There is still much to be done from the sidelines, phone banking, organizing, postcards. Let's not minimize less obvious efforts of those who cannot easily hot the streets.
We had people in walkers and wheelchairs show up at our protest in a 34000 pop town that probably went 75% for Trump. Other people drove down the street honking and supporting those of us in the sidewalk. That doesn't help the big city folks, but the mobility impaired are coming out in small towns.
Jenn and Nanci, making frequent and direct calls to your Members of Congress is the second most effective means to make your voices heard. Such calls are even more effective than participating in protests! I hope you'll be able to make calls regularly -- they work!
The republican US representative for the district of the small town where I was raised placed an ad in the local newspaper with a phone number to call if one was having issues with Social Security/Medicare, etc. You can see where this is going in regards to if one was registered democrat or republican and how quickly matters might be resolved--or not--or if there's even a response. Who knows?
I do not live close to protests and live in a red area. However, I wore my Penzey's Resist t-shirt on errands all over the small town on Saturday morning. That led me to meet another like-minded person; often it is hard for us to find each other. At some point, I hope to have enough people for a group movement here. Wearing the t-shirt also led to someone who espouses the Republican line (a former friend) asking me what I am resisting, to which I replied, "The erosion of Democracy." The person replied, "Well, we know which side she is on," but her companion said, "Do we?" I pointed out that I was in Los Angeles at the time of the Rodney King riots, and what is happening in Los Angeles is no riot. Local law enforcement can handle it without the National Guard and the Marines. They decided not to continue the conversation.
Brave women you are a hero. Embolden your friends and this evil will be defeated. disUSA is now = Germany 1936 but advancing speeding up to 1939 very fast. March on be brave. Thank you
Good for you. If you figure out how to pitch ideas over the walls the Trumpists have thrown up around themselves, do it.
They're actually scared. They're not thinking clearly. Confrontation and contradiction do not work here.
What is needed is empathy (not sympathy). Understanding where folks around you are coming from can create an opening to successfully pitch that truth over their wall.
There you go, Marliss! Crushing it! We have a dense community and on NextDoor and you find out quickly that they live among us and protest loudly with misinformation. I am glad to find like minded neighbors also. Personally, I’m not participating on ND unless I need to sell an item.
There are two important state elections this November -- gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey. The Democratic candidates need to win, and, even better, win overwhelmingly. Here are opportunities for all to participate.
Here in New Jersey, we have a pretty good candidate on the Democratic side. The RepublicRAT is promising to do anything Trump tells him to do. That doesn't sit well with a lot of people here - the feeling is that our Governor shouldn't just be a toady to the President.
Here in Virginia, we have an amazing Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Abigail Spanberger https://abigailspanberger.com. The primary is tomorrow and the rest of the Democratic slate looks to be strong. Get out and vote fellow Virginians! Let’s send Gov. Sweater Vest home.
yes--and those things are important, too. however; if you can possibly manage it, join in and be counted in the crowd. the world is run by those who show up.
Outstanding!! Also, even in a chair/wheelchair/scooter or even a walker, you guys have advantages! you can tie helium balloons on them! decorate with streamers! lash tall poles onto the back with signs attached! also: dress colorfully and be outrageously noticeable!! Everyone has his or her own strengths.
Those of us who cannot handle the heat and humidity or who have mobility or other issues like advanced age and frailty can still support those who are more active. I stayed home, but I cheered on friends who went. I also post on Facebook and elsewhere whenever I see injustice, which means daily.
We need to flood the zone, like our oppressors are. Whichever the grass roots actions I suggested, but also rolling in and engaging younger voters. Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, podcasts …
Hi Jenn. I don’t think the comment indicated that calls, written communications and door knocking are passive. I think passive is just being stunned into inaction altogether. Keep up whatever actions you take, they all matter.
An anti-Trump protest held outside Vancouver’s American consulate building Saturday saw hundreds of demonstrators from both sides of the border come together to express their anger and frustration. 🇨🇦🇺🇸. Americans and Canadians joined in a rally against Grump and no kings. A TACO to go please!
I'm afraid this kind of talk underestimates the delicacy of our situation. Talk of "resistance" ignores the place where most of us find ourselves in this struggle--the political field of our neighborhoods and homes.
When we speak like this, it's easy to forget our "battle" is with our family, friends, and neighbors. We are dealing with a serious problem of undereducated, low-information voters captured by a propaganda machine and in thrall to a weirdly charismatic leader.
"Resistance" in this political field FEEDS the beast. Here we don't need "resistance;" we need something more subtle--more along the lines of becoming "wise as serpents, and innocent as doves."
Yes, in deeply red areas, it can be dangerous to be the "other." So far, the aggression I've experienced is minor--a stolen Harris sign, trash thrown in my yard, and the intrusion of my Jewish religion into conversations where it is not germaine--but as I am close to 80, I feel more vulnerable since my stamina is reduced and I am more frail than previously. Nonetheless, I persevere....
We don’t need to convert anyone. That’s a fool’s errand. We have to lower the temperature, way down, so that it’s very hard to dehumanize each other. I don’t think we should underestimate the horrors we are all capable of once we’ve dehumanized the political opposition.
Personally, I'd likely try to just avoid such people. I'm lucky that I live in NYC - we don't have too many MAGAnuts around here, except maybe a few scattered ones in Staten Island and some isolated pockets in Queens.
Yeah, New Yorkers can be some of the most provincial people I know. Lol. I was born and raised there and still have lots of friends there. But set them down in Wyoming and they are Connecticut Yankees in King Arthur’s Court.
This has been an issue that I've regularly harped on ever since the 2016 election: MAGA didn't come out of nowhere. And when Trump is gone, it isn't going to evaporate, either. It's enticing to portray Trump as the catalyst for this extremist, authoritarian-supportive cult. But he really just became the mouthpiece to a movement which was simmering for a long time.
Sure, it feels really good to voice some harsh criticisms of Trump and MAGA, but that isn't going to foster a middle ground that will enable us to end this constant back-and-forth. I guarantee you there are plenty of MAGA types out there who have uttered this exact phrase: "We've been dealing with them for years now. It's time for them to deal with us." Dismissing MAGA out of hand will only ensure that this polarization continues indefinitely.
I had a police officer come to my home to warn me about a local far right bully making threats against me. He had previously come to a 73 year old woman’s yard, making threats and firing his shotgun into the air. I said tell him I put the slug barrel on my pump, the plug is out, it’s loaded buck and ball, and I don’t believe in warning shots. I won’t be shy. Guess what, ….
I think you're viewing this through a very binary lens. The MAGA movement is actually a fairly small number of people, on the whole. There are an awful lot of Trump voters who haven't bought into Trump's whole agenda - maybe they liked his stance on immigration or wanted him to fix inflation, but aren't wild about all the other things he's trying to do. These are the people who you can have a productive dialogue with who are likely to be persuaded to shun the Republican Party in the next election (assuming we have one.) MAGA is a cult, and those people can't be reasoned with, but there are plenty of Republicans out there who are holding their noses right now who are amenable to a reasonable conversation.
They have been holding their noses for years and still keep voting Republican.
The David Brooks mantra. Trump and the Republicans are bad but the Democrats are worse, so keep voting Republican. And they think Democrats will always be worse until they turn into Reagan Republicans.
Hoping one day they will vote Democratic just does not work anymore, we are now an autocracy.
Of course not, Marie. Resisting, I am saying, is not the right word for the political task most of us have with our families and neighbors. Not yet, thank god, which isn’t to say that resistance in various ways is exactly what is needed in, say, the Central Valley of California where ICE is raiding neighborhoods.
But for most suburban Americans the nature of this political struggle is very different. The struggle is to open up paths of communication, building relationships, not in some futile effort to convert them, but to lower the temperature of the antagonism that Fox etc. keep trying to turn up. That’s not rolling over; that’s disarming your opponents.
There is only so much that can be done when people are being hit with propaganda 24 hours a day. MAGA is a minority. We are better off building a movement among those who didn't vote MAGA.
True that, but I’m talking about friends, family, and neighbors, where I live concretely day to day, not about the abstraction of a “movement.” I don’t write off people I know and love because they are politically deluded—as if I were all clarity and light, as if politics trumps (so to speak) my religion (i.e. love).
On the personal level, I don't try to convince my maga associates. Sometimes there are opportunities. I had a great conversation with a timber guy. We talked about the changing forest. I pointed out how I can tell the climate has changed over the last 10 years. Things I can see on my property, within sight of where we were standing. He eventually said, I believe climate change is real. We also connected in our love of the forests and nature. (We need more timber harvesting of trees that are dying in vast numbers and creating horrible fire hazards. Hundreds of thousands of acres surround me. Each summer I hope we don't burn to a crisp. They'd look much better as houses.)_
In California, from the late 1800s until the 1930s, the ancient primal forest of 800-year old sugar pine trees was logged across the 180 mile length of the Sierra Nevadas. After this complete clear cutting, trees grew back like weeds, thousands to the acre in place of 200-300 mature trees. This is the "forest" we now have.
When the drought came, these crowded young trees fell to the bark beetles the did not have the resources (sap) to fight off, and died in their millions. Until they finish rotting, in another decade or so, they will continue to fuel fires. They are inaccessible to be harvested for lumber. If the forest continues to be "managed" by logging the oldest trees, we will never have the old forest back, that blocks sunlight from undergrowth and is impervious to fire.
For the last 10 thousand years humans burned the forest. The trees are fire adapted. The estimates I've heard form the University foresters is that the forest was burned every 10 to 15 years. The large trees survived and the forest was opened up. Before humans there were elephants and natural fires from lightning strikes.
I've been here 20 years and did an initial thinning within the first 4 years. (Taking out 1-3inch trees that grew in thickets crowding out everything) Our rain patterns changed 10 years ago and the doug fir aren't happy. 90% of them have died. The last timber harvest here was 50 years ago.
"Until they finish rotting, in another decade or so, they will continue to fuel fires"
It takes a lot more than a decade or two for trees to rot. The problem we have is extreme fuel loads from a century of fire suppression. We need a lot more control burns, which are really difficult and expensive because you need just the right weather conditions and a big crew to manage it.
I spend 8 months out of the year burning brush piles to reduce the fuel load.
I hate clear cuts on steep slopes. I think you can manage a good forest and part of the cost can be paid for by a timber harvest. You leave big, healthy trees, cut some good sized medium trees and pile brush and slash to burn. I've seen some really good jobs...and some horrible ones too.
You're walking a tightrope for sure. On the one hand, you can resist by attending the rallies nearest you, communicating to your senators and representatives, etc. You can join a local resistance group such as 50501 or indivisible - if there are any.
As for dealing with your family, friends and neighbors, that will, as you said, require something more subtle. The MAGAnuts are so deeply submerged in Faux Newspeak and Noisemax propaganda that you can't directly point out the truth to them.
DEMs need a star candidate who could run for presidency in 2028. Repbulicans have Trump who has clearly a star quality. DEMs need a counter figure that can catch headlines of major medias.
Trump may think he will run for a third term, but that’s unconstitutional and very unlikely to happen. None of his fledglings have his charisma. Vance? Don’t make me laugh! What we need to do is to work to end Trump’s regime before 2028 so that he cannot find a flunky to run in his place.
Bitcoin was invented by Peter Wayner at NSA. Federal whistleblower here. Please spread word. All evidence public. Risk analysis pre-cleared by Navy. safeintelligentsoundpqe.substack.com
I believe I might actually be ready to do something meaningful. I’d so much rather just be lazy and complain! Anyone with any plan ? Speak up! Nothing is dumber than doing nothing!
"On the contrary, the administration’s power grabs will become even more aggressive and desperate, with growing efforts to intimidate, prosecute and even physically harm political opponents, as well as widespread efforts to suppress dissent with force."
Agreed. Trump is all-in on his coup to end Democracy in America. He will accelerate, consider his shift from farm raids to city raids in hopes of more propaganda video to show US cities as hell holes.
Things will get darker before any real change but for the first time since the election, I'm hopeful for our future.
Every mother knows that when you tell a toddler or abusive husband, “No,” you get escalation of the bad behavior until they finally get it (in the case of the toddler, as they grow up emotionally) or accept your divorce (in the case of the narcissist). This is classic, classic. It will get worse before it gets better, but if you remain firm, the outcome is in your favor.
And what happens if divorce is the only way out? How do we divorce ourselves from half a narcissistic populace? Because he is just a reflection of those who voted for him. This runs so much deeper than just a handful of horrible legislators and policy makers. How long have we been trying to get a better country and continue to get slapped down? I never in a million years thought he would get reelected after that fiasco of a first term. And now he is ripping this country to shreds and plenty of Americans are just fine with it. So appalling and frustrating and we never seem to gain enough traction to make it stick.
I was keeping tabs and the stats for the youth vote were terrible in larger blue states. Turnout in the big blue states was also not as high overall since there was so much focus on swing states. Now the blue states were not going to cause the win, but the low blue state turnout caused the national popular vote to be higher for Trump than Harris even though she won those states. This has likely emboldened him and those associated with him some. Normally, the larger blue states cause a Dem candidate to win the popular vote, even if they do not win the White House, but like I said they had low turnout esp for the youth vote.
Not true. Votes were manipulated. Evidence is coming out and court cases are pending. Blue voters showed up but the machines reversed their choices. Crime of the century!
Gee, most states have paper ballots including CA and voting machines are also NOT even connected to the internet. In addition, tabulating machines are tested before and after they are used to see that they are working properly.
Thus, as was pointed out on a 60 minutes episode with examples of how it works what you say is not remotely possible.
I hope you are simply making a joke.
There are no court cases either (except a judge allowing for "discovery" in Rockland County, NY) because one would have to show some evidence to have a case.
So they are "looking to see" if there is any actual evidence.
"In summary: ...the broader internet rumors about widespread missing votes or disappearing votes in the 2024 election lack credible evidence and have been debunked by fact-checking organizations. Election officials and experts emphasize that the election was administered effectively and the reported results are reliable."
Let's hope the no-shows snap out of their stupor and realize how important it is to just show up and vote - even if they're not enamored of the opposition candidate. It's not like we didn't give them fair warning.
Toddlers grow up. The fact that so many people are seriously reconsidering their allegiance to T as they do their growing is a sign of that. Fewer and fewer Americans are “just fine with it.” Glass less than half full is getting emptier by the week.
Be careful. I have heard from Republicans that don't like what Trump is doing but would still vote for him and his Republican acolytes again.
It follows the David Brooks mantra. Trump and the Republicans are bad but Democrats are worse. They still vote Republican. And I suspect many still, really like what he is doing.
This is the fundamental problem with politics in America today. Voting for a candidate you don't agree with, just to maintain your identity, is absolute madness.
So far we've seen DOGE fail spectacularly. Now there's a quiet scramble to recover vital government services. The tariffs aren't very popular and they've earned Trump the term TACO. I don't think the ICE raids are going over well. I can see people saying, "Wait a minute. That looks like the guy at the car wash I go to. I didn't mean him. I want the millions of criminals deported." There are a lot of military people who remember that their allegiance is to the Constitution and not a President. The savage cuts to the VA aren't making them any friends either.
Yes. It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better, if it does. But there's a reason Freedom and Bravery are usually linked.
There are still millions of MAGAs who believe there are "millions" of "criminals" among immigrants. That's the standard propaganda line from the administration and from Fox "News."
Great post, perfect musical selection. There were hundreds of people at my small rural town’s protest, the largest one ever. And with more support shown from people driving by. The atmosphere was electric and the signs were plentiful, inventive and clever. It is heartening to know there are so many like minded people out there. We intend to save democracy!
It's really less than half - just more vocal than most. We've been dealing with this since the end of the Civil War and the beginning of "the lost cause". The only thing we can do is smack them down again.
We also have to deal with how the reichwing media abuses the first amendment. Freedom of speech is no excuse for the endless string of lies coming out of Faux Newspeak, Snoozemax, OAN, Breitbart, Infowars, etc.
We'll also have to figure out how to deal with all the reichwing "social" media, QAnon, 4chan, 8chan, 卐itter, "Truth Social", and so on. I don't know the answer to that, but we'll have to deal with it somehow.
The problem for nearly twenty years has been an inability to remain firm, largely powered by the number of "moderates," "centrists," "swing voters," and others who determine the outcome of elections, who've absolutely refused for two decades to do treat the GOP as the emergency situation that it is and only turn out in times of crisis on the scale of the Great Recession or Covid.
We've known since the Bush years at the very latest that the GOP was an out-of-control threat to the nation and that the only way to deal with that threat would be to put them give them the sort of extended time-out that Democrats were given after the Civil War and Republicans after the Great Depression. Those voters and institutions who could deliver that time-out have steadfastly refused to do so, so the problem keeps getting worse. Difficult to conceive of *what* would finally light a fire under their asses; if 1/6 didn't do it, I can't imagine what will.
I actually think it's the exact opposite. What happened was that the rise of the internet made it easier to entice people to abandon any middle ground and commonality and increasingly silo themselves, to the point that Moderates and Centrists lost exposure. It's hard to stoke fear and outrage by promoting a Centrist position. If all you see are message boards and a Facebook feed filled with pro-life comments, for example, you're going to start thinking that all of America agrees with you. At that point it's easy to give up on compromise.
Agree. However, its amazing how ignorant Trump is. He was truly surprised that his immigration crackdown is sweeping up people who've been living and working in low paid, but vital jobs for decades. His posts about ICE going after farm workers and the hospitality industry were fascinating. I think he really thinks there are millions of criminal immigrants.
I wonder if these unpopular ICE raids will end up similar to DOGE, where they stomp all over, create havoc and can't find the waste, fraud and abuse? Like the tariffs that turn out to be own goals and have to be walked back?
A lot of this is the result of FOX and right wing propaganda that's been going on for 40 years.
Although the TACO Man ostensibly called off his ICE dogs who were raiding farms, packing-houses, restaurants, etc., cos their (largely) GOPer owners were whining about ravaging their work-forces, tRump this weekend doubled down on "enforcement in 'Democrat'- run big cities, posting a long and abusive screed directed toward Blue cities across the country.
So, as numbers *may* fall in some sectors, others will be available to pick up the slack, which clearly indicates that large-scale sweeps targeting any and all Brown people — citizens or not — will be stepped up.
The fight is only beginning, people, as no end to ultra-aggressive "remigration" is in sight, so stay vigilant and protect your fellow residents and citizens from the depredations of a runaway state apparatus,
As far as I'm concerned, Trump has blood on his hands for the assassinations and grave injuries in Minnesota. Given the rant he posted on Lie Social targeting Democrats and sanctuary cities I suspect we may be in for more of the same. Yet the Republicans in Congress do nothing. Hopefully they will pay at the ballot box next year, assuming we even have elections which is not guaranteed.
It should scare you and others. It is possible that the elections will not be free and fair. You then need to ask yourself what are your options for peaceful resistance? Will California stay in the union?
By all means participate in the next election (if there is still a functioning republic). However, participate but do so knowing that there may be “voter suppression” or fraud (asking secretaries of state to find extra votes) so start thinking about how to resist peacefully. It may become necessary for California to withhold taxes and then leave the dying republic.
Research is ongoing about the cheating in the 2024 election - it was prevalent in all the fringe states see the results at ETA - re - the votes in Pennsylvania and in Nevada:
Using the Cast Vote Record (“CVR”) data for Clark County, the Election Truth Alliance (ETA) has identified voting pattern anomalies of significant concern. Our analysis uncovers unusual phenomena in the Early Voting results not present in Election Day voting or Mail-In Voting results.
Drop-Off Difference: The term "drop-off votes" refers to the votes cast for a presidential candidate versus the votes cast for a down-ballot candidate of the same party. In Clark County, as was the case across the swing states in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, there is a significant difference between Trump’s drop-off rate (+10.54%) and Harris’s drop-off rate (+1.07%).
Increased Volume of Votes Linked to Greater Discrepancies: The greater number of ballots cast and processed in Early Voting, the more Trump’s vote count increased while Harris’s vote count decreased. The pattern is more distinct (closer to 60% votes for Trump, closer to 40% votes for Harris) with more ballots processed by a given tabulator.
Abnormal Clustering: In contrast to Election Day voting, Early Vote results display an unusual pattern: once approximately 250 ballots have been processed a visible shift is observed, resulting in a high degree of clustering and unusual uniformity. This is a departure from expected human voting behavior.
One of the most underreported side effects of the Gabby Giffords shooting all the way back in 2011 was multiple moderate Republicans in Arizona deciding not to run for reelection because they were afraid of getting killed.
I commented at the time that we were already inching into rule-through-terror: if right-wing politicians and public figures are allowed to just keep calling for "Second Amendment solutions" and whatnot against Democrats every single day, knowing that there are enough lunatics out there who'll go ahead and act of their own initiative, then you don't actually need an official Ku Klux Klan or SA type organization with members who meet and receive orders from on high about who they're going to beat up this time.
Yes, but he has the charisma of a wet sock. He may remain committed to the project, but he does not enjoy the same slavish devotion that Trump does. So on the balance I think he would be less capable of destroying the country.
Maduro could not be described as particularly charismatic and I doubt he inspires slavish devotion either. Chavistas don't even like him, and yet he is still in power.
TACO Don is just the symptom. The Republican party is the disease. They have selected him as their symbol three times now. We need to stop thinking he is the problem. Sadly many people want an authoritarian ruler who will tell them they are fine and the problem is all the others: the other can be be different in any way, skin, religion, sex. Just as long as they car told they are better than the "other" they will continue.
When a contractor proudly announced that he’d painted the Naval Observatory, my five-year-old asked, “Dan Quayle’s house?” and guffawed. He’d found the “potatoe” gaffe hilarious.
I have to disagree with this. It's a nice sentiment, but not at all a given. MAGA is composed of people who maintain a persecution complex. They truly believe that they've been wronged throughout life, which means they will continue to believe that, long after Dump is gone. This president personified their own grievances, which is how he came to be so popular with them. As long as someone, anyone, champions these people's persecution complexes, MAGA will live on.
I understand what you’re saying, but “trying to be more likeable” is (thankfully) not any sort of substitute for the weird hypnotic power that Trump has over his many minions. To me, MAGA disappears in infighting once he’s gone. There’s nothing but money to hold it together in his absence, and, though, money can do huge damage in politics, as we’ve seen, it still can’t buy the crazy fealty that MAGA has shown.
Thankfully, even politician's staff use perplexity and language models. Believing that large swaths of MAGA voters will accept an outcome is hilarious.
Your thoughts do not prove that our situation is hopeless, but only that it is extremely difficult. Do not capitulate like the cowardly law firms. Face the threat and join the opposition!
You did a fine job of describing our enemy but completely forgot to give the opposition any ink.
The enemy: perhaps 30%
Our opposition a good 70%
Their “well oiled“ propaganda machine just doesn’t have the numbers.
Where we’re still weak is in the Republican congress, but not by much.
As those Republicans witness the respective turnouts for No Kings day as opposed to Mr Stable Genius’s parade … it’s a no contest. And keep in mind THEY did not show up for Trump’s pathetic show — that’s a BIG deal; finally they show a sign of breaking ranks by snubbing their Dear Leader.
I’d be wary of giving MAGA too much credit. Keep in mind their propaganda is just that: propaganda. We have hard facts and reality on our side. And … don’t ignore:
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice"
400 years is a long arc! I hate to sound like a wet blanket today, especially after such an exhilarating weekend. But it just doesn't seem like we are making any lasting progress. The bigger picture is moving in the wrong direction. The SC rulings, climate change, what this country is tacitly allowing on immigration and fascism and feeling like we have no power to stop it is so frustrating. My lifetime has been spent fighting and losing most of the fights. And it is all against big money.
It’s not 400 years. It’s only been about 140 days and we’re making good progress. Some things in life take time for many to see the reality. But many are and more each day. Were The Stable Genius to run for office today he’d lose in a landslide.
Women's rights, civil rights, voting rights, environmental rights, the sale and use of public lands, gun control, universal healthcare, Trump's blatant use of the White House for personal gain, the SC ruling on immunity - far out of reach for the average citizen to address easily - just off the top of my head. I look at democracies around us and am astounded at their progressiveness, and we can't even get the simplest gun safety laws passed after school children are mowed down inside their classrooms. And it ALL involves money. If we can get our fellow citizens to realize they are pawns being used by the rich to buy this country for themselves, we just might be able to save our democracy. But I am in a sour mood this morning to match the weather and the horrendous assassination of the state legislator in Minnesota. It will be short-lived though. I will step back into the fight tomorrow!
Dirk, yes but…MAGA (and by extension its willing accomplices in position in the Republican Party) are so much better than the Democrats at all the power plays, more ruthless, more focussed, more effective. Cynical and hypocritical too of course. And until the Democrats whip into line their own left wing, MAGA and the GOP will continue to run rings around them. The best example is Trump’s 2024 election ad: “Kamala is for they/them. Donald Trump is for you.” Simple, and devastating. Joe Biden on his first day in office in January 2021 signed an EO supporting “affirmative care” for transgender minors, including surgery. He took 20 months (!) to move to get control of the southern border. The Dems promoted student loan forgiveness, overlooking that 60pc of Americans did not manage to go to college, yet their taxes are expected to fund this forgiveness. All these policies are electoral poison yet they are causes célèbre to the bien pensants. MAGA and the GOP don’t have to do very much when the opposition keeps shooting itself in the foot (or is it the head?).
The problem of discharging student loan debt through bankruptcy was it was becoming a common dodge.
We have an average income and have put 3 kids through college without debt. They went to community college, worked while in school and we all lived relatively frugally. One went to an elite school, but her tuition was less than community college because of scholarships.
I don't want to pay student loans for people to have the "college" experience.
There should be loans and grants, but there should also be vocational programs and apprenticeship programs.
Unfortunately, I think you're right. I think we need both to focus on rooting out all of MAGA, not just its head clown, and also on putting forward a solid vision of the real democracy we want. Ordinary Americans who don't want to live under fascism (and I believe that that is a large majority of our country) need to find a way to unite to put forward this vision, and then hopefully also decide that we want a country that truly represents and cares for all of its people, the peoples of the world and our natural environment.
That will depend on what the Blue Team actually proposes as policy and I see too much waffling to supposedly popular Maga claims - not resistance in the form of insisting that immigration and immigrants are good and even necessary parts of our society and thus a clear path to citizenship has to be a priority. Also a failure to shout out about debt relief (not just college debt but medical debt and usurious credit card debts) and tax reform. And standing up for care and the workers who provide care against the profit model of hospitals (where have all the genuinely nonprofit ones gone?) and private health insurance. And overturning Citizens United by specific limitations on spending and transparency in giving. Etc. we do need an alternative vision of what we can and should be able to rely on from our government at all levels.
Agreed. Trump is just a puppet - an inconvenient one at this point because he is too erratic. The puppet masters, like Thiel (who situated Vance as VP) and Musk, are who we should be concerned about. They will determine who wins the next election.
Perhaps there are also two other issues at work. One is that Americans have been taking democracy for granted (as compared to (West-) Germans, for example, who still carry the memory of a country that was not democratic but fascist and thus still appreciate democracy. The caveat "West" needs to be made as the AfD is majority party in all of the former East-German states.)
Secondly, democracy works when people care for the wellbeing of others. I would argue that American culture at large seems more focused on the individual well-being and less so about others. Of course, that does not mean that Americans are uncaring but considering how difficult it was to implement healthcare and it still isn't universal, tells part of the story. Historically and culturally, social welfare and caring for each other as a whole is not quite part of the internal fabric. But, I would argue, these are necessary for a democracy to sustain.
The difference is that no successor will have the congressional Republicans under their thumb the way Trump does, because only Trump has the cult following to get a representative primaried with one tweet.
While image is everything and images of mass protests can help motivate many from the sidelines into the street, it is worth remembering that our mainstream media is absolutely 110% in the tank for Trump, Trumpism, and Republicans.
Consider that Trump won with a narrow margin, yet the media portrays him as "having a mandate" and winning "decisively." As a result, Democrats "need to work with Republicans" and must "re-align themselves with mainstream values." (Conversely, when a Democrat wins the White House, they are ALWAYS admonished that they need to "work across the aisle" and must implement Republican policies no matter what the voters might have said they wanted.)
This is why it is so very important not to give most of the MSM clicks and views hit them in their ratings. MSNBC, while flawed, still reliably yanks his chain. There is plenty of accurate reporting and analysis on Substack and other independent journalism sites.
WSJ said there were tens of thousands at Trumps parade, hundreds of thousands at peaceful protests around the country. I think that was a big undercount for the protests, but it was an interesting observation from a Rupert Murdoch publication.
Totally agree. I watched the Military Parade on Saturday on tv and was struck at how lacking in atmosphere it seemed. A display of military equipment which presumably could be destroyed by drones that cost a few hundred dollars, judging by the performance recently of Ukraine. I suspect the Pentagon must have been squirming with embarrassment at the whole spectacle to flatter a foolish president.
In contrast an actual parade in honour of King Charles birthday went rather well on Saturday, Kings staying where they belong, on the other side of the Atlantic.
The Brits do a lovely parade. Of course their monarch is constrained by parliament and does useful things like working for action on climate change, environmental justice and poverty.
Well said Professor. The military parade didn’t even come close to the spectacles we see in other authoritarian kakistocracies; no missiles to display????
This is exactly the type of bust you’d expect from a Defense Department being run by a two-bit weekend update bobblehead from Fox News. It was all Pomp, and no circumstance!
That said, you’re right, the threat is even more dangerous now that Trump’s approval ratings are plummeting, and even his most hardcore supporters stayed home; I guess Red America is finally realizing that riding this country of criminal elements means EVERYONE! And perhaps his tariff policies aren’t going to make anyone better off. Expect much more intimidation tactics and ruthless manhandling of our politicians, and citizenry.
Bottom line, we are standing at the precipice, and we can either jump into the abyss willingly, or fight like our lives depend on it, because it does. We’re no done fighting, and if it means war; bring it on!
Is anyone getting sick of winning yet? I know I am! IMHO…:)
Peaceful resistance only works if you have the moral high ground. It is not enough to say, “No. This is bad. We have to stop it.” There has to be shared vision of a genuinely better future for nonviolence to work.
The optics is incredibly important, but keep in mind that this means PEACEFUL protests. Nobody would like to see a bunch of MAGA hecklers stomped into the dirt for heckling an otherwise peaceful group of true patriots more than I would, but we cannot do that. Our audience is that part of the U.S. still sitting on the sidelines, and we want them to see us cheering democracy, pointing out the obvious hateful hypocrisy of the Trumpistas, and not engaging in anything at all that can be called a riot. That’s what made Saturday so fantastic. Huge crowds, and almost all of them completely peaceful. Now we need to double the size next time.
There was also a lot of sloppy marching at the parade, which military veterans have attributed to soldiers phoning it in or intentionally screwing up. This, too, sent a message: Despite Trump’s choreographed Fort Bragg reception, he doesn’t have the unquestioning support of the military.
Professor Krugman: i read online that there were a few more than 8,500 people at the orange rapist's military parade themed birthday party. (i've also read that agent orange was so humiliated by the turn-out that he cried. this is a rumour, right?)
i should also point out that many thousands turned out for NoKingsDay protests internationally -- has anyone got a count for those protestors yet? and i'm also curious to know how many people Pope Leo managed to attract to his massive outdoor mass? i heard a million people were expected but ... ??
Very pleased to see President Macron visit Greenland yesterday at the invitation of the Greenland prime minister, to emphasise Greenland's autonomy and right of self determination. He got a warm welcome, unlike the protests which Vance was facing.
What on earth happened to what appeared to be the primary philosophy of the Republicans: small government because you can’t trust them with your money or your liberty?
THAT + "law & order" + "fiscal responsibility" have been the republicans faux mantra since Eisenhower DIED -- 🤔 60+ YEARS ago! Every single time that "party" gains the "upper hand" by a majority of numbers, in whatever level of Federal or State government in which they are supposed to SERVE the people, they balloon budgets and break the bank and leave only debt behind when they slink out of gov. From the middle of the last century, republicans have done everything in their power to destroy the foundations of this country.
Mercifully, we have our neighbors to the North (🇨🇦) and to the South (🇲🇽), not to mention the rest of the World, to keep the U.S. in check -- since our very own judiciary and legislative branches of government are in the slim majority of fascist enablers. We, the PEOPLE, are NOT alone and WE will not be forgotten, nor will we give out, give up or give in! Thx, MLK, JR., et al.
Warning to Gens X, Y, and Z, better get it together while you can! We Boomers are your last mentors. Our parents are going, if not gone. YOU MUST be prepared to move this country forward not backward to Pre-14th and 19th America! Don't just vote; run for office if you TRULY want to save this country!
As always, thank you Professor Krugman! It's delightful you're here with us!!! 🙋🏾♀️ Namasté, Y'all! 🇨🇦🇺🇲🇲🇽
No Kings Day was a good start. But the real test is coming soon, when the economy begins to tank, as I think quite possible as the disgust with American government behavior deepens around the world. Trump is making the US a pariah, and it will have an effect on trade and on whether people travel to the US, want to invest in the US or want to buy government securities. The US brand is severely damaged in Europe, where I have been living since 1982.
I've heard people talk about cancelling the Olympics & the World Cup, too.
Foreign competitors are scared they won't be safe in this country.
Some countries feel that they "won't be allowed" to compete, since they come from a "banned" nation.
I actually think their cancellation would make SOME folks wake up to the danger. I KNOW any cancellation will have a big negative impact on businesses & local governments hosting.
What a mess. But thatbeing said, the June 14 protests made me proud to be an American again. And wonder what will it take for the repubicans to wake up and "smell" whatever they have created. And it is on them,orange menace can't do this alo e.
I have never seen a person look so miserable as Caving Don on his latest birthday. No one. Ever.
And he looked most miserable when a bunch of soldiers strolled along before his eyes while he was performing a salute. They looked as if they were about to start chatting about the weather, pointing up at the sky, gesturing.
Caving Don's salute was the epitome of disgrace, while he stood there, carrying the weight of hundreds of burgers and bottles of coke, but then, what can we expect from a man who calls soldiers losers and faked bone spurs to evade draft.
It’s time to leave the comfort of the sidelines and engage in the resistance.
There is still much to be done from the sidelines, phone banking, organizing, postcards. Let's not minimize less obvious efforts of those who cannot easily hot the streets.
Thank you for those of us who are mobility impaired, We have to contribute in the background. We are showing up in ways that we can.
No action is too small. Every little bit counts, every effort, every contribution.
Please report the bot right above your comment, sorted by top first.
Done.
We had people in walkers and wheelchairs show up at our protest in a 34000 pop town that probably went 75% for Trump. Other people drove down the street honking and supporting those of us in the sidewalk. That doesn't help the big city folks, but the mobility impaired are coming out in small towns.
Every voice matters.
Great to hear.
Jenn and Nanci, making frequent and direct calls to your Members of Congress is the second most effective means to make your voices heard. Such calls are even more effective than participating in protests! I hope you'll be able to make calls regularly -- they work!
The republican US representative for the district of the small town where I was raised placed an ad in the local newspaper with a phone number to call if one was having issues with Social Security/Medicare, etc. You can see where this is going in regards to if one was registered democrat or republican and how quickly matters might be resolved--or not--or if there's even a response. Who knows?
Poor spam troll.... still trying to find someone to click on your link?
It's programmed on an infinite loop, so it just keeps posting all over the place.
Damned AI thing!!!!
I do not live close to protests and live in a red area. However, I wore my Penzey's Resist t-shirt on errands all over the small town on Saturday morning. That led me to meet another like-minded person; often it is hard for us to find each other. At some point, I hope to have enough people for a group movement here. Wearing the t-shirt also led to someone who espouses the Republican line (a former friend) asking me what I am resisting, to which I replied, "The erosion of Democracy." The person replied, "Well, we know which side she is on," but her companion said, "Do we?" I pointed out that I was in Los Angeles at the time of the Rodney King riots, and what is happening in Los Angeles is no riot. Local law enforcement can handle it without the National Guard and the Marines. They decided not to continue the conversation.
Join Indivisible or another national group. It helps to connect with others and know you're not alone.
Brave women you are a hero. Embolden your friends and this evil will be defeated. disUSA is now = Germany 1936 but advancing speeding up to 1939 very fast. March on be brave. Thank you
My family left Germany in early 30s to escape fascists. I will not let their efforts be negated now.
You may find some encouragement in this article from others seemingly in your shoes.
https://wyofile.com/no-kings-rallies-come-to-rural-conservative-wyoming/
Also, Bravo on wearing your Resist t-shirt. I did the same on Saturday.
Good for you. If you figure out how to pitch ideas over the walls the Trumpists have thrown up around themselves, do it.
They're actually scared. They're not thinking clearly. Confrontation and contradiction do not work here.
What is needed is empathy (not sympathy). Understanding where folks around you are coming from can create an opening to successfully pitch that truth over their wall.
Penzey's rocks! Great way to find like-minded people.
I wore an RBG shirt while out and about Saturday. Was stopped and got complements on it several times.
You can consider signing up for 50501. Or as another person suggested, Indivisible.
“At some point, I hope to have enough people for a group movement here.”
I think 2 is the start of a great movement. Stay strong. You are a role model, when role models are what we need most.
I wore my Penzey’s shirt that day, too! It’s a beautiful shirt, and a good way to protest and support an excellent company.
Silence is a wise response while there is still some doubt about how big a fool you are.
Not much action there.
You wouldn't live in or around NW Tennessee by any chance, would you? :)
I'm in the Midwest.
There you go, Marliss! Crushing it! We have a dense community and on NextDoor and you find out quickly that they live among us and protest loudly with misinformation. I am glad to find like minded neighbors also. Personally, I’m not participating on ND unless I need to sell an item.
There are two important state elections this November -- gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey. The Democratic candidates need to win, and, even better, win overwhelmingly. Here are opportunities for all to participate.
Here in New Jersey, we have a pretty good candidate on the Democratic side. The RepublicRAT is promising to do anything Trump tells him to do. That doesn't sit well with a lot of people here - the feeling is that our Governor shouldn't just be a toady to the President.
Here in Virginia, we have an amazing Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Abigail Spanberger https://abigailspanberger.com. The primary is tomorrow and the rest of the Democratic slate looks to be strong. Get out and vote fellow Virginians! Let’s send Gov. Sweater Vest home.
Thank you from Australia!
If the USA goes under to fascism the rest of the free world won't last too long without it.
I think Australia and Canada can stay strong.
yes--and those things are important, too. however; if you can possibly manage it, join in and be counted in the crowd. the world is run by those who show up.
Everything you wrote is about engaging in the resistance. The nursing home bound folks who had their signs on their bed were also engaged on Saturday.
Outstanding!! Also, even in a chair/wheelchair/scooter or even a walker, you guys have advantages! you can tie helium balloons on them! decorate with streamers! lash tall poles onto the back with signs attached! also: dress colorfully and be outrageously noticeable!! Everyone has his or her own strengths.
Those of us who cannot handle the heat and humidity or who have mobility or other issues like advanced age and frailty can still support those who are more active. I stayed home, but I cheered on friends who went. I also post on Facebook and elsewhere whenever I see injustice, which means daily.
Agree.
I know those are the traditional, sensible suggestions. Anyone have any more creative, new suggestions? Just curious!
We need to flood the zone, like our oppressors are. Whichever the grass roots actions I suggested, but also rolling in and engaging younger voters. Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, podcasts …
Hi Jenn. I don’t think the comment indicated that calls, written communications and door knocking are passive. I think passive is just being stunned into inaction altogether. Keep up whatever actions you take, they all matter.
An anti-Trump protest held outside Vancouver’s American consulate building Saturday saw hundreds of demonstrators from both sides of the border come together to express their anger and frustration. 🇨🇦🇺🇸. Americans and Canadians joined in a rally against Grump and no kings. A TACO to go please!
Nice. 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 ✊
Side note: I'm not sure why, but when I try to paste flag emojis, they're not displaying, but other emojis do.
Great to hear.
I'm afraid this kind of talk underestimates the delicacy of our situation. Talk of "resistance" ignores the place where most of us find ourselves in this struggle--the political field of our neighborhoods and homes.
When we speak like this, it's easy to forget our "battle" is with our family, friends, and neighbors. We are dealing with a serious problem of undereducated, low-information voters captured by a propaganda machine and in thrall to a weirdly charismatic leader.
"Resistance" in this political field FEEDS the beast. Here we don't need "resistance;" we need something more subtle--more along the lines of becoming "wise as serpents, and innocent as doves."
Yes, in deeply red areas, it can be dangerous to be the "other." So far, the aggression I've experienced is minor--a stolen Harris sign, trash thrown in my yard, and the intrusion of my Jewish religion into conversations where it is not germaine--but as I am close to 80, I feel more vulnerable since my stamina is reduced and I am more frail than previously. Nonetheless, I persevere....
Thank you for persevering 💙
We’ve been dealing with them for years now. It’s time for them to deal with us!
This is exactly the attitude that will help lose our country—IMHO.
I asked my Republican neighbor if she is watching the news to see what is going on. She said she does not watch the news. She prays on it.
There is nothing anyone can do or say that will change most MAGA people.
I wonder if it is better to let them know how you honestly feel rather than pretending what they are saying and doing and voting is OK with you.
"There is nothing anyone can do or say that will change most MAGA people."
I agree. Racism and religious mystics, or those hiding bigotry behind professed religious beliefs make up a large contingent of MAGA.
Truly reformed racists are a very rare breed. Defenses for religion rely on circular logic, logic and reality won't make much of a dent.
We don’t need to convert anyone. That’s a fool’s errand. We have to lower the temperature, way down, so that it’s very hard to dehumanize each other. I don’t think we should underestimate the horrors we are all capable of once we’ve dehumanized the political opposition.
Love your Kokopelli icon, btw!
Personally, I'd likely try to just avoid such people. I'm lucky that I live in NYC - we don't have too many MAGAnuts around here, except maybe a few scattered ones in Staten Island and some isolated pockets in Queens.
Yeah, New Yorkers can be some of the most provincial people I know. Lol. I was born and raised there and still have lots of friends there. But set them down in Wyoming and they are Connecticut Yankees in King Arthur’s Court.
This has been an issue that I've regularly harped on ever since the 2016 election: MAGA didn't come out of nowhere. And when Trump is gone, it isn't going to evaporate, either. It's enticing to portray Trump as the catalyst for this extremist, authoritarian-supportive cult. But he really just became the mouthpiece to a movement which was simmering for a long time.
Sure, it feels really good to voice some harsh criticisms of Trump and MAGA, but that isn't going to foster a middle ground that will enable us to end this constant back-and-forth. I guarantee you there are plenty of MAGA types out there who have uttered this exact phrase: "We've been dealing with them for years now. It's time for them to deal with us." Dismissing MAGA out of hand will only ensure that this polarization continues indefinitely.
I had a police officer come to my home to warn me about a local far right bully making threats against me. He had previously come to a 73 year old woman’s yard, making threats and firing his shotgun into the air. I said tell him I put the slug barrel on my pump, the plug is out, it’s loaded buck and ball, and I don’t believe in warning shots. I won’t be shy. Guess what, ….
When you get em' on the run keep em' there.
Do you want the resisters to lie down and roll over? You ask questions, but seem inclined to be oppositional. Do you have a real solution?
I think you're viewing this through a very binary lens. The MAGA movement is actually a fairly small number of people, on the whole. There are an awful lot of Trump voters who haven't bought into Trump's whole agenda - maybe they liked his stance on immigration or wanted him to fix inflation, but aren't wild about all the other things he's trying to do. These are the people who you can have a productive dialogue with who are likely to be persuaded to shun the Republican Party in the next election (assuming we have one.) MAGA is a cult, and those people can't be reasoned with, but there are plenty of Republicans out there who are holding their noses right now who are amenable to a reasonable conversation.
They have been holding their noses for years and still keep voting Republican.
The David Brooks mantra. Trump and the Republicans are bad but the Democrats are worse, so keep voting Republican. And they think Democrats will always be worse until they turn into Reagan Republicans.
Hoping one day they will vote Democratic just does not work anymore, we are now an autocracy.
Of course not, Marie. Resisting, I am saying, is not the right word for the political task most of us have with our families and neighbors. Not yet, thank god, which isn’t to say that resistance in various ways is exactly what is needed in, say, the Central Valley of California where ICE is raiding neighborhoods.
But for most suburban Americans the nature of this political struggle is very different. The struggle is to open up paths of communication, building relationships, not in some futile effort to convert them, but to lower the temperature of the antagonism that Fox etc. keep trying to turn up. That’s not rolling over; that’s disarming your opponents.
There is only so much that can be done when people are being hit with propaganda 24 hours a day. MAGA is a minority. We are better off building a movement among those who didn't vote MAGA.
True that, but I’m talking about friends, family, and neighbors, where I live concretely day to day, not about the abstraction of a “movement.” I don’t write off people I know and love because they are politically deluded—as if I were all clarity and light, as if politics trumps (so to speak) my religion (i.e. love).
In due time.
👍🏻 Exactly
On the personal level, I don't try to convince my maga associates. Sometimes there are opportunities. I had a great conversation with a timber guy. We talked about the changing forest. I pointed out how I can tell the climate has changed over the last 10 years. Things I can see on my property, within sight of where we were standing. He eventually said, I believe climate change is real. We also connected in our love of the forests and nature. (We need more timber harvesting of trees that are dying in vast numbers and creating horrible fire hazards. Hundreds of thousands of acres surround me. Each summer I hope we don't burn to a crisp. They'd look much better as houses.)_
In California, from the late 1800s until the 1930s, the ancient primal forest of 800-year old sugar pine trees was logged across the 180 mile length of the Sierra Nevadas. After this complete clear cutting, trees grew back like weeds, thousands to the acre in place of 200-300 mature trees. This is the "forest" we now have.
When the drought came, these crowded young trees fell to the bark beetles the did not have the resources (sap) to fight off, and died in their millions. Until they finish rotting, in another decade or so, they will continue to fuel fires. They are inaccessible to be harvested for lumber. If the forest continues to be "managed" by logging the oldest trees, we will never have the old forest back, that blocks sunlight from undergrowth and is impervious to fire.
For the last 10 thousand years humans burned the forest. The trees are fire adapted. The estimates I've heard form the University foresters is that the forest was burned every 10 to 15 years. The large trees survived and the forest was opened up. Before humans there were elephants and natural fires from lightning strikes.
I've been here 20 years and did an initial thinning within the first 4 years. (Taking out 1-3inch trees that grew in thickets crowding out everything) Our rain patterns changed 10 years ago and the doug fir aren't happy. 90% of them have died. The last timber harvest here was 50 years ago.
"Until they finish rotting, in another decade or so, they will continue to fuel fires"
It takes a lot more than a decade or two for trees to rot. The problem we have is extreme fuel loads from a century of fire suppression. We need a lot more control burns, which are really difficult and expensive because you need just the right weather conditions and a big crew to manage it.
I spend 8 months out of the year burning brush piles to reduce the fuel load.
I hate clear cuts on steep slopes. I think you can manage a good forest and part of the cost can be paid for by a timber harvest. You leave big, healthy trees, cut some good sized medium trees and pile brush and slash to burn. I've seen some really good jobs...and some horrible ones too.
Exactly, Sharon. The goal is to reduce the antagonism. This turns down the temperature, one conversation at a time.
Sorry. Reducing the antagonism never was an option for Poland in 1939, just like it wasn’t an option for Ukraine in 2022.
And you really think we are there? I doubt that you do—or you’d be taking up arms, which is basically my point.
Why not both?
Of course both. But HOW? That’s really the question.
You're walking a tightrope for sure. On the one hand, you can resist by attending the rallies nearest you, communicating to your senators and representatives, etc. You can join a local resistance group such as 50501 or indivisible - if there are any.
As for dealing with your family, friends and neighbors, that will, as you said, require something more subtle. The MAGAnuts are so deeply submerged in Faux Newspeak and Noisemax propaganda that you can't directly point out the truth to them.
You mean like bite em' on the ankle and take a dump in their hair?
To win this war we must resist
DEMs need a star candidate who could run for presidency in 2028. Repbulicans have Trump who has clearly a star quality. DEMs need a counter figure that can catch headlines of major medias.
Trump may think he will run for a third term, but that’s unconstitutional and very unlikely to happen. None of his fledglings have his charisma. Vance? Don’t make me laugh! What we need to do is to work to end Trump’s regime before 2028 so that he cannot find a flunky to run in his place.
Bitcoin was invented by Peter Wayner at NSA. Federal whistleblower here. Please spread word. All evidence public. Risk analysis pre-cleared by Navy. safeintelligentsoundpqe.substack.com
I believe I might actually be ready to do something meaningful. I’d so much rather just be lazy and complain! Anyone with any plan ? Speak up! Nothing is dumber than doing nothing!
OHM!
Thanks to Prof Krugman and to all the people who participated to the No Kings rallies.
I agree, democracy in the US, and generally “the West”, will rely fundamentally on all of us, common citizens.
Let’s all stay united, let’s all stay strong.
Vote, vote, vote. If you do not vote, you do not count and your voice is silenced.
"On the contrary, the administration’s power grabs will become even more aggressive and desperate, with growing efforts to intimidate, prosecute and even physically harm political opponents, as well as widespread efforts to suppress dissent with force."
Agreed. Trump is all-in on his coup to end Democracy in America. He will accelerate, consider his shift from farm raids to city raids in hopes of more propaganda video to show US cities as hell holes.
Things will get darker before any real change but for the first time since the election, I'm hopeful for our future.
Every mother knows that when you tell a toddler or abusive husband, “No,” you get escalation of the bad behavior until they finally get it (in the case of the toddler, as they grow up emotionally) or accept your divorce (in the case of the narcissist). This is classic, classic. It will get worse before it gets better, but if you remain firm, the outcome is in your favor.
And what happens if divorce is the only way out? How do we divorce ourselves from half a narcissistic populace? Because he is just a reflection of those who voted for him. This runs so much deeper than just a handful of horrible legislators and policy makers. How long have we been trying to get a better country and continue to get slapped down? I never in a million years thought he would get reelected after that fiasco of a first term. And now he is ripping this country to shreds and plenty of Americans are just fine with it. So appalling and frustrating and we never seem to gain enough traction to make it stick.
1/3 voted for him. 70% didn’t . Problem is 1/3 that didn’t vote. They are responsible for Trump as well. What are they going to do now?
I was keeping tabs and the stats for the youth vote were terrible in larger blue states. Turnout in the big blue states was also not as high overall since there was so much focus on swing states. Now the blue states were not going to cause the win, but the low blue state turnout caused the national popular vote to be higher for Trump than Harris even though she won those states. This has likely emboldened him and those associated with him some. Normally, the larger blue states cause a Dem candidate to win the popular vote, even if they do not win the White House, but like I said they had low turnout esp for the youth vote.
Not true. Votes were manipulated. Evidence is coming out and court cases are pending. Blue voters showed up but the machines reversed their choices. Crime of the century!
Gee, most states have paper ballots including CA and voting machines are also NOT even connected to the internet. In addition, tabulating machines are tested before and after they are used to see that they are working properly.
Thus, as was pointed out on a 60 minutes episode with examples of how it works what you say is not remotely possible.
I hope you are simply making a joke.
There are no court cases either (except a judge allowing for "discovery" in Rockland County, NY) because one would have to show some evidence to have a case.
So they are "looking to see" if there is any actual evidence.
"In summary: ...the broader internet rumors about widespread missing votes or disappearing votes in the 2024 election lack credible evidence and have been debunked by fact-checking organizations. Election officials and experts emphasize that the election was administered effectively and the reported results are reliable."
Hahahahahahaha!! Thank you, bot, for the biggest laugh of the day --- and you had a lot of competition! Well done!
I think the time to challenge/ recount has PASSED.
Let's hope the no-shows snap out of their stupor and realize how important it is to just show up and vote - even if they're not enamored of the opposition candidate. It's not like we didn't give them fair warning.
It may have been stolen by Elon and a bunch of computer people. Follow along to see
https://electiontruthalliance.org/
https://smartelections.us/
Toddlers grow up. The fact that so many people are seriously reconsidering their allegiance to T as they do their growing is a sign of that. Fewer and fewer Americans are “just fine with it.” Glass less than half full is getting emptier by the week.
Be careful. I have heard from Republicans that don't like what Trump is doing but would still vote for him and his Republican acolytes again.
It follows the David Brooks mantra. Trump and the Republicans are bad but Democrats are worse. They still vote Republican. And I suspect many still, really like what he is doing.
Identity politics.
This is the fundamental problem with politics in America today. Voting for a candidate you don't agree with, just to maintain your identity, is absolute madness.
David Brooks keeps advising Democrats on whom to nominate and elect. It is not up to him.
David Brooks advises Democrats on whom to nominate so Republicans keep getting elected. His voice is heard by many Democrats.
So far we've seen DOGE fail spectacularly. Now there's a quiet scramble to recover vital government services. The tariffs aren't very popular and they've earned Trump the term TACO. I don't think the ICE raids are going over well. I can see people saying, "Wait a minute. That looks like the guy at the car wash I go to. I didn't mean him. I want the millions of criminals deported." There are a lot of military people who remember that their allegiance is to the Constitution and not a President. The savage cuts to the VA aren't making them any friends either.
Yes. It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better, if it does. But there's a reason Freedom and Bravery are usually linked.
There are still millions of MAGAs who believe there are "millions" of "criminals" among immigrants. That's the standard propaganda line from the administration and from Fox "News."
Great post, perfect musical selection. There were hundreds of people at my small rural town’s protest, the largest one ever. And with more support shown from people driving by. The atmosphere was electric and the signs were plentiful, inventive and clever. It is heartening to know there are so many like minded people out there. We intend to save democracy!
It's really less than half - just more vocal than most. We've been dealing with this since the end of the Civil War and the beginning of "the lost cause". The only thing we can do is smack them down again.
We also have to deal with how the reichwing media abuses the first amendment. Freedom of speech is no excuse for the endless string of lies coming out of Faux Newspeak, Snoozemax, OAN, Breitbart, Infowars, etc.
We'll also have to figure out how to deal with all the reichwing "social" media, QAnon, 4chan, 8chan, 卐itter, "Truth Social", and so on. I don't know the answer to that, but we'll have to deal with it somehow.
Education? Learning critical thinking skills? Otherwise its just repression from the other side,
Unfortunately, they consider education and being taught critical thinking skills to be repression from the other side. It's a no win situation.
The problem for nearly twenty years has been an inability to remain firm, largely powered by the number of "moderates," "centrists," "swing voters," and others who determine the outcome of elections, who've absolutely refused for two decades to do treat the GOP as the emergency situation that it is and only turn out in times of crisis on the scale of the Great Recession or Covid.
We've known since the Bush years at the very latest that the GOP was an out-of-control threat to the nation and that the only way to deal with that threat would be to put them give them the sort of extended time-out that Democrats were given after the Civil War and Republicans after the Great Depression. Those voters and institutions who could deliver that time-out have steadfastly refused to do so, so the problem keeps getting worse. Difficult to conceive of *what* would finally light a fire under their asses; if 1/6 didn't do it, I can't imagine what will.
I actually think it's the exact opposite. What happened was that the rise of the internet made it easier to entice people to abandon any middle ground and commonality and increasingly silo themselves, to the point that Moderates and Centrists lost exposure. It's hard to stoke fear and outrage by promoting a Centrist position. If all you see are message boards and a Facebook feed filled with pro-life comments, for example, you're going to start thinking that all of America agrees with you. At that point it's easy to give up on compromise.
I agree. The explanatory frame you've noted is a best fit for Trump.
Which is helpful and terrifying.
Agree. However, its amazing how ignorant Trump is. He was truly surprised that his immigration crackdown is sweeping up people who've been living and working in low paid, but vital jobs for decades. His posts about ICE going after farm workers and the hospitality industry were fascinating. I think he really thinks there are millions of criminal immigrants.
I wonder if these unpopular ICE raids will end up similar to DOGE, where they stomp all over, create havoc and can't find the waste, fraud and abuse? Like the tariffs that turn out to be own goals and have to be walked back?
A lot of this is the result of FOX and right wing propaganda that's been going on for 40 years.
Although the TACO Man ostensibly called off his ICE dogs who were raiding farms, packing-houses, restaurants, etc., cos their (largely) GOPer owners were whining about ravaging their work-forces, tRump this weekend doubled down on "enforcement in 'Democrat'- run big cities, posting a long and abusive screed directed toward Blue cities across the country.
So, as numbers *may* fall in some sectors, others will be available to pick up the slack, which clearly indicates that large-scale sweeps targeting any and all Brown people — citizens or not — will be stepped up.
The fight is only beginning, people, as no end to ultra-aggressive "remigration" is in sight, so stay vigilant and protect your fellow residents and citizens from the depredations of a runaway state apparatus,
As far as I'm concerned, Trump has blood on his hands for the assassinations and grave injuries in Minnesota. Given the rant he posted on Lie Social targeting Democrats and sanctuary cities I suspect we may be in for more of the same. Yet the Republicans in Congress do nothing. Hopefully they will pay at the ballot box next year, assuming we even have elections which is not guaranteed.
Your last sentence is what scares me the most.
It should scare you and others. It is possible that the elections will not be free and fair. You then need to ask yourself what are your options for peaceful resistance? Will California stay in the union?
But check out political hardheads like Greg Sargent at TNR. He says how Trump's people definitely act like elections still matter so we should too.
By all means participate in the next election (if there is still a functioning republic). However, participate but do so knowing that there may be “voter suppression” or fraud (asking secretaries of state to find extra votes) so start thinking about how to resist peacefully. It may become necessary for California to withhold taxes and then leave the dying republic.
California secede? What could possibly go wrong with that?
https://www.fdd.org/analysis/op_eds/2025/02/23/why-russia-wants-to-see-california-secede/
And the elections may be crooked....
Research is ongoing about the cheating in the 2024 election - it was prevalent in all the fringe states see the results at ETA - re - the votes in Pennsylvania and in Nevada:
https://electiontruthalliance.org/
I quote:
Using the Cast Vote Record (“CVR”) data for Clark County, the Election Truth Alliance (ETA) has identified voting pattern anomalies of significant concern. Our analysis uncovers unusual phenomena in the Early Voting results not present in Election Day voting or Mail-In Voting results.
Drop-Off Difference: The term "drop-off votes" refers to the votes cast for a presidential candidate versus the votes cast for a down-ballot candidate of the same party. In Clark County, as was the case across the swing states in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, there is a significant difference between Trump’s drop-off rate (+10.54%) and Harris’s drop-off rate (+1.07%).
Increased Volume of Votes Linked to Greater Discrepancies: The greater number of ballots cast and processed in Early Voting, the more Trump’s vote count increased while Harris’s vote count decreased. The pattern is more distinct (closer to 60% votes for Trump, closer to 40% votes for Harris) with more ballots processed by a given tabulator.
Abnormal Clustering: In contrast to Election Day voting, Early Vote results display an unusual pattern: once approximately 250 ballots have been processed a visible shift is observed, resulting in a high degree of clustering and unusual uniformity. This is a departure from expected human voting behavior.
NO! The elections WILL BE CROOKED! No “may be” about it!
One of the most underreported side effects of the Gabby Giffords shooting all the way back in 2011 was multiple moderate Republicans in Arizona deciding not to run for reelection because they were afraid of getting killed.
I commented at the time that we were already inching into rule-through-terror: if right-wing politicians and public figures are allowed to just keep calling for "Second Amendment solutions" and whatnot against Democrats every single day, knowing that there are enough lunatics out there who'll go ahead and act of their own initiative, then you don't actually need an official Ku Klux Klan or SA type organization with members who meet and receive orders from on high about who they're going to beat up this time.
MAGA dies with Donald.
Vance could be to Trump what Maduro is to Chavez. Saying MAGA dies with Donald doesn't mean things will get better.
No, as MAGA hatred and cruelty have infected millions. They’ll likely lack a charismatic leader when Trump crumps.
Yes, but he has the charisma of a wet sock. He may remain committed to the project, but he does not enjoy the same slavish devotion that Trump does. So on the balance I think he would be less capable of destroying the country.
Maduro could not be described as particularly charismatic and I doubt he inspires slavish devotion either. Chavistas don't even like him, and yet he is still in power.
TACO Don is just the symptom. The Republican party is the disease. They have selected him as their symbol three times now. We need to stop thinking he is the problem. Sadly many people want an authoritarian ruler who will tell them they are fine and the problem is all the others: the other can be be different in any way, skin, religion, sex. Just as long as they car told they are better than the "other" they will continue.
The problem isn't MAGA. The problem is the GOP. It's going to continue to throw up new illiterate authoritarian lunatics until it's dealt with.
I'm so old I remember when people were telling me the party would never find a guy as far right as George W. Bush.
When a contractor proudly announced that he’d painted the Naval Observatory, my five-year-old asked, “Dan Quayle’s house?” and guffawed. He’d found the “potatoe” gaffe hilarious.
I have to disagree with this. It's a nice sentiment, but not at all a given. MAGA is composed of people who maintain a persecution complex. They truly believe that they've been wronged throughout life, which means they will continue to believe that, long after Dump is gone. This president personified their own grievances, which is how he came to be so popular with them. As long as someone, anyone, champions these people's persecution complexes, MAGA will live on.
Yeah he is the deplorables leader, their “charismatic” one, and indeed he is Teflon. Without him, the venom leaves…
I understand what you’re saying, but “trying to be more likeable” is (thankfully) not any sort of substitute for the weird hypnotic power that Trump has over his many minions. To me, MAGA disappears in infighting once he’s gone. There’s nothing but money to hold it together in his absence, and, though, money can do huge damage in politics, as we’ve seen, it still can’t buy the crazy fealty that MAGA has shown.
I agree with you! The trumpets are ALL about Trump, not about policy. It’s absolutely a cult thing.
Totally disagree. MAGA loves trump because he hates who they hate. It’s nothing about gop values other than racism.
Thankfully, even politician's staff use perplexity and language models. Believing that large swaths of MAGA voters will accept an outcome is hilarious.
Your thoughts do not prove that our situation is hopeless, but only that it is extremely difficult. Do not capitulate like the cowardly law firms. Face the threat and join the opposition!
You did a fine job of describing our enemy but completely forgot to give the opposition any ink.
The enemy: perhaps 30%
Our opposition a good 70%
Their “well oiled“ propaganda machine just doesn’t have the numbers.
Where we’re still weak is in the Republican congress, but not by much.
As those Republicans witness the respective turnouts for No Kings day as opposed to Mr Stable Genius’s parade … it’s a no contest. And keep in mind THEY did not show up for Trump’s pathetic show — that’s a BIG deal; finally they show a sign of breaking ranks by snubbing their Dear Leader.
I’d be wary of giving MAGA too much credit. Keep in mind their propaganda is just that: propaganda. We have hard facts and reality on our side. And … don’t ignore:
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice"
400 years is a long arc! I hate to sound like a wet blanket today, especially after such an exhilarating weekend. But it just doesn't seem like we are making any lasting progress. The bigger picture is moving in the wrong direction. The SC rulings, climate change, what this country is tacitly allowing on immigration and fascism and feeling like we have no power to stop it is so frustrating. My lifetime has been spent fighting and losing most of the fights. And it is all against big money.
Patience my good friend. Patience.
It’s not 400 years. It’s only been about 140 days and we’re making good progress. Some things in life take time for many to see the reality. But many are and more each day. Were The Stable Genius to run for office today he’d lose in a landslide.
You speak the difficult truth! That proverbial arc keeps missing its mark.
Women's rights, civil rights, voting rights, environmental rights, the sale and use of public lands, gun control, universal healthcare, Trump's blatant use of the White House for personal gain, the SC ruling on immunity - far out of reach for the average citizen to address easily - just off the top of my head. I look at democracies around us and am astounded at their progressiveness, and we can't even get the simplest gun safety laws passed after school children are mowed down inside their classrooms. And it ALL involves money. If we can get our fellow citizens to realize they are pawns being used by the rich to buy this country for themselves, we just might be able to save our democracy. But I am in a sour mood this morning to match the weather and the horrendous assassination of the state legislator in Minnesota. It will be short-lived though. I will step back into the fight tomorrow!
Dirk, yes but…MAGA (and by extension its willing accomplices in position in the Republican Party) are so much better than the Democrats at all the power plays, more ruthless, more focussed, more effective. Cynical and hypocritical too of course. And until the Democrats whip into line their own left wing, MAGA and the GOP will continue to run rings around them. The best example is Trump’s 2024 election ad: “Kamala is for they/them. Donald Trump is for you.” Simple, and devastating. Joe Biden on his first day in office in January 2021 signed an EO supporting “affirmative care” for transgender minors, including surgery. He took 20 months (!) to move to get control of the southern border. The Dems promoted student loan forgiveness, overlooking that 60pc of Americans did not manage to go to college, yet their taxes are expected to fund this forgiveness. All these policies are electoral poison yet they are causes célèbre to the bien pensants. MAGA and the GOP don’t have to do very much when the opposition keeps shooting itself in the foot (or is it the head?).
The problem of discharging student loan debt through bankruptcy was it was becoming a common dodge.
We have an average income and have put 3 kids through college without debt. They went to community college, worked while in school and we all lived relatively frugally. One went to an elite school, but her tuition was less than community college because of scholarships.
I don't want to pay student loans for people to have the "college" experience.
There should be loans and grants, but there should also be vocational programs and apprenticeship programs.
Unfortunately, I think you're right. I think we need both to focus on rooting out all of MAGA, not just its head clown, and also on putting forward a solid vision of the real democracy we want. Ordinary Americans who don't want to live under fascism (and I believe that that is a large majority of our country) need to find a way to unite to put forward this vision, and then hopefully also decide that we want a country that truly represents and cares for all of its people, the peoples of the world and our natural environment.
That will depend on what the Blue Team actually proposes as policy and I see too much waffling to supposedly popular Maga claims - not resistance in the form of insisting that immigration and immigrants are good and even necessary parts of our society and thus a clear path to citizenship has to be a priority. Also a failure to shout out about debt relief (not just college debt but medical debt and usurious credit card debts) and tax reform. And standing up for care and the workers who provide care against the profit model of hospitals (where have all the genuinely nonprofit ones gone?) and private health insurance. And overturning Citizens United by specific limitations on spending and transparency in giving. Etc. we do need an alternative vision of what we can and should be able to rely on from our government at all levels.
Agreed. Trump is just a puppet - an inconvenient one at this point because he is too erratic. The puppet masters, like Thiel (who situated Vance as VP) and Musk, are who we should be concerned about. They will determine who wins the next election.
Perhaps there are also two other issues at work. One is that Americans have been taking democracy for granted (as compared to (West-) Germans, for example, who still carry the memory of a country that was not democratic but fascist and thus still appreciate democracy. The caveat "West" needs to be made as the AfD is majority party in all of the former East-German states.)
Secondly, democracy works when people care for the wellbeing of others. I would argue that American culture at large seems more focused on the individual well-being and less so about others. Of course, that does not mean that Americans are uncaring but considering how difficult it was to implement healthcare and it still isn't universal, tells part of the story. Historically and culturally, social welfare and caring for each other as a whole is not quite part of the internal fabric. But, I would argue, these are necessary for a democracy to sustain.
The difference is that no successor will have the congressional Republicans under their thumb the way Trump does, because only Trump has the cult following to get a representative primaried with one tweet.
While image is everything and images of mass protests can help motivate many from the sidelines into the street, it is worth remembering that our mainstream media is absolutely 110% in the tank for Trump, Trumpism, and Republicans.
Consider that Trump won with a narrow margin, yet the media portrays him as "having a mandate" and winning "decisively." As a result, Democrats "need to work with Republicans" and must "re-align themselves with mainstream values." (Conversely, when a Democrat wins the White House, they are ALWAYS admonished that they need to "work across the aisle" and must implement Republican policies no matter what the voters might have said they wanted.)
This is why it is so very important not to give most of the MSM clicks and views hit them in their ratings. MSNBC, while flawed, still reliably yanks his chain. There is plenty of accurate reporting and analysis on Substack and other independent journalism sites.
Thanks for the MSNBC reminder. Disgusted with NYT and WaPo. Good to see that the Chicago Tribune featured No Kings Day very prominently.
WSJ said there were tens of thousands at Trumps parade, hundreds of thousands at peaceful protests around the country. I think that was a big undercount for the protests, but it was an interesting observation from a Rupert Murdoch publication.
I was at a protest with 5-6000 protestors. There were nowhere near that many at tRump's waste of time.
Totally agree. I watched the Military Parade on Saturday on tv and was struck at how lacking in atmosphere it seemed. A display of military equipment which presumably could be destroyed by drones that cost a few hundred dollars, judging by the performance recently of Ukraine. I suspect the Pentagon must have been squirming with embarrassment at the whole spectacle to flatter a foolish president.
In contrast an actual parade in honour of King Charles birthday went rather well on Saturday, Kings staying where they belong, on the other side of the Atlantic.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c3rpgej0jw4o
and a lot of the soldiers in the 'parade' marched casually, not smartly in step. They know how to march and chose not to. Internal resistance ...
I noticed that in the clips I saw. I grew up in the Army. Any DI who saw that had to be astonished.
How interesting. I guess they did a lot of historical military stuff in the parade too. I heard there wasn't a lot of Dear Leader by the military.
The Brits do a lovely parade. Of course their monarch is constrained by parliament and does useful things like working for action on climate change, environmental justice and poverty.
Thanks for that! The BBC highlights did make the guardsmen look impressive
Well said Professor. The military parade didn’t even come close to the spectacles we see in other authoritarian kakistocracies; no missiles to display????
This is exactly the type of bust you’d expect from a Defense Department being run by a two-bit weekend update bobblehead from Fox News. It was all Pomp, and no circumstance!
That said, you’re right, the threat is even more dangerous now that Trump’s approval ratings are plummeting, and even his most hardcore supporters stayed home; I guess Red America is finally realizing that riding this country of criminal elements means EVERYONE! And perhaps his tariff policies aren’t going to make anyone better off. Expect much more intimidation tactics and ruthless manhandling of our politicians, and citizenry.
Bottom line, we are standing at the precipice, and we can either jump into the abyss willingly, or fight like our lives depend on it, because it does. We’re no done fighting, and if it means war; bring it on!
Is anyone getting sick of winning yet? I know I am! IMHO…:)
No, no, no; do not bring on war. It may sound counter-intuitive, but only peaceful resistance will work.
It’s metaphorical!…:)
Even metaphorical it will be taken out of context.
Peaceful resistance only works if you have the moral high ground. It is not enough to say, “No. This is bad. We have to stop it.” There has to be shared vision of a genuinely better future for nonviolence to work.
For the better or worse, streets in DC have not been designed for M1's or ICBMs rumbling down on them.
Agreed, but it just makes the parade seem minuscule, worthless and weak; just like Trump!…:)
The optics is incredibly important, but keep in mind that this means PEACEFUL protests. Nobody would like to see a bunch of MAGA hecklers stomped into the dirt for heckling an otherwise peaceful group of true patriots more than I would, but we cannot do that. Our audience is that part of the U.S. still sitting on the sidelines, and we want them to see us cheering democracy, pointing out the obvious hateful hypocrisy of the Trumpistas, and not engaging in anything at all that can be called a riot. That’s what made Saturday so fantastic. Huge crowds, and almost all of them completely peaceful. Now we need to double the size next time.
It felt like a complete turnaround from the 1960s to be waving flags, reciting the preamble to the Constitution, being a "true patriot".
There was also a lot of sloppy marching at the parade, which military veterans have attributed to soldiers phoning it in or intentionally screwing up. This, too, sent a message: Despite Trump’s choreographed Fort Bragg reception, he doesn’t have the unquestioning support of the military.
As well he shouldn't!
They are supposed to support our Constitution and defend our country.
Professor Krugman: i read online that there were a few more than 8,500 people at the orange rapist's military parade themed birthday party. (i've also read that agent orange was so humiliated by the turn-out that he cried. this is a rumour, right?)
i should also point out that many thousands turned out for NoKingsDay protests internationally -- has anyone got a count for those protestors yet? and i'm also curious to know how many people Pope Leo managed to attract to his massive outdoor mass? i heard a million people were expected but ... ??
I went to No Kings in Tallahassee - 5000 showed up in a city of 192,000 in a ruby red county.
Could you give us links to your sources please?
Very pleased to see President Macron visit Greenland yesterday at the invitation of the Greenland prime minister, to emphasise Greenland's autonomy and right of self determination. He got a warm welcome, unlike the protests which Vance was facing.
What on earth happened to what appeared to be the primary philosophy of the Republicans: small government because you can’t trust them with your money or your liberty?
They never really believed in small government, small welfare for the poor, big welfare for the rich.
THAT + "law & order" + "fiscal responsibility" have been the republicans faux mantra since Eisenhower DIED -- 🤔 60+ YEARS ago! Every single time that "party" gains the "upper hand" by a majority of numbers, in whatever level of Federal or State government in which they are supposed to SERVE the people, they balloon budgets and break the bank and leave only debt behind when they slink out of gov. From the middle of the last century, republicans have done everything in their power to destroy the foundations of this country.
Mercifully, we have our neighbors to the North (🇨🇦) and to the South (🇲🇽), not to mention the rest of the World, to keep the U.S. in check -- since our very own judiciary and legislative branches of government are in the slim majority of fascist enablers. We, the PEOPLE, are NOT alone and WE will not be forgotten, nor will we give out, give up or give in! Thx, MLK, JR., et al.
Warning to Gens X, Y, and Z, better get it together while you can! We Boomers are your last mentors. Our parents are going, if not gone. YOU MUST be prepared to move this country forward not backward to Pre-14th and 19th America! Don't just vote; run for office if you TRULY want to save this country!
As always, thank you Professor Krugman! It's delightful you're here with us!!! 🙋🏾♀️ Namasté, Y'all! 🇨🇦🇺🇲🇲🇽
No Kings Day was a good start. But the real test is coming soon, when the economy begins to tank, as I think quite possible as the disgust with American government behavior deepens around the world. Trump is making the US a pariah, and it will have an effect on trade and on whether people travel to the US, want to invest in the US or want to buy government securities. The US brand is severely damaged in Europe, where I have been living since 1982.
I've heard people talk about cancelling the Olympics & the World Cup, too.
Foreign competitors are scared they won't be safe in this country.
Some countries feel that they "won't be allowed" to compete, since they come from a "banned" nation.
I actually think their cancellation would make SOME folks wake up to the danger. I KNOW any cancellation will have a big negative impact on businesses & local governments hosting.
We'll have to wait & see on these potentials.
What a mess. But thatbeing said, the June 14 protests made me proud to be an American again. And wonder what will it take for the repubicans to wake up and "smell" whatever they have created. And it is on them,orange menace can't do this alo e.
The Republicans politicians are wide awake and know very well what they're doing.
I have never seen a person look so miserable as Caving Don on his latest birthday. No one. Ever.
And he looked most miserable when a bunch of soldiers strolled along before his eyes while he was performing a salute. They looked as if they were about to start chatting about the weather, pointing up at the sky, gesturing.
Caving Don's salute was the epitome of disgrace, while he stood there, carrying the weight of hundreds of burgers and bottles of coke, but then, what can we expect from a man who calls soldiers losers and faked bone spurs to evade draft.
I had tears in my eyes from joy...