“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely “
Lord Acton
President Trump is nakedly using tactics employed by Putin, Xi and other autocrats he so admires to exercise his insatiable quest for near total power;
Pay-to-play schemes to coerce some of the nation’s wealthiest individuals, corporations, law firms and media organizations …
I read the following excellent and timely opinion piece on The Chris Hedges Report/Substack. It is only the second piece written by a third party I have ever posted in nearly forty years f writing social and political commentary … and echoes many of the warning signs for the future …
“No right was deemed by the fathers of the government more sacred than the right of speech. It was in their eyes, as in the eyes of all thoughtful men, the great moral renovator of society and government.”
Fredrick Douglas
The assassination of Charles Kirk was reprehensible … as was that of …
“Patriotism means to stand by the Country. It does not mean to stand by the president.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Donald Trump increasingly makes clear, in spite of the Constitutional limitations imposed on the presidency, he intends to amass more unconstrained power for the Executive Branch and for himself, personally!
While not on the golf …
“A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not be trusted by anybody.”
Thomas Jefferson
Credible scientific studies have concluded the Climate, despite Republican claims it’s a hoax, is fast approaching a tipping point where global warming may be irreversible. However, America’s unique experiment in representative democracy may also be …
“I’m afraid, based on my own experience, that fascism will come to America in the name of national security.”
Jim Garrison
We were warned:
By the architect of our Constitution, James Madison; “I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by …
“In a constitutional democracy, persons owe loyalty to the Constitution, rather than the government”
James Buchannan – Hillsdale College
U.S. Attorney General Pam Blondi has justified firing or demoting respected Department of Justice attorneys for failure to be a “zealously advocate” on behalf of the United States, even in situations where …
“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
Last sentence of the Declaration of Independence
Knowing their actions would lead to war, which if lost would result in them …
“First came for the communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then …
“A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not be trusted by anybody.”
Thomas Jefferson
The signors of the Declaration of Independence understood the potentially lethal consequences of their actions yet opted to, “mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor,” by formally severing ties …
“Notice and comment is unnecessary because I am ordering the repeal,”
President Trump’s Executive Order to unilaterally
repeal energy and environmental regulations
Donald Trump’s insatiable thirst for and expansive interpretation of presidential power has been the defining characteristic since his inauguration. His issuances of daily, often legally-questionably, Executive Orders and Actions have …
“Trump demands that government actors pledge loyalty to him, as opposed to the law or to the Constitution”
Rick Pildes
Donald Trump’s rants claiming undocumented immigrants are all recently released criminals from foreign prisons and mental institutions and “poisoning the blood” of Americans and declaring of Haitian immigrants, “They’re eating the dogs. …
“I will have that war settled in one day, 24 hours”
Donald Trump
For close to a year, former president Donald Trump has bragged that if elected in 2024 he would end the war in Ukraine “in one day” and the “deal would be easy.” When pressed as to how he might …
'Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That's my worldview.'"
Speaker Mike Johnson
Newly-minted Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has made it clear his actions are driven by his faith and looks to the Gospels to form policy positions. Echoing evangelical and Christian Nationalists ideologies, he …
“There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpation.”
James Madison
Ask any politician, political commentator, or cable talking-head about the greatest threats facing America and you will predictably hear China, Russia, Iran, …
“I love the poorly educated”
Donald Trump (February 23, 2016)
It is not surprising the leading Republican presidential candidate limits his campaign stops to adoring crowds who, without any evidence, believe his lies about a stolen election, Democrats being socialists, the Justice Department has been weaponized, and his victimhood.
Discarding his vengeance-filled litany …