Across the nation, from the steps of the Capitol to the smallest town squares, over seven million Americans took to the streets in the historic “No Kings” rallies, a movement defined not by anger or destruction, but by an unwavering belief in democracy itself. The marches—peaceful, orderly, and inclusive—spanned generations and political backgrounds. Teachers stood beside veterans, parents pushed strollers, and students carried handmade signs echoing the sentiment that birthed a nation: “We will not be ruled by kings.”
Despite the movement’s nonviolent discipline—its organizers emphasizing peace in every statement and its participants leaving parks cleaner than they found them—the Trump administration and its echo chambers at Fox News predictably cast the protests as “anti-American” and “dangerous.” In the alternate reality of MAGA media, democracy itself has become an act of rebellion, and dissent is labeled as treason.
Within hours, headlines began to twist: “Radical Left Mobs Disrupt American Life,” “Protests Threaten National Security,” “Patriots Under Attack.” Cameras zoomed in on the rare outlier moment of a single shouting protester, looping it endlessly to feed a narrative of chaos. What Fox ignored were the thousands of moments of grace—the quiet songs sung in unison, the police officers shaking hands with marchers, the speeches quoting the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
The irony, of course, is painful. The “No Kings” rallies are perhaps the most American thing that could happen in this moment: a people standing up against the creeping notion of one man above the law, one voice above the many. The Founders themselves would recognize these crowds not as rebels, but as heirs to their cause.
But in Trump’s America, patriotism has been redefined—not as love of country, but as loyalty to a man. To challenge him, to question his authority, to say aloud that America belongs to all its citizens, not to a single gilded ego, is to be branded an enemy. And so, seven million peaceful Americans are slandered as violent, anti-American, and dangerous—when in truth, they are the living proof that democracy still breathes, still fights, and still refuses to bow to any would-be king.
It’s been one month since the hostel take over began… Donald said he knew nothing about Project 2025 the Heritage Foundation step by step plan to dismantle the federal government but according to the Huffington Post based on Executive Orders 2/3 of the plan has been set into motion. The Trumpubicans (refused to call them Republicans) control the Executive, House, Senate and the Supreme Court and are lying down abdicating their constitutional responsibility. The non-agency D.O.G.E (run by an unelected billionaire) has been allowed unfettered access to every part of the government… ‘our goal is to route out fraud and abuse’ … that is a laugh because if that were you goal you would hire forensic accountants not 18- to 25-year-old coders with zero experience. The talking heads feed us the line that why would the richest man in the world want to steal our personal information… lets see control, would by my first guess. The Democrats can only play spoiler as DOGE and King Donald raid the treasury because the toadies on the Red Side of the Isle refuse to do anything but perpetuate the terrors of allowing 10 transgender athletes to participate in high school and/or collegiate sports.
The DOGE has ‘identified’ fraud in the DOD budget, so they want to cut $450 million in nutrition assistance for lower enlisted troops this while granting $800 million to Tesla for armored CyberTrucks and a couple billion to Space X… I see no conflict of interest…
The Red Hat Senate has confirmed all his cabinet picks no matter how unqualified to include today Cash Petel to lead the FBI… let the retribution tour begin. He promised that he would do that but all Donny’s Supreme Court Nominees said Roe was established law so I have zero confidence that we won’t see Biden, Clinton, Obama and Harris rounded up and brought before a court that Donald will be presiding over. It won’t surprise me if anyone that was involved in the Jan 6 cases are rounded up and sent to Guantanamo and Jack Smith will most likely face public execution.
30 days down 1430 left, 700 if we have elections in 26 and the Democrats retake both houses of the Congress will we make it that far.
Yesterday there was a reference to a statement made about if you commit a crime in defense of the nation you have done no wrong or broken no law. It is time someone or somebody of empowered individuals take it seriously and defends this nation and our constitution and takes out the enemy sitting in the White House and all his little playmates, no jury will ever convict them of wrongdoing no matter what must be done.
Agencies designated to protect us from harm of a 1000 different types are being stripped of personnel. Planes are crashing, disease is on the rise, bird flu and measles to name but two. Prices are rising and are only going to get worse as the tariffs get put in place. This could result in the stoppage of electric power and other fuels being sent from Canada, all because of a ego trip. How much bull shit do we need to see before even the members of the Republican party decide to get off their asses and do something.
The Constitution may give certain guidance as to how to remove an obviously unfit President, but at this moment we do not have the luxury of time and lives being lost to be fussy about the method, just do it. If that means go and arrest and remove those that are currently screwing up the works, do it. If ICE can go into schools, churches and hospitals to remove “illegal aliens” then Secret Service or FBI should be able to do the same to protect us from mental illness and just plain nasty stupidity. This applies also to the appointees that have no clue as to what they are supposed to do or how to do it. Who in their right mind puts a TV news person in charge of Defense, and what idiot took the job and acted like they were capable of doing it? Defense is the business of the military, and it takes years to be able to grasp the necessary components of the subject to be effective at it, that is why they give the jobs to Generals not Privates.
If we thought it couldn’t get worse, we were wrong. Trump has recognized a dictator as the legitimate leader of a nation. He has sent the Sec of State to Panama to demand that the canal zone be turned over to the US. He has made enough threats toward Denmark over Greenland that they are now getting all in the European Union to prepare for war with the United States. Call this what you will but that man is totally off his rocker and needs to be put in a padded cell.
To ignore the orders of the Courts should raise flags with not only the judges but with all of the legal system representatives at all levels. Will the Supreme Court be fired because they get paid too much and Musk doesn’t like them? When the court system gives in to this effort to overthrow the government we are all being flushed down the tubes. When a dictatorship is in place there is no need for the Congress or Judiciary, so all of those people become excess. No matter how afraid the republican members may be of being voted out they have to be aware that being terminated, period, is not going to be good for their future. As a body of empowered, by the Constitution, people they need to collectively stand up and reject this President and his cabinet to include the Vice President and his ass kissing south African hate monger.
If it comes to an assembly of citizens to do the take down, will the Capital Police resist or assist this group? Trump has done nothing to foster loyalty among those entities that are in place to protect him and if confronted they have no reason to stand. They have more reasons to allow the proceedings to continue and have Trump removed. Even to people that were released from prison from the Jan 6 riot have very little reason to stand with him at present and the officers that were injured may not see protecting Trump as a plus on their resume.
The efforts to undermine or ruin what we as a collective nation have built to satisfy the ego of one person and line the pockets of only the wealthiest of our population does not justify surrender. He predicted a civil war but at present it is doubtful that he can raise enough support to keep him from losing. Before this goes any further it needs to be brought to an end, peacefully but an end.
Yesterday the 34 count Felon and Adjudicated Sexual Offender was reinstalled as the head of our government much to the shaggin and disappointment of many. In his address he stated that we are starting the Golden Era, “Unlike anything ever seen…” After that he signed executive orders receding the cap of pharmaceutical drugs for seniors and Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices and the $35.00 insulin cap, put in process to once again pull the United States out of the Paris Climate agreement and pardoned all the J6 individuals who assaulted police offices while trying to overturn an election. The law-and-order party just released criminals, some of whom confessed, that injured policed officers.
But let’s talk about the golden era that he wants to usher in with a little view of history…
The Gilded Age that started in the 1870s, was a period of economic growth as the United States jumped to the lead in industrialization ahead of Britain. The nation was rapidly expanding its economy into new areas, especially heavy industry like factories, railroads, and coal mining. Three societal problems facing America during the Gilded Age were political corruption, racial tensions, and economic inequality. Political corruption: The Gilded Age was marked by widespread political corruption, with politicians catering to business interests and participating in graft and bribery.
Well at least it starting out like last time… what could go wrong?
While there were some positives… Significant economic growth, technological advancements, and the rise of new industries. Those positives made men like Andrew Carnage, J.P. Morgan, John Rockefeller wealthy beyond belief but there was a cost. Those costs included exploitation of workers, dangerous working conditions, low wages, widespread poverty, political corruption, and the growing gap between the rich and poor. The ‘Gilded Age’ is also known as the age of the robber barons and that is the era Donald wants to bring back. A time when the rich get filthy rich and everyone else suffers… we already have Billionaires, which is obscene, but they want to be Trillionaires. This current round of aristocrats I don’t foresee making a sudden move to philanthropy like Rockefeller and Carnage did in the early 20th century. To date there isn’t a Hospital, Library, Museum, or any public project named after, Musk, Zuckerburg, Bezos, or Trump. Which hard to believe as much as Trump likes to put his name on things, I am sure there will be plenty of monuments to dear leader but they will have zero benefit other than ego aggrandizement.
Grover Cleveland and Donald Trump are two presidential phoenixes rising from the ashes of electoral defeat. But in the land of second chances, some sequels are best left on the cutting-room floor. Cleveland’s second act was a tragedy in four years, a cautionary tale the GOP seems hellbent on remaking, this time with more hairspray and fewer facts.
In 1892, Cleveland, like Trump in 2024, was resurrected by unwavering party loyalty despite losing the previous election. Both men, separated by time but united in their disdain for the “establishment,” demanded fealty with the fervor of medieval kings suffering from lead poisoning.
But the true test of a leader comes not from an audacious encore but the improvisation when chaos reigns. When faced with national crises, their ability to pivot was akin to that of the Titanic avoiding its infamous iceberg — tragically nonexistent and disastrously consequential.
For Cleveland, a Democrat, it was the Panic of 1893, a severe economic depression triggered by railroad overbuilding and shaky financing, which set off a series of bank failures. Within months, unemployment skyrocketed to nearly 20%, over 15,000 companies and 500 banks failed, and farmers in the South and Midwest faced ruin as crop prices plummeted. His inflexibility exacerbated the crisis as he rigidly hung on to the gold standard and fiscal conservatism, fracturing his Democratic Party.
Former President Donald Trump, Former President Grover Cleveland.
Trump, meanwhile, faced the Covid-19 pandemic with a mix of self-absorption and pseudoscience that would make snake oil salesmen blush. Trump’s erratic policy shifts on tariffs, immigration and foreign relations threaten to create both domestic and global chaos.
Despite their contrasting styles — Cleveland’s stubborn adherence versus Trump’s mercurial shifts — both approaches risk the same disastrous end: a party in disarray. Just as Cleveland’s policies led to William Jennings Bryan’s populist takeover of the Democrats in 1896, Trump’s volatility could trigger a schism between MAGA loyalists and traditional conservatives, fracturing the GOP coalition.
his investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020.
Trump, at 78, would be the oldest president ever inaugurated. As we learned from President Joe Biden, the commander in chief’s age isn’t just a number; it can be a problem. While some argue that Trump’s base is unbreakable, history suggests that even the most seemingly unassailable political figures face internal challenges, particularly as they age. Their grip on power wanes. Why wouldn’t it? Trump’s glory days are likely behind him; Republicans need to chart a course for the future.
For Cleveland, the second-term midterms were a political bloodbath, ushering in nearly two decades of Democratic exile from power. In a stunning reversal, Republicans gained 130 seats in the House of Representatives, the largest swing in a midterm election in U.S. history, while also securing a 10-seat majority in the Senate. By 1896, Cleveland, 59, found himself a pariah in the party he once led.
If Trump’s second term is a disaster right out of the gate, his party may take a beating in the 2026 midterms. And it’s also not hard to imagine a third party capitalizing on widespread electorate cynicism toward Democrats and Republicans. After Cleveland’s presidency, the People’s Party (or Populists) briefly threatened the two-party system — until the Democrats absorbed them. As electoral cynicism reaches levels that would make Diogenes proud, the preconditions for a third party to find its footing might soon be complete.
Comebacks can be pyrrhic victories, triumphs that contain the seeds of their own destruction. Cleveland’s presidency imploded in a shower of broken promises and shattered alliances. So, too, might Trump’s — and with it, the future of a party that has hitched its wagon to a reality star that may well be a supernova in disguise. The stage is set for a performance that could reshape not just Trump’s legacy, but the very foundations of the Republican Party.
Will the GOP heed this historical cautionary tale before the midterms or are they doomed to star in a remake of a flop, hoping against hope that this time, the ending will be different? As the curtain rises on this improbable second act, one thing is certain: In the theater of American politics, the most tragic plays are often those we’ve seen before.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
So yesterday because the Democrats are not children and follow tradition DJT was confirmed as the 47th President of these United States… I hope that there will be an election in 4 years to have a 48th.
Dear Leader is already trying to flex his ‘authority’, calling for dismissal of the sentencing in NY in his 38 count felony conviction… “I’m the President, you can’t do that…” well you’re not President for 13 more days.
He is also calling for the U.S. to take back the Panama Canal, which was never ours, and to annex Canada and Greenland in a Hitler, Putin, move of Imperial power. Thankfully those countries aren’t afraid of the would be king. He said he wants to be a dictator on day one but only for a day… no dictator in history was only dictator for a day, so we will see how much of our elected officials have the back bone to stand up to Donald.
His brainwashed hordes are soon going to find out that he doesn’t have the power he professes to have. He promise on day one gas & grocery prices would come down, if anyone watched his interview he has already recanted that saying, “Its is really had to get priced down once they have gone up.” He isn’t going to deport millions of undocumented people while increasing the number H1B visas so that skilled labor can be brought in to take American jobs.
The saddest thing to report is that by all economic and legal measures we have a very strong economy and crime and murder rates are at record lows, his red hat minions don’t know that but on 1/21/25 all these success indicators will be acknowledged and all will be attributed to DJT triumphant 2nd term. Every accomplishment from the Biden Presidency will be claimed by Donald and all those he voted against the very projects they voted against. I is assured that tax cuts for the very wealthy will go through and the GOP will do everything in their power to balance those cuts by killing programs to help children and veterans. Those hypocritical cuts will be while they are trying to have a national abortion ban and claiming they support our troops.
We have a couple of years of a real shit show, lets just hope that they are a incompetent as the last time DJT sat in the White House.
This is a repost from when I first started this page but it is more relevant than ever the Leader that this current iteration of his party are not what he stood for the Trumpublicans are determined to divide further a fractured nation.
I am astounded that the Republican Party continues to call themselves the Party of Lincoln. Yes, he was technically the first of the Republican Party but prior to Lincoln this was the Whig party more a federalist party the competing party was the Democratic Republican Party that had North and South contingents, both of which had their own ideas about slavery and its expansion. Lincoln’s VP in 1864 was Andrew Johnson who was a Tennessee Democratic Republican who had stayed silent during the being of the Civil War and in my opinion the current Republican party more represents.
There are many obvious contradictions in the current Republican and the man they espouse to be steadfastly following.
Lincoln wanted to maintain the Union and went to war to do just that.
Current Republicans seem to want to dissolve the Union.
Lincoln proclaimed in his Gettysburg Address that line from the Constitution “that All Men are Created Equal” and by all accounts he meant it.
Can’t say that for the current party membership.
Voting down equal voting rights
Gerrymandering districts so that people of color are underrepresented.
Lincoln instituted the first Federal income tax and the original IRS to fund the Civil War with a progressive tax.
Current House of Representatives under slim Republican majority first bill to the floor was to abolish the IRS and institute a 30% federal sales tax.
Am I the only one that thinks that is regressive and would destroy our economy?
Trump wants to get rid of the IRS and institute tariffs on all imported goods
basically a tax on consumers that will bring zero dollars into the Treasury
I am sure that very few republicans today knew that the income tax was “their guys” doing. Well, I have news for you it was.
The current Republican Party still spouts the sentiments that Ronald Reagan stated while he was sitting in the White House, “ What is the biggest lie spoken (We am here from the government and here to help.)” Their new motto may as well be, “Government is broken, elect ME and I will prove it.”
I don’t know why some run for public office that have zero faith that the institution works and have no intention on fixing what they say is broken. The only rationale I can come up with is celebrity and power and that isn’t no reason to seek public office.
So I say lets stop calling this batch of Republicrats Lincolns Party and call them what they are the Destruction or Dismantlement Party (Trumpublicans). They are not America First as they proclaim they are in it for themselves and the moneyed interests that fill their coffers.
Authors Note: Sometimes I astonish myself. Before I wrote my last substack about Washington’s Crossing called Kneel. Pray. Win. I had written another one just in case things went South. That moment has come. The United States has voted for a dictatorship … and decisively. The Supreme Court will be lost for most of the century. Women will lose most of their reproductive rights and lives. And white people happily voted to impose tyranny over all other races and creeds. So what can you do that doesn’t involve the good Bourbon?
Let’s face it: America has fundamentally changed from what it was founded to be. It is now an autocracy ruled by the white tribe. Here is what I wrote a few weeks ago for that break-glass moment. Read it and Weep. Then get busy. We have work to do.
Imagine that it is Christmas morning in 1776. You are with George Washington’s army. Midway through the crossing, the Marblehead sailors who are rowing hear something. Before they can say a word, cannons sound all along the New Jersey side of the river. Washington’s daring move is defeated before the boats touch dry land. Imagine British cannon fire raining down on them as surprise British troops had moved from Princeton in the night, and the Hessians were waiting to the south and raking them with gunfire. Now, picture the American experiment slowly drifting as a drowned failure under the ice of the Delaware River … and George Washington’s corpse is being paraded by German mercenaries.
My dear readers, if you are reading this, then the worst has happened. Donald Trump has been elected the 47th President of the United States.
You are likely filled with two feelings. Some will be the same as you felt in 2016. You feel shame and grief. But now add a complete collapse of understanding of how the Trump train hit you into the mix. Your wits are torn asunder. Your heart aches and is in deep throbbing pain. You likely feel as if a close loved one has died, and you will be correct.
Like Washington, we risked a bold and daring campaign and since you are reading this, we have failed. Benjamin Franklin’s words now ring true. We were a Republic if we could’ve kept it. We did not and it died today, so Welcome to America, the Tyranny!
The End of 248 Years of Experimenting
What is now dying is the American experiment itself. And as our Russian enemies learned long ago (and passed on to their right-wing extremist toadies) was that the fastest way to kill Democracy was to use Democracy as the very knife to slit its throat. We do not have a president; we now have a King with all the powers George III had at the time of the American Revolution.
In the Star Wars movie Revenge of the Sith, Queen Amidala summed it up neatly when she said, “So this is how Liberty Dies, to thunderous applause.” Our problem is there is no Jedi order full of mystical space wizards to save us. We did this to ourselves by popular demand.
A Trump presidency means the United States is about to get the government his sycophants voted for. You likely feel adrift as a voter of progress, goodwill, and true of heart. We are on a boat alone in a vast ocean filled with terrible storms. But as all mariners know, there is a way for a sinking ship to save its crew and, in some instances, get back aboard and salvage it. But you can’t do it when crying, even if it’s a crying shame.
I feared for America these last few weeks; I believed we would win, but I kept a reserve of 5% caution that this could end in tragedy. (Author’s note: My prediction was 100% correct, and Trump won in a landslide.)
You are most likely feeling fear, trepidation, anxiety, and a burning pain in the middle of your gut that says things are going to get nasty. You are correct in those emotions as well. So, I will give you till the end of this article to feel all of those things and then get with the program.
At the end, I want you to have a deep, sobbing cry. Then I want you to stand up, get a hot beverage, and commit yourself to not surrendering all that you presently feel hold in your heart.
Trust me, I’m a widower, and your psychological well-being demands it. Your family will look to you, and your friends will want to lean on you for the stalwartness you need to develop pronto.
You must Hold Fast! That’s a nautical term to ‘grip the rope more tightly, or disaster will strike a worse blow than the first.’ Hold Fast. To what you know is right and true, and that is not MAGA. So no matter what they send at you, Hold Fast.
But Malcolm, why not just give in?
It is easy to surrender in a storm, to pass under the waves, and slowly die inside. It is easier not to engage, go into isolation, or try comprehending the crisis that befell us. I understand it.
You may want to do what I do when the politics are at their worst. I turn on MTV and watch the vapid video show Ridiculousness, or I dial up Midsomer Murders or Poirot and bingefor hours to cleanse my mind. But while I watch, I am also writing and formulating new ideas to help me with the predicament. I am constantly crafting new plans, whether for my house repairs, Christmas decorations, or memorial garden. Strategizing and adopting major projects is the highest form of grief management. Obsessively getting your affairs in order is something those of us who have lost immediate loved ones well understand.
However, one cannot – nay, must not surrender to the sweet, cold admission that it is hard to fight. It is hard to stand against outrages, insults, and arrogance. But those are your only choices on this day of days. You can surrender to an America that is dictatorial and fascistic and will grind into the day-to-day affairs of your life without any input from you, your friends, or your family. You can let other people dictate what your life will be. That’s why it’s called a dictatorship. Information will now be sent to you in any form of “truth” they want you to see.
Or you can commit to taking some time off between now and inauguration day and prepare yourself for the upcoming political battle. It will not be waged with weapons of war, as many on the extreme right-wing lustfully imagine. In this struggle, you must become the ultimate ally of the true promise of the Constitution of the United States. And, like the oath, we swear in the Armed Forces that we will uphold, protect, and defend that sacred document. The time has come for you to do the same.
I don’t want you to do it in the cheesy Q-Anon, Mike Flynn way of standing in front of a video camera and taking a fake oath for TikTok. I want you to take the moment that hurts you the most, which will likely be high noon on January 20, 2025, and hold it in your heart. Swear to yourself that you will not let this abomination abide without your voice of opposition. Be it in op-ed commentary, Twitter responses, or calling into local radio shows, Facebook, whatever – Swear to make your voice heard because suppressing your voice is next up after suppressing your vote. In fact, they want you to suppress yourself.
Take in the words carved into the Thomas Jefferson memorial as a touchstone, “for I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” That’s it. That’s your mission statement. Better memorize it because every form of tyranny over the mind of man is about to be imposed on you.
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Remember Rockwell Too
Interestingly, the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, is one of my favorite places in the world. My greatest pleasure is walking into the hall of the Four Freedoms. It has Rockwell’s four iconic paintings facing each other, including the Thanksgiving dinner table themed Freedom from Want. Next is the chilling Freedom from Fear, with the father and mother tucking their sons into bed while reading a newspaper about men dying in the European war. Next is the beautiful Freedom of Worship with its multinational, multi-ethnic hands in prayer. However, the one that touches me the most is freedom of speech. I gasp every time I see it. You must embrace its meaning. You must stand up, even when afraid, and say what you mean and feel. Right now, you feel a miasma of grief and pain. But learn to stand up and say what you mean. Tell everyone what you think is right, honorable, and true … before it is illegal.
Tomorrow, you may feel anger and a desire for change. OK, Stand up and say it. Soon, you may have to choose if you will protest if and when America lurches into a complete dictatorship and/or civil war. But once you have stood up and said you intend to speak up, remember these immortal words at the end of the Declaration of Independence: “We mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
You, the reader, must understand the stakes of what speaking up means if the nation is to be saved. You must become the most loyal and ardent defender of the founding principles at the risk of your life and fortune. If you cannot risk it for that foundational biscuit, then your voice will just become one of many that will be ignored -like drowning oarsmen in the alternate universe’s Delaware, where prideful British troops drink mulled wine and piss on your body. Nobody wants that.
Right now, your MAGA neighbors v will likely view you as a foreign enemy to be intimidated, detained, or destroyed.
Be sure that the next four years will be a time of turmoil, economic hardship, and possibly civil unrest. Before you can follow instructions on navigating through it, you must first organize. Get your lifeboats back together, tie your fortunes to each other, and move with a purpose in opposition to the storm threatening to scuttle your hopes, dreams, and families.
Today is the day to let go of the mourning and make the American Experiment work again.
Have a good cry. Spin on your heel, get a coffee, and Lets Fucking Go.
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Esoteric Meandering Shouting Into the Void 
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