All of what you write is true, but I think you're being shortsighted.
There seems to be a perception that Trump created this "movement" and because it's about him, all will be better when he's gone. First, Donald Trump couldn't create something like this if he tried. He's not organized or intelligent enough. Second, homegrown rightwing extremism existed and was growing prior to Donald Trump. It's been growing alongside the Republican party's further and further move to the right ever since Barack Obama's election in 2008. Remember the Tea Party? They're MAGA now. The Tea Party launched the original "Stop the steal!" movement, which Trump eventually grafted himself onto, against Obama with their fraudulent claims he wasn't a US citizen. They continued to believe it despite John McCain telling them it wasn't true...and then they turned on McCain.
By 2020, Trump already had a set of voters who believed multiple elections had essentially been "stolen" because Obama shouldn't have been on the ballot, and Hillary Clinton should be in jail for, basically, "pick a crime." Their fraudulent claims about her date back over 30 years (remember Vince Foster?) When you have voters who have been conditioned to believe such nonsense for over 30 years, the events of January 6 become "about" Trump only in the sense he refused to do a thing to stop it, and quickly intervene after it started.
These people *aren't* going away when Trump finally takes a dirt nap, and it's dangerous to assume Vance or someone else within MAGA-world won't, at the very least, also become a "hostage" to the crazy.
Ultimately, this is Mitch McConnell's lasting legacy. Both parties have wingnuts, even violent wingnuts. McConnell and the Republicans were unique in "embracing" theirs to defeat Obama. IMO, McConnell thought he could control them, and unsurprisingly he was wrong. Now they control the Republican party.
I've noted here and at my own newsletter that Trump doesn't create anything. He just slaps his name on existing structures, which is what he did with the MAGA movement. However, other equally transformative political figures (e.g. Obama, Reagan) didn't wholy create the conditions in which they rose to power, either. They had the talent and ability to leverage those conditions to their advantage. That's what Trump did in 2016, perhaps understanding more so than any other Republican candidate that the "beast" would not be satisfied with the same center-right politics. If Trump doesn't run in 2016, I don't see how we get to where we are today. Jeb! Rubio or even Cruz weren't in the same league, even though Cruz and Rubio quickly buckled under to Trumpism. But they are opportunists not transformative political figures.
Conversely, if Biden didn't run in 2020, it's not a stretch to imagine Harris, Klobuchar, Buttigieg or any other center-left mainstream Democrat implementing similar policies and approaching the pandemic/January 6 in similar ways.
Yes, I agree it's somewhat wishful thinking to hope that MAGA ends with Trump. I think the demon is out of bottle. Vance's own transformation post Trump is evidence of this. And he's certainly willing to smear and defame and promote violence like Trump (the Haitian immigrant lies are just one example). Whether he has the skill to pull it off remains to be seen. However, I agree that there's no going back for the GOP, it's MAGA now. And most "normal" Republicans helped feed that beast (to his credit, Joe Walsh consistently acknowledges this).
Stephen, you and Chris raise (and re-raise) vital points and principles. This social-political-religious phenomenon is much bigger than Trump, and it's not about mere "loyalty" to Trump. It seems to me (as well as to those who support Trump and even to Trump himself) that Trump is analogous, in part, to the golden calf, and, in part, to a grand inquisitor. Trump attacking people for purported anti-Semitic expressions really is not about protecting a minority religious group. It is about attacking people who aren't aligned with the extremist views of other people, some of whom support Trump and some of whom are just using Trump.
This. Republicans, and Republican voters are all motivated entirely by fear. Fear of change. Fear of anyone who looks different. Fear of women having freedom to make personal decisions. Fear of openly LGBTQ+ people. Fear of non-believers. It's all fear based.
If Trump is so dangerous, why aren't Democrats and Democratic voters afraid of him? To us he's a chaotic moron. He's only a threat because his chaos harms everyone. Republicans who snivel about being afraid of him are just sniveling cowards about anything and everything. That is their baseline. They like having power, as long as they can inflict misery on the people they fear. Their racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and oligarchic tendencies are their motivations. Claiming Trump is going to send goons to their house is just bullshit. It's their excuse for doing nothing.
Not to overly defend Republicans, but Democrats like AOC//Shapiro/Whitmer have endured their share of threats yet they can still feel somewhat safe in "Democratic spaces." When your own party's voters are turned against you, you can feel less safe anywhere. And we have seen Trump target individuals.
There is no question MAGA voters are dangerous. Nancy Pelosi's husband is another victim of MAGA political violence. But, I don't hear Democrats whining about not being able to stand up for democracy because "MAGA too scary". Of course Trump incites violence with his hateful tweets and stupid gibber ranting. The solution is impeachment and removal. MAGA let Trump off the hook twice. Now he's back and out for retribution. They have only themselves to blame. But, I guarantee, if MAGA wanted to work with Democrats to get rid of Trump through impeachment and removal, it could happen before the end of May. His cult might get upset, but they aren't a standing army, and they aren't an existential threat.
I wonder if the hardcore Trump supporters would shift their support to JD Vance (Trump without the charm), or another MAGA Republican. Or if the Republicans in Congress would begin to back away from the extreme policies that are the 2025 Project. A lot of voters aren’t happy with the economy right now, & feel that the manner in which immigration policy is being carried out is too harsh. This could affect the midterms, although they seem like a lifetime away at this point. So much can happen before we vote again.
Once a vile Republican gains power, of any sort, they never, ever go away. Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gingrich, McConnell, etc., etc. have/had power and influence in the party for decades. Stephen Miller, Vance, Musk, Mike Johnson, Cotton, Tillis, DeSantis, and all these other evil assholes will never go away. They will hold power and sway as long as they live.
Democrats must get their act together. Centrist, bi-partisan bullshit is not going to cut it. They must be clear that we are in the midst of a fascist takeover. They must refine their messaging:
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…and the fact that the President of the United States would not hesitate to have you and your family killed if you don’t kiss the ring, then he would pardon whoever carried out his orders.
Murkowski struggles with her own fear of violence due to her political beliefs, her party, and her confession (representing many of her peers) that she is afraid. The key thing is she has gone public with the risks she is taking. Every one of US should stand up, clearly express who we are and what we believe in spite of our own fears. Our job includes being brave like her.
She seems to be somewhere between hero & coward. Easy for me to judge, sitting in my recliner sipping on my coffee. If my family were threatened, I’m not sure how I would react, but I would never have been a Republican in these times. I’d like to think I would be out rallying with Bernie & AOC.
Murkowski has been in office enjoying immense status and the best health care this country has to offer since 2002. She owes it to America to get up off her very privileged ass and take a stand way bolder than just refusing to vote for monsters and clowns like Patel and Hegseth.
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
Stephen, you nailed it. The United States has become a country dominated by fear, intimidation and real threats of violence for simply exercising one's constitutional right to speak out with fear or harsh retribution. Drumph's behavior harkens back to a famous line in The Godfather, Part 1: "I made him a offer he couldn't refuse." The words of Senator Murkowski are a chilling reminder that we are truly living in the days of America's Dark Ages. What the hell are we going to do if all those who speak out against the mad king throw in the towel and quit? To what further depths will we sink while we watch our country die? It is too heinous to contemplate.
IMO, attributing the fear to Mad Wannabe King Trump is Republicans being somewhat disingenuous. Ultimately, they're afraid *of their voters.* Even if Trump took a dirt nap tomorrow (can we sue McDonalds for the Big Macs taking so dang long to work?) those voters still exist, and they still believe a *lot* of lies fed to them by like likes of Limbaugh, Fox "News" Breitbart, Carlson, etc., over 30+ years.
The big problem is that they're unwilling to tell their voters the truth, and/or they know another candidate will either sincerely believe the crazy, or be unwilling to tell voters the truth, and whoever is willing to lie the most wins the election. Therefore, the lies and the crazy have sadly become entrenched.
I see your points. In many ways the current voting pool is looking for a “reality” TV personality more than a President. They want to hear what they want to hear. Keep it simple and stupid. “Others,” ie black, brown, gay, trans, non-Christian people are bad and the reason their lives suck. Solutions are all black and white and easy. Our only hope IMO is the pain of this idiocy being so great that the rubes can no longer deny it is better to trust “the smarts” again. And then we better set unbreakable guardrails up against this happening again.
Your point about "solutions are all black and white and easy" brings to mind a rant my Republican father went on one time. He was ranting about the 2013 incident where the MV Akademik Shokalskiy research ship got stuck in ice while on a climate change research trip to Antartica. If I recall his statement correctly it was "They got stuck in the ice while trying to prove there is no ice!" When I heard that, my immediate thought was this: "I do not think climate change works the way you think it does." 😂 Many of them really are black/white, good/bad "all or nothing" thinkers. I'm not sure if that is because of a lack of critical thinking skills or if it's for different reasons.
Your point about trusting "the smarts" is also good one...and one of the many things we can most definitely blame Trump 2.0 for is their effort to ensure Americans don't have access to information that can show us it's Trump and the GOP's fault for our (future) misery. They want voters to only know what they're told, even if they "do their own research." What's worse is, creating "the smarts" aka recognized, accepted experts, is going to potentially be harder because of Trump 2.0.
Remember when Trump insanely suggested the US should just "stop testing" during the pandemic? Trump appointees like RFK Jr., assisted by Elon's "Dunning-Kruger Kids" from DOGE, are actively wiping heath and safety info and data from thousands of federal government websites and databases, and preventing federal agencies from not only dissemenating information on the ongoing measles outbreak that might make "Measles Great Again!" in the US relatively soon, but more recent foodborne outbreaks that have already killed. In other words, they're putting in place Trump's insane, "if we don't report it or talk about it, it doesn't exist" belief.
Honestly, I don't know exactly how we entirely defeat this craziness, or even if it's possible to entirely "defeat" it rather than merely repeatedly beat it back out of political power occasionally. I tend to think the latter is probably true, because we as humans seem to have this terrible "ability" to forget that things we're living through are not (usually) completely and utterly new and different. In other words, "We've been here before." It seems like often we " forget" this lesson right around the time most of the people who lived through the last time it happened are dying off and don't have enough political power to get many people's attention and explain why what we're doing or about to do is a bad/stupid idea.
Sadly I think you are correct that it is not even about those with critical thinking ability, ie “the smarts” and maybe like in the recent substack “The Moral High Ground” it comes down to those more inclined to fear.
Your story about your dad reminds me about my stepdad’s yearly dad-splaining about why we have more and more hurricanes here in FL because the Gulf of ‘Mureca is getting hotter. He is all about the helpless fear but throws his hands up and says it is just the state of things like my aunt when I just told her my horror to hear we have a spoon worth of microplastics in our brains. She cut me off and said “well previous generations had typhoid so it’s always something!” Can’t change things, too complicated or there will be some new bad thing, so easier to just stay angry and scared. Or easier to believe Trump is as smart and capable as he says and he will figure it ALL out.
Both have masters degrees (the only ones in my family) and are smart in so many areas but fell for Trump and still wouldn’t say a word against him. Both are not religious even but it’s like they just expect to be powerless over the doom almost like the religi-oes trashing this planet because Jesus is saving them soon anyhow. So maybe those who think living day-to-day in deep fear and suspicion is normal.. they are the problem?
You write "Many of them really are black/white, good/bad "all or nothing" thinkers. I'm not sure if that is because of a lack of critical thinking skills or if it's for different reasons." I've been stunned by our voters' desire for cruelty and vengeance, for a cult leader, and for the rebranding of "christianity"as a weaponized and perpetually aggrieved tool of repression. They aggressively shun critical thought.
I agree there is an increase in the modern version of Christianity being used as a violent and all-consuming force for some, but hasn’t it always been a repressive force, unfortunately? I would love to see it also transformed out of fear into love and service but not sure it has had a time in our history where it wasn’t used for power over and against people (minus pockets of followers).
What a time we are living in- that a member of Congress (or part of the administration) dare not speak out against the current leader because of fear of violence being inflicted on themselves or their families. Never before have I heard of such actions by a leader (?) in my 70 years- except in his previous administration then loss. Unfortunately, the ability to legally deal with the MAGA crowd has now been hampered by the take over of the DOJ so I certainly don’t know the solution, but I certainly have compassion for those in his crosshairs.
It truly is frightening how quickly we have become a country controlled by a gang boss. I’m sure the violent threats are real but we are all being attacked in one way or another by this president. We must resist!
“At a time when the U.S. has turned the international order upside down, Russia believes it’s about to return to the world stage, and Europe is scrambling to deal with the Russian threat,” (The Bell 4/24/2025) many – but not all - Americans still go about their daily lives and are oblivious to the rapidly changing world. Those who do follow the news are beginning to live in utter fear.
If you read the New York Times, or Craig Unger’s books on Trump and Russia – like American Kompromat, or Boris Volodarsky’s books The Poison Factory or The Assassin – you would understand why fear is the best word to describe the United States today. And if you do not feel “fear” then you do not understand the significant threat our country faces.
As most of my readers know, I spent about twenty years living and working in the Soviet Union, then Russia, then Central Asia, back to Russia and then retired in the US. I became bi-cultural which means I became Russian. My heart belongs in the U.S. with my family, but my soul is still alive and well in Russia. And there are nights when I wake up dreaming in Russian, as well as nights when I feel the utter frustration of our country’s men and women’s illiterate misjudgment of Putin, Trump, and Russia.
Ignorance clouds American’s perception of Putin and Russia and the previous Soviet Union. The Hill published an article called “America’s Russia policy is a failure of critical thinking and foresight.” (by Lev Stesin, 02/22/2025) I could not agree more. This article says, “This persistent inability to appreciate the thinking exposed by another great power is especially striking given that Russia’s policies have not changed at all since the days of Ivan the Terrible or even sooner” In Russia, those who are the most powerful are also the most violent. A magazine called Culture and Critics, published an article by Adam Hochschild called “The Long History of Russian Brutality.” While I am often critical of Americans writing about other cultures, this material provides the realistic and gory details of Russia’s history and helps Americans better understand the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It begins by saying,
It is impossible to watch Vladimir Putin’s arrogant invasion of Ukraine without being appalled by its savagery. Dead men and women strewn on the streets of Bucha, hands bound behind their backs. Russian soldiers raping women, sometimes in front of husbands or children. Russians seizing loot of every size, from cellphones to giant John Deere wheat-harvesting combines. And, again and again, testimony about torture: beatings, electric shocks, near suffocation with plastic bags. Yes, all wars are bloody, but they’re not all fought like this.
He details the Russian civil war, which ended with a “Red” victory and Leninist rule which quickly became a dictator country led by Stalin – a ruthless leader who starved to death over 20 million people – primarily from the Ukrainian territory. And as hard as Ukraine has fought for its independence and for three decades has claimed its sovereignty from Russia, today Putin still considers this land as a part of Russia. He has long dreamed of returning Russia/Soviet Union to a wider territory. If Ukraine loses this war, Putin will continue his march into other former Soviet countries. The war will only expand into Europe. This article states, “Putin, whose passion is for empire, not communism, would love to restore the power of both czarist Russia and the Soviet Union.”
In 2004, I was living and working in Moscow. Islamist extremists seized School Number One in the city of Beslan in the North Ossetia region of Russia. There were more than 1800 hostages. Putin and his government refused to negotiate, and instead he bombed the school and killed 186 Russian children. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia failed in its handling of this crisis. Illarionov, Putin’s economic advisor at the time, said he could not deal with the number of children killed. He moved to the United States. In 2011, Illarionov was interviewed by “News Nation.” In this interview Illarionov said “The political system and political regime in Russia is not like the United States or any other Western country. It is NOT a democracy. It is not even an authoritarian regime. Right now, it’s a totalitarian state and is just a one-man show. You (the West) can punish as many oligarchs as it wishes and 145 million Russian citizens – with sanctions or other means – and it will not change the decision-making process of Putin. It has been Putin’s dream for decades to destroy Ukraine. If Putin is not stopped, he would continue on. It will mean thousands or tens of thousands more will die. How long should the West tolerate this endless spiral of deaths produced by one person.?” (Quoted in From Democracy to Democrazy)
The news across the U.S. as of April 24th, 2025, is that Mr. Trump is again attempting to convince Putin to end the war in Ukraine. Mr. Trump, in his enormous ignorance about Russia and Putin, does not grasp that a negotiation with Putin simply will not work. Putin, first and foremost, has no respect for Mr. Trump who is nothing more than a stooge and a Russian asset. Second, Mr. Putin only respects strong men and violence. He must lose through superior weaponry and armed forces. Under Trump’s leadership, the US will agree with Putin’s wishes. This means that only European nations can help Ukraine – and they must. If Ukraine loses to Russia, Putin will most likely move the war to Moldova or another previous Soviet country. Who knows who Putin will target?
An AP News article dated July 2, 2024, quoted Mr. Trump as saying, “he can end the Russia-Ukraine war in one day.” Russia’s UN Ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, says he can’t. Trump was wrong AGAIN, and AGAIN, and AGAIN!!!
I have no sympathy for any Republican who refuses to act out of fear of retaliation. Anyone who holds elected office and does not have the strength to speak up and act when they see unethical and illegal behavior should resign. Going along out of fear makes the person complicit.
I have hope that Lisa Murkowski will find her voice and her votes and use them positively.
We are in the 249th year of American independence. We would not have arrived here without the bravery of the patriots who fought for independence, or the people who fought to maintain the Union in the Civil War, and, belatedly, to protect freedom in World War II. Republicans have sold out liberty for imagined safety. In their silence, they are only delaying what Trump will eventually visit upon them.
I would like to think this is a huge story that the media should be covering in more depth. As many of you have said this is straight out of a movie about mobsters and is terrifying in its implications.
As to Trump’s “stochastic terror” - nice phrase! - let’s not forget that the Jan. 6 revolt failed and over 1000 people were indicted. Failure, and perhaps a warning to his rabid followers, “You stumble, you get jailed, then … maybe … I’ll pardon you” — not great impetus.
murkowski's statements would have more weight if she outlined what retaliation she's suffered, or has seen colleagues suffer. Otherwise, they are too vague and allow her to keep doing what she's been doing, which is to mostly support trump's agenda.
Murkowski can spare me. So can all R’s crying about how scared they are. AOC gets threats all the f*cking time. All. The. Time. It’s not stopping her. Republicans have: wealth, positions of power, & agency. They can stop this any time if their choosing.
trump backed and helped weak and spineless people get elected to congress. His maga minions are there because they are weak, spineless and stupid. No one should be surprised that they continue to grovel at the feet of the orange buffoon. It's all they know, and it's what their maga constituents want. Sadly, the few non-maga repubs in congress are also lacking in courage. Murkowski seemed to cower as she dared to speak - timidly. It's surreal and I don't think I would believe it if I wasn't living it.
All of what you write is true, but I think you're being shortsighted.
There seems to be a perception that Trump created this "movement" and because it's about him, all will be better when he's gone. First, Donald Trump couldn't create something like this if he tried. He's not organized or intelligent enough. Second, homegrown rightwing extremism existed and was growing prior to Donald Trump. It's been growing alongside the Republican party's further and further move to the right ever since Barack Obama's election in 2008. Remember the Tea Party? They're MAGA now. The Tea Party launched the original "Stop the steal!" movement, which Trump eventually grafted himself onto, against Obama with their fraudulent claims he wasn't a US citizen. They continued to believe it despite John McCain telling them it wasn't true...and then they turned on McCain.
By 2020, Trump already had a set of voters who believed multiple elections had essentially been "stolen" because Obama shouldn't have been on the ballot, and Hillary Clinton should be in jail for, basically, "pick a crime." Their fraudulent claims about her date back over 30 years (remember Vince Foster?) When you have voters who have been conditioned to believe such nonsense for over 30 years, the events of January 6 become "about" Trump only in the sense he refused to do a thing to stop it, and quickly intervene after it started.
These people *aren't* going away when Trump finally takes a dirt nap, and it's dangerous to assume Vance or someone else within MAGA-world won't, at the very least, also become a "hostage" to the crazy.
Ultimately, this is Mitch McConnell's lasting legacy. Both parties have wingnuts, even violent wingnuts. McConnell and the Republicans were unique in "embracing" theirs to defeat Obama. IMO, McConnell thought he could control them, and unsurprisingly he was wrong. Now they control the Republican party.
I've noted here and at my own newsletter that Trump doesn't create anything. He just slaps his name on existing structures, which is what he did with the MAGA movement. However, other equally transformative political figures (e.g. Obama, Reagan) didn't wholy create the conditions in which they rose to power, either. They had the talent and ability to leverage those conditions to their advantage. That's what Trump did in 2016, perhaps understanding more so than any other Republican candidate that the "beast" would not be satisfied with the same center-right politics. If Trump doesn't run in 2016, I don't see how we get to where we are today. Jeb! Rubio or even Cruz weren't in the same league, even though Cruz and Rubio quickly buckled under to Trumpism. But they are opportunists not transformative political figures.
Conversely, if Biden didn't run in 2020, it's not a stretch to imagine Harris, Klobuchar, Buttigieg or any other center-left mainstream Democrat implementing similar policies and approaching the pandemic/January 6 in similar ways.
Yes, I agree it's somewhat wishful thinking to hope that MAGA ends with Trump. I think the demon is out of bottle. Vance's own transformation post Trump is evidence of this. And he's certainly willing to smear and defame and promote violence like Trump (the Haitian immigrant lies are just one example). Whether he has the skill to pull it off remains to be seen. However, I agree that there's no going back for the GOP, it's MAGA now. And most "normal" Republicans helped feed that beast (to his credit, Joe Walsh consistently acknowledges this).
Stephen, you and Chris raise (and re-raise) vital points and principles. This social-political-religious phenomenon is much bigger than Trump, and it's not about mere "loyalty" to Trump. It seems to me (as well as to those who support Trump and even to Trump himself) that Trump is analogous, in part, to the golden calf, and, in part, to a grand inquisitor. Trump attacking people for purported anti-Semitic expressions really is not about protecting a minority religious group. It is about attacking people who aren't aligned with the extremist views of other people, some of whom support Trump and some of whom are just using Trump.
Thanks for this, Chris. Thoughtful stuff and I think there's a lot of truth in your take.
This. Republicans, and Republican voters are all motivated entirely by fear. Fear of change. Fear of anyone who looks different. Fear of women having freedom to make personal decisions. Fear of openly LGBTQ+ people. Fear of non-believers. It's all fear based.
If Trump is so dangerous, why aren't Democrats and Democratic voters afraid of him? To us he's a chaotic moron. He's only a threat because his chaos harms everyone. Republicans who snivel about being afraid of him are just sniveling cowards about anything and everything. That is their baseline. They like having power, as long as they can inflict misery on the people they fear. Their racism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and oligarchic tendencies are their motivations. Claiming Trump is going to send goons to their house is just bullshit. It's their excuse for doing nothing.
Not to overly defend Republicans, but Democrats like AOC//Shapiro/Whitmer have endured their share of threats yet they can still feel somewhat safe in "Democratic spaces." When your own party's voters are turned against you, you can feel less safe anywhere. And we have seen Trump target individuals.
There is no question MAGA voters are dangerous. Nancy Pelosi's husband is another victim of MAGA political violence. But, I don't hear Democrats whining about not being able to stand up for democracy because "MAGA too scary". Of course Trump incites violence with his hateful tweets and stupid gibber ranting. The solution is impeachment and removal. MAGA let Trump off the hook twice. Now he's back and out for retribution. They have only themselves to blame. But, I guarantee, if MAGA wanted to work with Democrats to get rid of Trump through impeachment and removal, it could happen before the end of May. His cult might get upset, but they aren't a standing army, and they aren't an existential threat.
I wonder if the hardcore Trump supporters would shift their support to JD Vance (Trump without the charm), or another MAGA Republican. Or if the Republicans in Congress would begin to back away from the extreme policies that are the 2025 Project. A lot of voters aren’t happy with the economy right now, & feel that the manner in which immigration policy is being carried out is too harsh. This could affect the midterms, although they seem like a lifetime away at this point. So much can happen before we vote again.
Once a vile Republican gains power, of any sort, they never, ever go away. Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gingrich, McConnell, etc., etc. have/had power and influence in the party for decades. Stephen Miller, Vance, Musk, Mike Johnson, Cotton, Tillis, DeSantis, and all these other evil assholes will never go away. They will hold power and sway as long as they live.
Democrats must get their act together. Centrist, bi-partisan bullshit is not going to cut it. They must be clear that we are in the midst of a fascist takeover. They must refine their messaging:
Tax the Rich
Taxes Pay for Civilization
Abortion is Healthcare
Unions Protect Workers
Immigrants Build Communities
Laws Apply to Everyone
Protect the Vulnerable
LGBTQ+ People are our Brothers and Sisters
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…and the fact that the President of the United States would not hesitate to have you and your family killed if you don’t kiss the ring, then he would pardon whoever carried out his orders.
Alas, Babylon!
Murkowski struggles with her own fear of violence due to her political beliefs, her party, and her confession (representing many of her peers) that she is afraid. The key thing is she has gone public with the risks she is taking. Every one of US should stand up, clearly express who we are and what we believe in spite of our own fears. Our job includes being brave like her.
A coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero but one. Where do you think Murkowski stands?
She seems to be somewhere between hero & coward. Easy for me to judge, sitting in my recliner sipping on my coffee. If my family were threatened, I’m not sure how I would react, but I would never have been a Republican in these times. I’d like to think I would be out rallying with Bernie & AOC.
Perhaps, she should rally with us.
Murkowski has been in office enjoying immense status and the best health care this country has to offer since 2002. She owes it to America to get up off her very privileged ass and take a stand way bolder than just refusing to vote for monsters and clowns like Patel and Hegseth.
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
–Eleanor Roosevelt
Stephen, you nailed it. The United States has become a country dominated by fear, intimidation and real threats of violence for simply exercising one's constitutional right to speak out with fear or harsh retribution. Drumph's behavior harkens back to a famous line in The Godfather, Part 1: "I made him a offer he couldn't refuse." The words of Senator Murkowski are a chilling reminder that we are truly living in the days of America's Dark Ages. What the hell are we going to do if all those who speak out against the mad king throw in the towel and quit? To what further depths will we sink while we watch our country die? It is too heinous to contemplate.
IMO, attributing the fear to Mad Wannabe King Trump is Republicans being somewhat disingenuous. Ultimately, they're afraid *of their voters.* Even if Trump took a dirt nap tomorrow (can we sue McDonalds for the Big Macs taking so dang long to work?) those voters still exist, and they still believe a *lot* of lies fed to them by like likes of Limbaugh, Fox "News" Breitbart, Carlson, etc., over 30+ years.
The big problem is that they're unwilling to tell their voters the truth, and/or they know another candidate will either sincerely believe the crazy, or be unwilling to tell voters the truth, and whoever is willing to lie the most wins the election. Therefore, the lies and the crazy have sadly become entrenched.
I see your points. In many ways the current voting pool is looking for a “reality” TV personality more than a President. They want to hear what they want to hear. Keep it simple and stupid. “Others,” ie black, brown, gay, trans, non-Christian people are bad and the reason their lives suck. Solutions are all black and white and easy. Our only hope IMO is the pain of this idiocy being so great that the rubes can no longer deny it is better to trust “the smarts” again. And then we better set unbreakable guardrails up against this happening again.
Your point about "solutions are all black and white and easy" brings to mind a rant my Republican father went on one time. He was ranting about the 2013 incident where the MV Akademik Shokalskiy research ship got stuck in ice while on a climate change research trip to Antartica. If I recall his statement correctly it was "They got stuck in the ice while trying to prove there is no ice!" When I heard that, my immediate thought was this: "I do not think climate change works the way you think it does." 😂 Many of them really are black/white, good/bad "all or nothing" thinkers. I'm not sure if that is because of a lack of critical thinking skills or if it's for different reasons.
Your point about trusting "the smarts" is also good one...and one of the many things we can most definitely blame Trump 2.0 for is their effort to ensure Americans don't have access to information that can show us it's Trump and the GOP's fault for our (future) misery. They want voters to only know what they're told, even if they "do their own research." What's worse is, creating "the smarts" aka recognized, accepted experts, is going to potentially be harder because of Trump 2.0.
Remember when Trump insanely suggested the US should just "stop testing" during the pandemic? Trump appointees like RFK Jr., assisted by Elon's "Dunning-Kruger Kids" from DOGE, are actively wiping heath and safety info and data from thousands of federal government websites and databases, and preventing federal agencies from not only dissemenating information on the ongoing measles outbreak that might make "Measles Great Again!" in the US relatively soon, but more recent foodborne outbreaks that have already killed. In other words, they're putting in place Trump's insane, "if we don't report it or talk about it, it doesn't exist" belief.
Honestly, I don't know exactly how we entirely defeat this craziness, or even if it's possible to entirely "defeat" it rather than merely repeatedly beat it back out of political power occasionally. I tend to think the latter is probably true, because we as humans seem to have this terrible "ability" to forget that things we're living through are not (usually) completely and utterly new and different. In other words, "We've been here before." It seems like often we " forget" this lesson right around the time most of the people who lived through the last time it happened are dying off and don't have enough political power to get many people's attention and explain why what we're doing or about to do is a bad/stupid idea.
Sadly I think you are correct that it is not even about those with critical thinking ability, ie “the smarts” and maybe like in the recent substack “The Moral High Ground” it comes down to those more inclined to fear.
Your story about your dad reminds me about my stepdad’s yearly dad-splaining about why we have more and more hurricanes here in FL because the Gulf of ‘Mureca is getting hotter. He is all about the helpless fear but throws his hands up and says it is just the state of things like my aunt when I just told her my horror to hear we have a spoon worth of microplastics in our brains. She cut me off and said “well previous generations had typhoid so it’s always something!” Can’t change things, too complicated or there will be some new bad thing, so easier to just stay angry and scared. Or easier to believe Trump is as smart and capable as he says and he will figure it ALL out.
Both have masters degrees (the only ones in my family) and are smart in so many areas but fell for Trump and still wouldn’t say a word against him. Both are not religious even but it’s like they just expect to be powerless over the doom almost like the religi-oes trashing this planet because Jesus is saving them soon anyhow. So maybe those who think living day-to-day in deep fear and suspicion is normal.. they are the problem?
You write "Many of them really are black/white, good/bad "all or nothing" thinkers. I'm not sure if that is because of a lack of critical thinking skills or if it's for different reasons." I've been stunned by our voters' desire for cruelty and vengeance, for a cult leader, and for the rebranding of "christianity"as a weaponized and perpetually aggrieved tool of repression. They aggressively shun critical thought.
I agree there is an increase in the modern version of Christianity being used as a violent and all-consuming force for some, but hasn’t it always been a repressive force, unfortunately? I would love to see it also transformed out of fear into love and service but not sure it has had a time in our history where it wasn’t used for power over and against people (minus pockets of followers).
What a time we are living in- that a member of Congress (or part of the administration) dare not speak out against the current leader because of fear of violence being inflicted on themselves or their families. Never before have I heard of such actions by a leader (?) in my 70 years- except in his previous administration then loss. Unfortunately, the ability to legally deal with the MAGA crowd has now been hampered by the take over of the DOJ so I certainly don’t know the solution, but I certainly have compassion for those in his crosshairs.
It truly is frightening how quickly we have become a country controlled by a gang boss. I’m sure the violent threats are real but we are all being attacked in one way or another by this president. We must resist!
“At a time when the U.S. has turned the international order upside down, Russia believes it’s about to return to the world stage, and Europe is scrambling to deal with the Russian threat,” (The Bell 4/24/2025) many – but not all - Americans still go about their daily lives and are oblivious to the rapidly changing world. Those who do follow the news are beginning to live in utter fear.
If you read the New York Times, or Craig Unger’s books on Trump and Russia – like American Kompromat, or Boris Volodarsky’s books The Poison Factory or The Assassin – you would understand why fear is the best word to describe the United States today. And if you do not feel “fear” then you do not understand the significant threat our country faces.
As most of my readers know, I spent about twenty years living and working in the Soviet Union, then Russia, then Central Asia, back to Russia and then retired in the US. I became bi-cultural which means I became Russian. My heart belongs in the U.S. with my family, but my soul is still alive and well in Russia. And there are nights when I wake up dreaming in Russian, as well as nights when I feel the utter frustration of our country’s men and women’s illiterate misjudgment of Putin, Trump, and Russia.
Ignorance clouds American’s perception of Putin and Russia and the previous Soviet Union. The Hill published an article called “America’s Russia policy is a failure of critical thinking and foresight.” (by Lev Stesin, 02/22/2025) I could not agree more. This article says, “This persistent inability to appreciate the thinking exposed by another great power is especially striking given that Russia’s policies have not changed at all since the days of Ivan the Terrible or even sooner” In Russia, those who are the most powerful are also the most violent. A magazine called Culture and Critics, published an article by Adam Hochschild called “The Long History of Russian Brutality.” While I am often critical of Americans writing about other cultures, this material provides the realistic and gory details of Russia’s history and helps Americans better understand the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It begins by saying,
It is impossible to watch Vladimir Putin’s arrogant invasion of Ukraine without being appalled by its savagery. Dead men and women strewn on the streets of Bucha, hands bound behind their backs. Russian soldiers raping women, sometimes in front of husbands or children. Russians seizing loot of every size, from cellphones to giant John Deere wheat-harvesting combines. And, again and again, testimony about torture: beatings, electric shocks, near suffocation with plastic bags. Yes, all wars are bloody, but they’re not all fought like this.
He details the Russian civil war, which ended with a “Red” victory and Leninist rule which quickly became a dictator country led by Stalin – a ruthless leader who starved to death over 20 million people – primarily from the Ukrainian territory. And as hard as Ukraine has fought for its independence and for three decades has claimed its sovereignty from Russia, today Putin still considers this land as a part of Russia. He has long dreamed of returning Russia/Soviet Union to a wider territory. If Ukraine loses this war, Putin will continue his march into other former Soviet countries. The war will only expand into Europe. This article states, “Putin, whose passion is for empire, not communism, would love to restore the power of both czarist Russia and the Soviet Union.”
In 2004, I was living and working in Moscow. Islamist extremists seized School Number One in the city of Beslan in the North Ossetia region of Russia. There were more than 1800 hostages. Putin and his government refused to negotiate, and instead he bombed the school and killed 186 Russian children. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia failed in its handling of this crisis. Illarionov, Putin’s economic advisor at the time, said he could not deal with the number of children killed. He moved to the United States. In 2011, Illarionov was interviewed by “News Nation.” In this interview Illarionov said “The political system and political regime in Russia is not like the United States or any other Western country. It is NOT a democracy. It is not even an authoritarian regime. Right now, it’s a totalitarian state and is just a one-man show. You (the West) can punish as many oligarchs as it wishes and 145 million Russian citizens – with sanctions or other means – and it will not change the decision-making process of Putin. It has been Putin’s dream for decades to destroy Ukraine. If Putin is not stopped, he would continue on. It will mean thousands or tens of thousands more will die. How long should the West tolerate this endless spiral of deaths produced by one person.?” (Quoted in From Democracy to Democrazy)
The news across the U.S. as of April 24th, 2025, is that Mr. Trump is again attempting to convince Putin to end the war in Ukraine. Mr. Trump, in his enormous ignorance about Russia and Putin, does not grasp that a negotiation with Putin simply will not work. Putin, first and foremost, has no respect for Mr. Trump who is nothing more than a stooge and a Russian asset. Second, Mr. Putin only respects strong men and violence. He must lose through superior weaponry and armed forces. Under Trump’s leadership, the US will agree with Putin’s wishes. This means that only European nations can help Ukraine – and they must. If Ukraine loses to Russia, Putin will most likely move the war to Moldova or another previous Soviet country. Who knows who Putin will target?
An AP News article dated July 2, 2024, quoted Mr. Trump as saying, “he can end the Russia-Ukraine war in one day.” Russia’s UN Ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, says he can’t. Trump was wrong AGAIN, and AGAIN, and AGAIN!!!
Powerful. Shared.
Murkowski deserves more than a little credit for her bravery and honesty in spite of her genuine fears.
I have no sympathy for any Republican who refuses to act out of fear of retaliation. Anyone who holds elected office and does not have the strength to speak up and act when they see unethical and illegal behavior should resign. Going along out of fear makes the person complicit.
I have hope that Lisa Murkowski will find her voice and her votes and use them positively.
We are in the 249th year of American independence. We would not have arrived here without the bravery of the patriots who fought for independence, or the people who fought to maintain the Union in the Civil War, and, belatedly, to protect freedom in World War II. Republicans have sold out liberty for imagined safety. In their silence, they are only delaying what Trump will eventually visit upon them.
I would like to think this is a huge story that the media should be covering in more depth. As many of you have said this is straight out of a movie about mobsters and is terrifying in its implications.
As to Trump’s “stochastic terror” - nice phrase! - let’s not forget that the Jan. 6 revolt failed and over 1000 people were indicted. Failure, and perhaps a warning to his rabid followers, “You stumble, you get jailed, then … maybe … I’ll pardon you” — not great impetus.
murkowski's statements would have more weight if she outlined what retaliation she's suffered, or has seen colleagues suffer. Otherwise, they are too vague and allow her to keep doing what she's been doing, which is to mostly support trump's agenda.
Murkowski can spare me. So can all R’s crying about how scared they are. AOC gets threats all the f*cking time. All. The. Time. It’s not stopping her. Republicans have: wealth, positions of power, & agency. They can stop this any time if their choosing.
It hasn’t stopped Murkowski either.
Lisa Murkowski—shades of Margaret Chase Smith. Bravery and the strength to speak out.
trump backed and helped weak and spineless people get elected to congress. His maga minions are there because they are weak, spineless and stupid. No one should be surprised that they continue to grovel at the feet of the orange buffoon. It's all they know, and it's what their maga constituents want. Sadly, the few non-maga repubs in congress are also lacking in courage. Murkowski seemed to cower as she dared to speak - timidly. It's surreal and I don't think I would believe it if I wasn't living it.