the message too. We can do this America! Let's do it! Let's get this done!
Agreed on everything except right at the end: Trump CAN be removed from office, having already committed multiple impeachable acts already, but Republicans in Congress refuse to perform their Constitutional duty because of partisan affiliation. Given the alternative is the marginally more competent Vance, that might be for the best, but we shouldn’t let the GOP pretend they don’t have the tools to fix this.
It’s a toss up. I think Vance is equally as vile, maybe more. He truly wants women in the home, having kids with only the husband of the household getting one vote. He’s a psycho too!
VP Hillbilly would be a nightmare. We need to purge the entire administration from the top down. We also need to ditch the current Speaker and President pro tempor.
Don’t fool yourself about the bought and paid for Couch Boy. The tech bros placed him in the Senate then bought him for the VP job so they can finish their takeover of our government when The Convicted Felon™ inevitably retires to maralardo, pardon in hand (unless he croaks first).
Because of threats. To them, their families. Personal, political and financial ruin. I have no doubt that their are threats of physical harm to them or their family members. Trump is cruel. He will inflict that cruelty by his whims. He will not hesitate to inflict the harshest possible punishments on anyone deliberately refusing to advance his agenda or standing against him. There might be safety in numbers but so far only Murkowski has even hunted about fear of "retaliation."
These politicians are in a stranglehold. There is probably compromising information on every single one of them. They are cowards but it's because they don't DARE to step out of line. They sold their souls and our death and destruction is the price. They'll never sacrifice themselves for us, despite being no more scared than the average American who sees the writing on the wall. We *also* stand to lose everything we hold dear, possibly even our very lives. They refuse to see that or care about it. They *could* stop it. They won't.
Vance is NOT “marginally more competent”; Vance is an intelligent part of the Tech Bros & Project 2025 & Christian Nationalist Cabal seeking to destroy democracy for the power of a few wealthy white men.
Professor Krugman: how long before SOMETHING OF SIGNIFICANCE HAPPENS? do we have to wait until the 2026 elections? can the country even survive that long? personally, i am unable to imagine that the country can go on like this for even another 100 days. what will we do when we all are facing hunger, homelessness, poverty and death due to the actions of the orange rapist's regime? how many of us will end up deported to foreign gulags, despite our citizenship status? how many of us will die of preventable diseases? how long before the majority of us are enslaved and working for free (because we are expendable "eaters" anyway) by the rich elites? when is the next pandemic coming?
In two weeks the cargo ships from China which would normally arrive will not arrive. Because it takes 30 days for a big ship to cross the Pacific Ocean.
apparently, the country's 4th largest port, seattle, is already empty of all cargo ships except one, with no more arrivals scheduled. the unemployment in the seattle area will be deadly.
It could come to that, but I'm not ready to go down that road just yet. If the Orange Scourge declares martial law and sends in troops, then it become another ball game.
what if he sends troops to Canada/Greenland?desperate times call for desperate solutions-it's essentially a coup already-he's cowed the repubs in Congress without firing a shot-except for the one fired at him-allegedly
Professor Krugman just listed several concrete examples of things of significance happening, for goodness sake. It needs to get darker before it can dawn, and his analysis is strongly suggesting that the coming darkness is reaching a point of no return.
He can delay implementation of court orders, especially temporary, but to defy permanent court orders he relies on cooperation by those willing to take risks.
The more damage & destruction he causes, the more difficult it will for Trump to get the cooperation he seeks.
Even his control of the military is not guaranteed if he goes against the constitution.
I was in Budapest as Orbán came to power and one day wandered through a Fidesz rally. I describe that experience in my new Substack “Letter from Budapest”. Please check it out.
Thank you, Dr. Krugman. "Democrats shouldn’t give Trump a pass on any of his destructive actions. They should, instead, tell voters that stripping people of their civil rights, annihilating education and science, destroying U.S. trade and poisoning our international relationships has one unifying goal: to destroy civil society in the name of MAGA. " Your column is always worth reading, but especially for this statement.
The analysis is sound on its face. However, the random card in this is the uninformed public. There are a number of ordinary Americans who believe this to be temporary pain for greater gain. That’s terrifying. Enough of them and an “engineered” depression that Trump then “saves” America from is the frightening alternative ending.
I’m pretty well convinced at this point that Rupert Murdoch is still Trump’s most important ally, far more than Elon. Without the slavish support of Fox News, Trump would be having a much harder time.
It's true that the fascist propaganda factory called "Fox News" is part of the Murdoch Empire, but so are The Times of London and the Wall Street Journal.
The Wall Street Journal has been said to favor Trump until recently, but if so, they have turned on him quite dramatically. The following are headlines from the landing page of the Wall Street Journal on one single occasion:
<begin headlines>
American Companies Shred Outlooks Over Tariff Uncertainty
Polygraph Threats, Leaks and Infighting: The Chaos Inside Hegseth’s Pentagon
A Side Hustle for Friends of Musk: Selling Access to Stakes in His Private Companies
Trump Is Making the Next Fed Chair’s Job Even Harder
A New Poll Shows the Peril of Trump’s Tariffs
<end headlines>
I would conclude that Rupert Murdoch is not, in fact, Trump's ally at all. Most likely he's simply an opportunist who sells exactly the stories that the audience want to hear, and it's merely a coincidence that his Fox News audience only wants to hear hymns praising Trump's genius.
🎯 His US tabloids like The NY Daily News, Boston Herald, etc. and Fox News cable networks are catering to the market they largely created that elevates MAGA and demonizes Democrats without a break. The WSJ and his UK properties are giving their audiences what they expect as well, in language each understands. “Fair and balanced” is a meaningless slogan in Murdoch world.
That’s a fair read of the situation, sure. I think that Fox’s opportunism in favor of Trump tends to outweigh the rest, but that isn’t quite the same as being an intentional ally.
I think this sums it up pretty well. Murdoch saw the opportunity and Trump was a perfect actor - which is when media began truly driving politics but not based so much on ideology but on discord-driven engagement. Same as social media. We’re basically living “The Apprentice “ and “Survivor “ ( or name your favorite reality show based on human dysfunction).
Yes, you are correct. Rupert loathes the Orange Ogre. He actually supported DeathSantis by giving him a huge amount of airtime with tons of softball interviews.` But he could not make that stiff, awkward person popular. Your last statement sums it up perfectly.
It was always a race whether Trump’s incompetence would outrun his overarching ambition, which certainly kept his destructiveness in check his first term. This time don’t bet on it. While everything Trump is doing (and everything Congress is not doing) would appear to be political suicide leading to a massive Blue Wave come midterms, Trump and his minions don’t care and aren’t worried. Which leads me to think that there is a far darker plan behind all this. Something Trump hinted at during the campaign when he proclaimed at a rally, “Vote for me and you’ll never have to vote again,” and continues to hint at with comments about running for a third term. If he stirs up enough agitation and people take to the streets, the next jackboot to drop is the declaration of the Insurrection Act, the suspension of Constitution and cancellation of elections. Can’t happen, you say? Look at everything Trump and his cronies have achieved in just 100 days and ask yourself if you would have believed it just six months ago
Being led by a simpleton has distinct disadvantages. The fact that he has surrounded himself with people who are demonstrably dumber and more dishonest than himself makes economic and operational collapse inevitable.
But the really scary part is that Republicans are in control of Congress, the courts, and the White House--and none of them has even a vague idea of how to recover or rebuild from the impending catastrophe. Look for 18 months of "policies" that will make things even worse (e.g., slashing unemployment benefits to encourage people to work, slashing welfare benefits to encourage people to work, and maybe even eliminating the federal minimum wage so employers can afford to hire more people).
It's all DELIBERATE.....what is hard to understand? This helps a certain overlord and his desire for a dismantled america....just as his nation was dismantled in 80s. It's payback. Right??
I believe it’s surely a part of it! Putin blames America for destroying Russia economically in 1990s but he refuses to acknowledge that oligarchs took advantage of America know how and financial assistance and purchased entire industries and businesses and infrastructure plus the energy sector and then when Yeltsin walked away Putin without any hesitation brought some 20-50(there different ways it is described by those who were there and many of them are dead falling from the windows and poisoned and some exiled because they didn’t think they would be part of a dictatorship) and he told them to “make all they can, don’t be afraid to share with the boss and keep out of politics and your life will be a dream!” And destruction of democracy and America was always his goal as America stands on his way to rebuild Soviet Empire and now we are out of his way! Trump is good little asset and he behaves like someone who has to behave because of compromat! The only problem is that everything he touches dies and i hope this time it’s not America he touched but Project 2025 America he was supposed to install and he messed up like every other time!
I don't think the cult "base" will turn against Teflon Man and his MAGA movement until they lose their Social Security checks and Medicaid. Even the outrageously high price of groceries -- right now -- isn't upsetting them as much as they claimed before he was elected. So weird.
our democracy is already over. All he has to do is declare a national emergency and initiate martial law. There will be no 2026 elections and the damn repuglicans won’t do anything to uphold the constitution they took an oath to uphold.
The founders warned that the system they were putting in place, in spite of the safeguards they devised to protect it at the end of the 18th century, would fail if virtue (as they understood the word) was lost. We have lost virtue, especially in our officials elected and unelected. Basic moral sentiment and empathy have been displaced by greed and antagonism by actors manipulating the body politic with the aid of information sources beyond the imagination of even Franklin, who worried that science and technology would outpace civilizations moral philosophy being able to control the wolves of our nature. They howl at us from every corner of our existence, and their sound is causing fear and anger to annihilate reason. I wonder if all hope is lost for this country that has entered here.
I don't believe that. As I type this, it's only 110 days since the Orange Scourge took office. That's an awfully short timeframe to get a national movement up and running.
You could argue that we should have been prepared ahead of time. That all of the organizations that are now coalescing should have formed and planned action the moment TrumPox was declared president elect, and you wouldn't be wrong, but that would be unprecedented. We're in uncharted territory, and we're charting it as we go along.
Yes, we could have acted sooner. Future historians and sociologists will spend decades looking back at this time and trying to piece it together. What happened, how and why it happened. What the resistance did right, what it got wrong, and there will be much debate and ambiguity as to just what we should have done and when.
At this stage, it's not a debate I'm interested in. Right now, we have to focus on doing anything and everything we can to fight this. It is our duty as American citizens. We waited too long, but that doesn't mean it's too late. It's >never< too late. We can and will take our country back, and restore democracy.
The next nationwide rally is June 14, yes >that< June 14, be there or be square!
Let's ruin Chump's B'day. We need 3.5% or the population, or around 12,000,000 people to be present. So bring all your friends and families, bring your pets. Spread the word as far and wide as possible.
The one thing we mustn’t feel is hope. Along with prayer, it’s toothless. We need strong leaders who act. Waiting for TFG to implode takes too long. Where are the anti-Vietnam War and Million Man March numbers showing our refusal to condone administration policies. We cannot wait.
Along with elderly, out ot touch has been politicians like James Carville, Chuck Schumer & that delusional constitutional law Professor Univ. Baltimore (who says we don't have a constitutional crisis till the mid terms get yanked from under us) who all want to wait 2 years .....for something??! The play dead strategy is also brain dead.
I would say the attack on Actblue is an indication that they want to destroy free and fair elections.
Mary, the attack on ActBlue is a tactic intended to divert our collective attention away from his profiting from his new family meme coin, $Trump -- basically an opaque way to receive money from international "investors" -- very, very dodgy ones at that.
Ironically, all of his crimes are designed to divert our attention from all his other crimes. He recognizes that giving us whiplash will keep us in check.
Good point, Winston, except I wouldn't use the word “ironically” — I'd say “shamefully” or some such other word.
Words have power!
Interesting comment on whiplash. Right on.
Another related economic term, "churning", is what the markets (stock, currency, commodities) are being shocked into doing. Churning allows insiders to profit both in an up market by being long, and in a down market by going short. Meanwhile the effect you call whiplash (good term) is keeping folks bamboozled and ineffectual. The churn does that to amateurs in markets; amateurs, sheeple, who are being fleeced.
Oh yeah, big time. The biggest con game of all time.
Good point about the shorting. Apparently there was a very large number of call options executed moments before the big tariff announcements. Very slick insider move for sure.
That crypto thing is corruption defined.
Frau Katze, I completely agree.
Doug, the only enjoyment I get out of $Trump coin is that the dupes who buy them are almost by definition all his cult members and they deserve all they get. But his audacity is breathtaking: he’s ripping off his own core supporters.
Will, the problem is not his duped supporters-- it's the foreign actors who can buy influence with no traceability. Crypto, to me, (and mind you I'm no expert -- just extremely skeptical of it) in the felon's hands is like an invisible suitcase of cash.
Begone spam bot.
"an indication" Mary? They have been cheating or trying to cheat our free and fair elections for decades!
ActBlue does a good enough job destroying itself. Donating on ActBlue means you will be FOREVER inundated with text messages and emails asking for money from every Tom, Dick and Harry candidate at local, state, and federal levels around the country. It’s much better to donate via snail mail - no phone number or email address required.
Donate monthly to Act Blue. I do.
As do I.
Have they started a legal defense fund yet?
Yes
I did a quick google and did not find one. I found defense funds on ActBlue but they were for other groups like the NAACP.
If you have a link, I would appreciate it.
I hearby declare an end to reading of the tea leaves to divine Trump‘s intentions
ya think?
It's really hard to take the "dO sOmEtHiNg" crowd seriously at this point.
Yes, slow them down for two years, and hope that it turns out that our electoral system still works. There's no god damn "one weird trick."
What do people EXPECT? I know that they don't know, because nobody ever says. What happens over the next two years was decided IN NOVEMBER, and cannot be canceled out not by hitting the right activism buttons in May.
Trump blinked on tariffs a couple times already.
Trump and the Republicans aren't going to be removed but millions of protestors make a difference. It gives power to the courts and leaders and businesses and universities to balk at Trump's orders.
The larger the protests, the more power we have. The anger is immense and the protests are diverse and decoupled. Some future event or person will coalesce them. As others have said, it will take time. But it is grass roots and working.
You’re right! And I might not have come across clearly as I’d have liked. I DO think activism is important, as is strategy. But a lot of people seem committed to pretending we’re not accomplishing anything, despite dozens of Trump’s orders being blocked (by rulings he has not yet defied) and his approval rating tanking at a historic rate.
And I think there are a lot of different ways to do things. I think there is value in what AOC and Bernie are doing, in what John Fetterman is doing, in what Chuck Schumer is doing. Jim Acosta, Chris Murphy, Jasmine Crockett. There are a lot of angles to attack the situation and a lot of them have merit.
(I am least enthusiastic about what the Ezra Klein set is currently up to, carelessly bashing Democrats for supposed ineffectiveness, and both sanewashing and fatewashing Trump, while still coming off as elitist and pretty far left.)
I don't think Ezra Klein is sane washing at all. He condemns the right and is clearly frightened by what is happening, but he's addressing structural problems within the liberal/Democratic coalition.
There is a serious problem when the Democratic party has lost it's core supporters, working class Americans.
There is a serious problem when voters see nothing from Biden's major policy achievements because it takes 5 to 10 years to get anything done.
He is examining what went wrong and what can be done about it.
It's comforting to blame the Russians and lying right wing elites, but if all was well with the Democratic party they wouldn't have been successful.
Exactly so, Sharon. I think Ezra is trying to play a longer game. He understands that it isn't enough for voters to realize Trump is wrong on policy. He thinks Democrats need to be as right as possible, or at least be seen as taking a different direction than they have in the past. This problem with democracy is going to be around for decades, and Democrats need to be seen as responsive to the policy situations that led to it. Ezra is trying to get Democrats to that place.
I have read Ezra's columns about regulations and "getting stuff done", and seen him interviewed about his book. It is all a simplification of the modern governing world.
This is a big topic in California - but the strong regulatory regime there is a function of a fragile environment with a huge population it cannot support - mudslides, water shortages, wildfires, unstable soils, earthquakes, etc. - so it is a hard, slow, difficult - and very profitable - place to build. Its not all NIMBY-ism and progressive-socialism.
Exxon Valdez would have been prevented with enforcement of a simple regulation requiring drug and alcohol tests for ship captains. The Blue Diamond mine disaster would have been prevented with enforcement of basic methane safety standards. The New Horizon oil well disaster would have been prevented with a better safety enforcement.
Regulations have. a cost. This is why we have big law firms interpreting regulations for clients. This is why we have big engineering firms interpreting construction and environmental standards. Yes, it takes more time, and it is a more expensive - so what is Ezra's point? Eliminate worker safety, environmental, union labor, and other standards?
Al Gore's "Reinventing Government" initiative eliminated 650,000 regulations, reduced Federal employment by 600,000 people, and savied $140 billion in annual operating costs. It took seven years to do this correctly.
There is a way to do this - and DOGE isn't it.
I work in engineering/construction/transportation and nobody knows both how obstructive and how INSANELY NECESSARY regulations can be.
I like to say that every regulation that is in place, is in place because either somebody died, somebody blew way more money than complying with the regulation would cost, or both.
And I agree with Ezra in the abstract that there are a lot of gains to be made from limited deregulation. But right now he's just ceding an argument - "the government is bad at stuff and does everything badly" - and saying "hey but maybe it doesn't have to be that way!" That's why he's getting signal boosted by the likes of Musk.
Like, the main argument against what has happened with MAGA is that *shit was never that bad in the first place*. This was not fricking Weimar in 1933 with 100% inflation and 30% unemployment. But liberals refused to ever make even a qualified argument for the status quo, preferring self-flagellation. Ezra is working from a just world fallacy that because Democrats lost, they deserved to, and the error was made by the party and not the voters.
I would rather choose to argue that Democratic governance has been, you know, pretty effective, as evidenced by big Democratic-run cities being very nice places to live, and focus on our achievements in public safety and wealth creation rather than whine about our shortcomings - shortcomings which Republican jurisdictions don't even handle much better, once you control for all the variables.
I like most of what you're saying and agree, except about Ezra and more importantly possibly about defied court orders. He seems to have defied all of the ones that are at the point where defiance would be obvious. It seems like to me he "hasn't yet defied" the ones where it isn't yet settled enough for defiance to be a given.
Maybe I can approach it this way: What court orders has he complied with? Any?
He has complied with a lot of court orders. For example many fired federal workers were rehired on the orders of courts. Google it, there are a ton of examples. You get a hundred injunctions and you’re gonna end up following some just to take the path of least resistance.
Sure, if he wanted to defy them he could. But the administration’s energy and focus is limited and a lot of the undone damage they’re just going to end up living with. This is what mitigation looks like.
Once again I’ve probably spoken indistinctly, about Ezra… I like the “Abundance” policy ideas he is putting forward and there are political upsides to pursuing them. Sometimes (usually?) I disagree more with the books’ critics than the book itself. But I think his message right now, as far as concerns resisting autocracy, borders on useless.
I mean, he got retweeted by Elon Musk…
Ezra is part of the problem, with his sanewashing tangerini .
What is John Fetterman doing?
The left and a lot of the mainstream of the party hate it but he is making an attempt to be cooperative and conciliatory with the right, in his rhetoric if not his policy. (His votes for nominees were inconsequential, and he did not vote for all of them.) He is from a purple state whose three-term favorite son senior Senator just lost to a plutocrat from Connecticut, and he embodies some cultural signifiers that are underrepresented in our party.
It's not "the right" thing to do but there IS no right thing to do. He's doing a thing. I don't agree with all of it but he's putting a face on the party - heterodox, moderate - that a lot of people who vote against it do not think exists.
The best candidate for winning big majorities probably isn't going to look like what any single one of us would prefer. The most BROADLY popular Democratic politician since JFK was Bill Clinton, and pretty much every liberal nowadays will shit all over him whenever given the chance. Probably has something to do with why we're losing.
True, except I am not seeing a lot of diversity in the protests. I am hearing, however (and from varying sources) that many people of color are worried about repercussions of joining public protests.
And some black leaders are suggesting that after George Floyd, they are leaving it to white people to actively protest in public.
I also think people under age 60 are not yet consistently joining protests around the country but I think that will come.
Interested in other observations.
I was talking about the many different organizations having protests. Like 50501, Indivisible, MoveOn and many others. There are specific issue protest like government workers and veteran protest and education protest and others. There are also local issues like Missouri abortion ... .
I see a large number of people who are extremly angry and din't want what is happening. It's very grass roots and disorganized which I love to see. It's not a bunch of billionaires and TV stations starting an organization (tea party).
As you said there are a lot of people afraid of joining at this time. But we still had 3 - 5 million a few weeks ago and as the protests grow, the size will encourage others to join.
I went to a Presidents' Day protest with about 300 people. I went to the Hands Off protest with about 3,000 people and with 3 other protests of similar size in the same city.
The recent protest I went to had a wide swath of ages and colors. I suspect it varies.
Yes indeed- I am referring to the gatherings organized by Indivisible, 50501, labor groups, and others. The energy is there and numbers are growing. It was more the people of color and younger people that I'm concerned about.
Some of the gatherings in Seattle have evolved organically which is also a positive. It may be, however, that a more diverse roups is participating in your community and Seattle - for a city of its size - is more white comparable places.
But I'm seeing similar observations re: age, race, and ethnicity from all over the country. Hopefully this will change.
Even though I'm in a blue, sanctuary city, it's totally understandable why the Hispanic/Latino population are reluctant to participate. ICE is here in WA for sure.
Oh, like Rome wasn't built in a day?
1) What does oddball CamelCase "dO sOmEtHiNg" mean? Maybe it means nothing more than a gummy Shift key or is it a deep insightful dig at DJT's capitalization style or a deeper dig at the (to date) largely ineffective opposition to DJT and the kakistcratic DJT administration.
2) The contention what happens over the next two years was decided "IN NOVEMBER (sic)" is demonstrably false by the tariff fiasco. Certainly DJT has seized the initiative now. The idea DJT will retain the initiative for next two years will be a historic achievement.
The weird capitalization thing is a classic rude internet method for doing a mocking voice.
1. I'm not "making a dig" at the "ineffective opposition" because I think our opposition has been as effective as it can be considering the constraints we are under (that people didn't vote for us.)
2. That's fair, of course, the things we do and say matter. I didn't mean to give the impression otherwise, although I can understand how I might've. Like you said, we've had some success, which shows that it's worth it! But what a lot of people seem to want, the only thing they'll settle for - Trump not doing stuff - is not going to happen.
Considering that we ARE successfully slowing him down and a lot of people are pretending we're doing nothing, "November was the time to do something" is a scolding approximation that some need to hear. Especially since there is a overlap in the Venn diagram of people who are telling us Democrats aren't doing enough now, and people who came up with some reason to NOT vote for them in November, and whom I suspect will still have more shitty things to say about Democrats than they do about Republicans 18 months from now.
(For another example of liberal policymakers achieving huge victories over the long term while the rank and file complain that they accomplished nothing, see "climate change.")
It is ridiculous to think authoritarianism will be heralded by 'mid terms being yanked out from under us'. That isn't the way modern authoritarianism works. It works by making things like mid-term elections still happen, but that they are meaningless. Right now, Trump is busy transforming all of Congress from a lawmaking body into a mere advisory committee to the office of the President. If the Baltimore professor can't see this, he's blinded.
absolutely true....elections in U.S. ARE a sham NOW with voter suppression, sabotaging a Dem fundraising arm where the right has Billionaires helping to fund. All this $$$ extorted from law firms and universities will be used AGAINST Dems. We face a 200 ft. hi tsunami in Nov. '26. Even if most voters are disgusted it won't matter. See Putin/Orban method
Damn right. No playing dead. Get frigin busy. Impeach. Now. This insane and destructive behavior must stop.
We were involved with the Viet Nam war for nearly a decade before those marches reached the numbers you're remembering. Heck, we were actively fighting the war for a handful of years before they grew.
Hope is a human necessity. Without hope, there is only despair, and despair doesn't motivate anyone.
So true. In less than a hundred days we've already had demonstrations of over five million across the country. That's almost half of the 3.5% or 12,000,000 that we need to move the needle.
And that's why it's imperative that we continue to Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
May Day is the next nationwide rally, be there or be square!
//
Don't let up folks, it's working:
Boycott TE卐LA! Boycott Swastikar!
Short TE卐LA! Short Swastikar!
Boycott 卐tarlink!
Boycott 卐/Twitter!
Curb your DOGE!
https://generalstrikeus.com/strikecard
https://www.fiftyfifty.one/
https://indivisible.org/
https://handsoff2025.com/
https://www.teslatakedown.com/
https://www.riseandresist.org/
https://thirdact.org
This list has easy to use filtering.
https://theblop.org
Oh this is cool! The Big List of Protests! Thank you for sharing this!
Hope can be a motivator but it’s a belief things will get better. Belief isn’t tangible.
Hope is necessary. Optimism, not so much. The numbers and persistence are there, and well covered by Rachel Maddow . You’ve already found Mr Krugman and some of the others who made formerly trusted newspapers great. Courage and humility are also necessary.
The key to success is instilling terror in the hearts of Congress so that they fear not being re-elected more than they fear Trump.
Accomplishing that requires taking to the streets in the millions, peacefully but loudly and persistently. Hanging out in the echo chambers of social media does nothing.
We need around 12,000,000. That's just over 3.5%.
May Day is the next nationwide rally, be there or be square!
Strong leaders? Isn't that exactly what we don't need? We need the people to begin to work on their own behalf and elect leaders who are responsive to their needs.
“If the people lead, the leaders will follow.”
But until we, the people, act Leaders with our concerns won’t emerge.
Message for the facts and just the facts
I have to disagree with your first statement about hope. Knowledge is hope. Read whatever you can get your hands on that is clear, concise, and historically based. If, when you have time read “On Tyranny” by Timothy Snyder, it is a small, quick read, and it has 20 (powerful) lessons from the 20th century. You may just come away with a little more hope because you now know more about what is driving the tank in our country’s government at this moment.
Arm yourself with truths, and never.give.up.hope. ❤️
I agree. Of course, along with hope, we need action.
And that's why it's imperative that we continue to Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
May Day is the next nationwide rally, be there or be square!
There is a word for a place without hope. It is 'hell'.
Hope is the positive motivator that drives our self-leadership and it has brought us a lot: vaccines, cancer treatments, peace, and so on.
Also, we are not children in need of strong leaders. We can be strong leaders and guide ourselves with the help of our morals and with awareness for the needs of other beings around us. We need to take back our lives and our freedom and start behaving like responsible adults. And for that we need hope and courage.
So, onwards. Keep hope alive and keep making good trouble.
I have to disagree with you on your first statement we can never not have.Hope. knowledge is hope. Read whatever you can claim more information about what is going on arm yourself with literature that is clear, concise, and historical.
"The one thing we mustn’t feel is hope"
This is the stupidest thing I've ever read in my life.
It's amazing how liberals don't just express negativity, they RELISH in it. There has never been a piece of political satire more on point than The Simpsons (c. 1995) showing a banner at the DNC reading "We Hate Life and Ourselves." (The GOP counterpart was "We Want What's Worst for Everyone.")
Speak for yourself. I am a liberal who loves life, hopes and works to make things better.
What is thr point in continuing to trash Demicrats and liberals?
I'm not speaking for myself - I'm speaking for all those other jerks! I agree with you!
My beef with liberals is that they won't stop bashing Democrats! From Bernie Sanders to Ezra Klein, sometimes it feels like there isn't a single left-of-center take that isn't working from an assumption that Democrats deserve to lose. Not enough Joe Bidens and Simon Rosenbergs out there, willing to say out loud that we deserve to win because we are the better, more ethical, more responsive and more responsible party.
People who have purity tests for liberals sure seem upset about Trump’s dismantling the things that centrist Democrats worked to build, like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food testing, medical research, the ACA, etc.
Miles, two things can both be true: that Trump and his minions are wannabe autocrats AND that Democrats are ineffectual and show no sign of honestly facing up to why they are so unpopular. To take only teo examples: on his first day in office in 2021, Biden signed an EO mandating “affirmative care” for transgender children yet he took over 30 months to do anything to curb the flood of illegal immigrants across the southern border. To this day, Democrats continue to advocate affirmative care even though it has been widely discredited and abandoned across Europe. Whatever you think about the merits here, this is electoral poison for the Dems. And to this day, they call them “undocumented migrants”, not “illegals” which is what they are. Words matter. We will tone down the criticism when the Democrats show they have learned.
I'm going to have to watch that show someday!
Threaten to send most of the 19-25 year olds in our society into a horrendous meat-grinder war, and then you will see Viet Nam war size marches in the streets. Over half of today’s male population in the 19-25 year age bracket voted for Trump in 2024, so it’s a bit early to expect them to figure out that they were suckers, and then to mobilize in three months time.
Our course on Vietnam took a long time to turn. Many ran to the north, more hid in school. Children were disinherited, jailed, beaten and shot dead. We didn't lose hope. We believed and still do. There's something in our past about sunshine patriots, but I can't dredge it up at the moment.
We are called Indivisible. If you don’t know about our protests then you have been spending too much time complaining because other people are not responding
Also, those of us who have the luxury of peacefully protesting seem not to acknowledge that there is a large body of people with nothing to lose that can't wait much longer. "A riot is the language of the unheard." MLK Jr.
Hope is precisely what the orange-crested kinglet's followers have the most of. They really hope alla the folks what looks differnt magically disappear, and the money they were stealin' from decent folk gets returned to the rightly deserving people pronto. But they also understand it isn't easy being mean*, so they are willing to give the kinglet the benefit of the doubt unto the second or third generation hence, s'long as it all works out fer their spawn**.
*Sorry, Kermit
**I am not making this up – the quotes are in many of the more or less reliable media in the last week or so.
Great thesis today! Pursuing that logic, we see that when the crash becomes severe and the oligarchs panic, they will signal their wholly-owned congresspersons to impeach. $ power exceeds MAGA power, so the impeachment will only take two or three days.
If hope and prayers move some people to action and effective protest, then hope and pray it is.
Thank you once again, Dr Krugman, for your observations and insights in these incredible times.
Yeah! So done with the "He's not like Hitler" attitude.
And I just read a commentator yesterday who said that D following Hitler plan IS.EXACTLY what he's doing. Of course Orban & Putin advise the right regularly on steps to take..Precise instructions.. So no...D isn't some political theorist genius as people are helping him STEP BY STEP
Like the old Abbot and Costello routine step by step D's a laugh riot:-(
I think Trump's team is too incompetent to build it back in spite of his instructions from Putin et al. Putin cannot handle his own economy, other than building palaces for himself outside of his country to hide out with his mistresses while his imposters act through him in Moscow. Although Stephen Miller is now working on a plan to force the SC to allow no judiciary control of Trump. We'll have to see how Roberts handles that one.
Even Godwin, writer of "Godwin's law'' said the rule is suspended when it comes to tRump.
It seems likely that the authors of the Constitution anticipated that impeachment would be the safety valve for our very situation. I doubt they envisioned such a subservient Congress. At that time it is likely they believed intelligent, courageous, and patriotic men (men only then, of course) would be serving, not the simpleton toadies of today.
I respectfully suggest that the framers expected the people to vote in a new Congress with greater respect for democratic values as a prelude to impeachment. That’s the stage we’re at now - needing to win back Congress
They didn't have "super PACs" or Faux Newspeak in those days. Hell, they didn't even have radio. Communication was literally done by horse.
They devised an "honor" system. It apparently never dawned on them that someone with no honor and no shame would ascend to the Oval Office. Holy s**t did they ever miscalculate.
After this is all over, we'll need a Constitutional amendment to provide a removal and enforcement mechanism beyond impeachment. Even a no-confidence vote isn't sufficient, although it's a good place to start.
While the Trump family rakes in the money Democrats Booker and Jeffries sit on the steps of the capitol. Where is the state prosecutor, like Alvin Bragg, who will prosecute them for a Conspiracy to line their pockets using the power of government to spread lies and fraudulent claims. After conviction they should be fined in an amount equal to what they stole. The state judicial systems of New York, Connecticut or Massachusetts seems immune to the malicious influence of Trump appointed judges. Who will be an American hero?
Congress is in recess. Where do you think Democratic senators and Congress people should be, or what they should be doing?
I would add that theirs is a Medicaid sit-in.
I think Congress takes too many recesses but look at their sit-in as them continuing to do their job.
Recesses are set by the Speaker.
Alvin did his duty. The electorate overrode the jury's 34 convictions. Booker and Jefferies are doing what is left for them to do. The only potential hero at this point is the voter. The question is does the voter got game?
Even if the voters toss him out there will be residual injuries to our economy at the least, not to mention our power, both military and diplomatic, in foreign affairs. Their use of government power should not go unpunished or the next would be strong man will copy him. Take away all they gained plus make them pay for the losses we suffer by denuding them of everything they own. Any place an act was committed in furtherance of their conspiracy is a proper place to bring an action, civil and/or criminal against them. The Georgia Rico prosecution should have been successful but for the political reality of Georgia Republican power. New York , Connecticut or Massachusetts would be a better place.
Excellent point. As institutions and norms are dismantled, corruption and self-dealing are on the rise. It’s essential to investigate abuses, for example, expose how tariff exemptions are granted, how government contracts are awarded, and who — if anyone — is protecting consumers from predatory practices. Shedding light on corruption can be a powerful force for change.
George, You make a very good point that there must be legal action against Trump’s grifting. I am not sure which state Attorney General would have jurisdiction in this case. State Attorneys General have brought lawsuits in other cases such as DOGE taking private data of their state’s citizens.
All Americans will be affected by the failing economy, and there will be only the core MAGA that will still support him. I agree that the insane tariff plan may be the weak link in their internal Coup.
They should be fined at least double
A prisoner exchange for everyone in Salvadoran prisons.
In the absence of our elected officials the role falls to We the People.
Together we have one very powerful voice to those who should represent us, but we must not falter from the grassroots to the top of the trees, shouting NO, this will not do, this is not what we stand for. We the People will not bow to the authoritarian, we will not relinquish our rights and freedoms as provided for in our Constitution. We have the power to replace a feckless Congress.
"A Republic" said Ben Franklin, "if you can keep it." The ball is in our court, if we are brave enough to commit ourselves and stop looking for someone else to lead.
Agreed - the people express their voice by marching in the streets
Another great reminder of the imperative that we continue to Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
May Day is the next nationwide rally, be there or be square!
//
P.S. No, I'm not a bot. I'm repeating myself because I want to spread the message as far and wide as possible. I can't do it myself, so I'm hoping others with join in and spread the message too. We can do this America! Let's do it! Let's get this done!
Amen brother!! Can’t recommend this enough. Cursing your screen won’t help, active protest might.
Another great reminder of the imperative that we continue to Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
May Day is the next nationwide rally, be there or be square!
Agreed on everything except right at the end: Trump CAN be removed from office, having already committed multiple impeachable acts already, but Republicans in Congress refuse to perform their Constitutional duty because of partisan affiliation. Given the alternative is the marginally more competent Vance, that might be for the best, but we shouldn’t let the GOP pretend they don’t have the tools to fix this.
It’s a toss up. I think Vance is equally as vile, maybe more. He truly wants women in the home, having kids with only the husband of the household getting one vote. He’s a psycho too!
He’s not an improvement I agree.
but first they would have to admit there is a problem - and even hinting at such an idea gets them and their kids death threats...
There’s safety in numbers. I doubt we’ll see many defections until and unless there’s a wave. I’m not holding my breath, though.
VP Hillbilly would be a nightmare. We need to purge the entire administration from the top down. We also need to ditch the current Speaker and President pro tempor.
Don’t fool yourself about the bought and paid for Couch Boy. The tech bros placed him in the Senate then bought him for the VP job so they can finish their takeover of our government when The Convicted Felon™ inevitably retires to maralardo, pardon in hand (unless he croaks first).
Because of threats. To them, their families. Personal, political and financial ruin. I have no doubt that their are threats of physical harm to them or their family members. Trump is cruel. He will inflict that cruelty by his whims. He will not hesitate to inflict the harshest possible punishments on anyone deliberately refusing to advance his agenda or standing against him. There might be safety in numbers but so far only Murkowski has even hunted about fear of "retaliation."
These politicians are in a stranglehold. There is probably compromising information on every single one of them. They are cowards but it's because they don't DARE to step out of line. They sold their souls and our death and destruction is the price. They'll never sacrifice themselves for us, despite being no more scared than the average American who sees the writing on the wall. We *also* stand to lose everything we hold dear, possibly even our very lives. They refuse to see that or care about it. They *could* stop it. They won't.
Vance is NOT “marginally more competent”; Vance is an intelligent part of the Tech Bros & Project 2025 & Christian Nationalist Cabal seeking to destroy democracy for the power of a few wealthy white men.
Professor Krugman: how long before SOMETHING OF SIGNIFICANCE HAPPENS? do we have to wait until the 2026 elections? can the country even survive that long? personally, i am unable to imagine that the country can go on like this for even another 100 days. what will we do when we all are facing hunger, homelessness, poverty and death due to the actions of the orange rapist's regime? how many of us will end up deported to foreign gulags, despite our citizenship status? how many of us will die of preventable diseases? how long before the majority of us are enslaved and working for free (because we are expendable "eaters" anyway) by the rich elites? when is the next pandemic coming?
In two weeks the cargo ships from China which would normally arrive will not arrive. Because it takes 30 days for a big ship to cross the Pacific Ocean.
apparently, the country's 4th largest port, seattle, is already empty of all cargo ships except one, with no more arrivals scheduled. the unemployment in the seattle area will be deadly.
Drag them to the Place de la Concord!
"Let them eat cake!" Chop!
other than the courts-slow-or repubs in congress growing a spine-highly unlikely-i see no non-violent option
It could come to that, but I'm not ready to go down that road just yet. If the Orange Scourge declares martial law and sends in troops, then it become another ball game.
what if he sends troops to Canada/Greenland?desperate times call for desperate solutions-it's essentially a coup already-he's cowed the repubs in Congress without firing a shot-except for the one fired at him-allegedly
That would detonate the human time bomb. NFW would he get away with a stunt like that. I doubt he'd actually try it.
how many times have we said that?
Not really that many. Besides, the actions that would trigger it haven't happened yet - and probably won't.
Professor Krugman just listed several concrete examples of things of significance happening, for goodness sake. It needs to get darker before it can dawn, and his analysis is strongly suggesting that the coming darkness is reaching a point of no return.
Trump has a problem.
He can delay implementation of court orders, especially temporary, but to defy permanent court orders he relies on cooperation by those willing to take risks.
The more damage & destruction he causes, the more difficult it will for Trump to get the cooperation he seeks.
Even his control of the military is not guaranteed if he goes against the constitution.
Particularly with strong popular opposition.
All comparisons to the rise of Hitler are totally valid. You point to a very hopeful contrast with 1930 Germany.
I was in Budapest as Orbán came to power and one day wandered through a Fidesz rally. I describe that experience in my new Substack “Letter from Budapest”. Please check it out.
Thank you, Dr. Krugman. "Democrats shouldn’t give Trump a pass on any of his destructive actions. They should, instead, tell voters that stripping people of their civil rights, annihilating education and science, destroying U.S. trade and poisoning our international relationships has one unifying goal: to destroy civil society in the name of MAGA. " Your column is always worth reading, but especially for this statement.
The analysis is sound on its face. However, the random card in this is the uninformed public. There are a number of ordinary Americans who believe this to be temporary pain for greater gain. That’s terrifying. Enough of them and an “engineered” depression that Trump then “saves” America from is the frightening alternative ending.
I’m pretty well convinced at this point that Rupert Murdoch is still Trump’s most important ally, far more than Elon. Without the slavish support of Fox News, Trump would be having a much harder time.
I'm not sure that Rupert Murdoch is Trump's ally.
It's true that the fascist propaganda factory called "Fox News" is part of the Murdoch Empire, but so are The Times of London and the Wall Street Journal.
I've been following The Times's channel on https://www.youtube.com/@ListenToTimesRadio lately, and they are sharply critical of Trump.
The Wall Street Journal has been said to favor Trump until recently, but if so, they have turned on him quite dramatically. The following are headlines from the landing page of the Wall Street Journal on one single occasion:
<begin headlines>
American Companies Shred Outlooks Over Tariff Uncertainty
Polygraph Threats, Leaks and Infighting: The Chaos Inside Hegseth’s Pentagon
A Side Hustle for Friends of Musk: Selling Access to Stakes in His Private Companies
Trump Is Making the Next Fed Chair’s Job Even Harder
A New Poll Shows the Peril of Trump’s Tariffs
<end headlines>
I would conclude that Rupert Murdoch is not, in fact, Trump's ally at all. Most likely he's simply an opportunist who sells exactly the stories that the audience want to hear, and it's merely a coincidence that his Fox News audience only wants to hear hymns praising Trump's genius.
🎯 His US tabloids like The NY Daily News, Boston Herald, etc. and Fox News cable networks are catering to the market they largely created that elevates MAGA and demonizes Democrats without a break. The WSJ and his UK properties are giving their audiences what they expect as well, in language each understands. “Fair and balanced” is a meaningless slogan in Murdoch world.
That’s a fair read of the situation, sure. I think that Fox’s opportunism in favor of Trump tends to outweigh the rest, but that isn’t quite the same as being an intentional ally.
I think this sums it up pretty well. Murdoch saw the opportunity and Trump was a perfect actor - which is when media began truly driving politics but not based so much on ideology but on discord-driven engagement. Same as social media. We’re basically living “The Apprentice “ and “Survivor “ ( or name your favorite reality show based on human dysfunction).
Yes, you are correct. Rupert loathes the Orange Ogre. He actually supported DeathSantis by giving him a huge amount of airtime with tons of softball interviews.` But he could not make that stiff, awkward person popular. Your last statement sums it up perfectly.
Yes, the WSJ continues to do good reporting. That story about Musk was an eye-opener.
Time for a boycott of firms that advertise on Fox? Rupert said it’s not about Blue or Red, but how much green he reaps.
Can someone make a list of the companies to boycott? I can’t watch that channel for one second!! 🤢🤮
I seem to recall a pillow guy with a mustache and cross.
It was always a race whether Trump’s incompetence would outrun his overarching ambition, which certainly kept his destructiveness in check his first term. This time don’t bet on it. While everything Trump is doing (and everything Congress is not doing) would appear to be political suicide leading to a massive Blue Wave come midterms, Trump and his minions don’t care and aren’t worried. Which leads me to think that there is a far darker plan behind all this. Something Trump hinted at during the campaign when he proclaimed at a rally, “Vote for me and you’ll never have to vote again,” and continues to hint at with comments about running for a third term. If he stirs up enough agitation and people take to the streets, the next jackboot to drop is the declaration of the Insurrection Act, the suspension of Constitution and cancellation of elections. Can’t happen, you say? Look at everything Trump and his cronies have achieved in just 100 days and ask yourself if you would have believed it just six months ago
I don't care. I'm taking to the streets anyway. I'm prepared to go to my grave to fight this hostile takeover of our country.
"I regret that I have but one life to give for my country" -Nathan Hale, Revolutionary War hero,
It's imperative that we continue to Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
May Day is the next nationwide rally, be there or be square!
Being led by a simpleton has distinct disadvantages. The fact that he has surrounded himself with people who are demonstrably dumber and more dishonest than himself makes economic and operational collapse inevitable.
But the really scary part is that Republicans are in control of Congress, the courts, and the White House--and none of them has even a vague idea of how to recover or rebuild from the impending catastrophe. Look for 18 months of "policies" that will make things even worse (e.g., slashing unemployment benefits to encourage people to work, slashing welfare benefits to encourage people to work, and maybe even eliminating the federal minimum wage so employers can afford to hire more people).
It's all DELIBERATE.....what is hard to understand? This helps a certain overlord and his desire for a dismantled america....just as his nation was dismantled in 80s. It's payback. Right??
He's only half the story. The Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 is the other half.
I believe it’s surely a part of it! Putin blames America for destroying Russia economically in 1990s but he refuses to acknowledge that oligarchs took advantage of America know how and financial assistance and purchased entire industries and businesses and infrastructure plus the energy sector and then when Yeltsin walked away Putin without any hesitation brought some 20-50(there different ways it is described by those who were there and many of them are dead falling from the windows and poisoned and some exiled because they didn’t think they would be part of a dictatorship) and he told them to “make all they can, don’t be afraid to share with the boss and keep out of politics and your life will be a dream!” And destruction of democracy and America was always his goal as America stands on his way to rebuild Soviet Empire and now we are out of his way! Trump is good little asset and he behaves like someone who has to behave because of compromat! The only problem is that everything he touches dies and i hope this time it’s not America he touched but Project 2025 America he was supposed to install and he messed up like every other time!
Trump is trying to take down Europe and the US to satisfy Putin.
Just one minor nitpick: none of it is to "encourage people to work", it's to prostitute the job market.
If they truly wanted to "encourage people to work", they'd raise the minimum wage to a living wage. Simple as that.
that video says it's unplayable in the good old USA.
In America Simon and Garfunkel’s song is “America” blocked? I’m empty and aching and I do know why.
I got the same message. What's become of us? How TF did this happen? Who exactly is blocking it? And why?
Easy to find one that plays. It’s okay to cry when you hear it…I sure am.
Try this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo2ZsAOlvEM&ab_channel=SimonGarfunkelVEVO
I don't think the cult "base" will turn against Teflon Man and his MAGA movement until they lose their Social Security checks and Medicaid. Even the outrageously high price of groceries -- right now -- isn't upsetting them as much as they claimed before he was elected. So weird.
We're going to see a lot of folks upchucking massive amounts of Kool-Aid before this is over.
our democracy is already over. All he has to do is declare a national emergency and initiate martial law. There will be no 2026 elections and the damn repuglicans won’t do anything to uphold the constitution they took an oath to uphold.
The founders warned that the system they were putting in place, in spite of the safeguards they devised to protect it at the end of the 18th century, would fail if virtue (as they understood the word) was lost. We have lost virtue, especially in our officials elected and unelected. Basic moral sentiment and empathy have been displaced by greed and antagonism by actors manipulating the body politic with the aid of information sources beyond the imagination of even Franklin, who worried that science and technology would outpace civilizations moral philosophy being able to control the wolves of our nature. They howl at us from every corner of our existence, and their sound is causing fear and anger to annihilate reason. I wonder if all hope is lost for this country that has entered here.
Hope is being transformed into rage.
That martial law just might be the spark that detonates the ticking time bomb that is We The (already very pissed off) People.
And that's why it's imperative that we continue to Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
May Day is the next nationwide rally, be there or be square!
we’ve waited too long to act.
I don't believe that. As I type this, it's only 110 days since the Orange Scourge took office. That's an awfully short timeframe to get a national movement up and running.
You could argue that we should have been prepared ahead of time. That all of the organizations that are now coalescing should have formed and planned action the moment TrumPox was declared president elect, and you wouldn't be wrong, but that would be unprecedented. We're in uncharted territory, and we're charting it as we go along.
Yes, we could have acted sooner. Future historians and sociologists will spend decades looking back at this time and trying to piece it together. What happened, how and why it happened. What the resistance did right, what it got wrong, and there will be much debate and ambiguity as to just what we should have done and when.
At this stage, it's not a debate I'm interested in. Right now, we have to focus on doing anything and everything we can to fight this. It is our duty as American citizens. We waited too long, but that doesn't mean it's too late. It's >never< too late. We can and will take our country back, and restore democracy.
It’s so scary!!
That assumes people sit on their hands and let it happen. I’m certainly not planning to do so and neither should anyone else reading these comments.
Yes! Rise! Resist! ✊✊✊
The next nationwide rally is June 14, yes >that< June 14, be there or be square!
Let's ruin Chump's B'day. We need 3.5% or the population, or around 12,000,000 people to be present. So bring all your friends and families, bring your pets. Spread the word as far and wide as possible.
https://www.nokings.org/
I hope you’re correct. What a clown show.