20 Comments
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Neal Stiffelman's avatar

Heckuva piece. The part that hit me hardest was that fuckwit Johnson claiming, “we believe in redemption.”

Nah, bro. You’ve had your chance. You fucking blew it. You just fucking blew it and for the rest of time, ain’t NO ONE gonna cut you any slack and your crazy interpretation of Scripture is in the toilet. Flush twice.

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Beth's avatar

And he doesn't believe in redemption, or looking forward, when the entire plan hinges on the administration being mad something people did in the past (like investigate Jan 6, say a mean thing about Trump, etc.).

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Steve Tartaglione's avatar

Many of the Trump supporters need to remove their blinders, to realize that he does not and never did care who he takes down! He will always survive!

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Lucius's avatar

They never will.

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Becky Daiss's avatar

The swift, widespread, fully developed and effective response to trump's order to suspend federal aid gives me the first real signs of hope that opponents of his fascist take over are ready and able to fight and win. It seems that our side was prepared - even for the worst. At last.

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Gisele Dubson's avatar

Trump makes a point of refusing to learn from experience. His presidency won’t turn out to be a reality TV show where there is a script to make him look good.

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MG's avatar

I hate to write this because it sounds so cynical, and cynicism is not where I want to be. I value this Substack very much but I can't help feel that this article is minimizing damage Trump has already done on a number of fronts (climate, DEI, economic, relations with allies), and how lasting this damage might be.

One example, "But by making one of his first presidential acts pardoning nearly every one of the insurrectionists...Trump immediately diminished himself and his office" Did he though? In my eyes, of course he did! We thought he diminished himself after 1/6 too, but here he is again. Regarding the video, "an apparently befuddled Trump responded with 'Well, I don’t know,' and said he would 'take a look' at it." After watching the entire clip, to me his response was typical, which I think is more calculated than befuddled, basically brushing off the question and pivoting to some unrelated bs that is allowed to pass unchallenged by any follow-up questions.

Regarding our lawmakers, "Trump is relying on fear and relentless pressure...to compel reluctant GOP lawmakers to vote..." To me, the extent to which GOP (and some Dem) lawmakers have already caved to him - and have done even before he was elected this time around - fills me with dread.

I do see lawyers and the courts acting swiftly and forcefully to try and stop the flow. I am thankful for this. My hope is that on balance, the courts will more often do what's right than not. I believe that ultimately, we (America) will overcome Trump. But what will things look like when we do? I guess like many, I am struggling with outrage and fear in this moment, and I do not always see that being reflected in the media I am relying on, nor do I see it reflected in actions being taken (or not taken) by both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

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Bonnie Rickly's avatar

You have hit the nail squarely on the head. I had the same take on the featured clip. Instead of refunded, he just doesn't address it. Ho tries to show us another distraction, another "shiny object ". That's his trademark.

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Bonnie Rickly's avatar

B.E.F.U.D.D.L.E.D. For some reason I can't type in this word. WTAF?

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Mary Brownell's avatar

This is excellent; very thorough and filled with good information. There are a lot of new newsletters and other news sources out there to respond to the breakdown of the legacy media. They are all asking for people to become paying subscribers. This is one of the ones I find worth it. A lot of my friends are saying they’re just not going to give themselves the anxiety of keeping up with the latest actions of this administration, but I find it much less anxiety inducing to get factual, well explained information like this. Thanks and keep up the good work.

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Helen Hancke's avatar

Law and order for Felon 47, is only about ME,ME,ME. Every single action he does, is to serve his own purpose and those of his cronies, GREED, GREED,GREED. Forget empathy, and consequences of his actions; the MAGA simply does not care not about the world nor its own citizens. Although, Musk is putting his dirty fingers into German politics, which is lethal, but luckily being pushed back.

And where is the Democratic Party in all this. Complete silence and complete lack of leadership.

Again a good article from Public Notice, thank you.

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Jan's avatar

We are not helpless! Contact friends in purple or red states and urge them to contact their Senators to stop these unfit Cabinet nominees. Some GOP Senators might be swayed if enough people speak out. There are hints that some are becoming dismayed by Trump’s actions.

Kash Patel’s confirmation hearing for FBI Director is tomorrow (Thursday). With his stated plans for retribution, he is incredibly dangerous.

You may feel confident your Democratic Senators will vote against these reckless nominees, but still, we should let them know how much their constituents care. Some elected Democrats are caving already and voting to pass some horrible bills (e.g. Laken Riley). If you don’t have your Congress people on speed dial, just google their names. (Contact their Washington office, not their local office.)

Make a separate phone call (or email) each time you contact your Congresspeople. Each constituent opinion is noted individually and tallied. Our Senators want to be re-elected, so your opinion matters.

BTW, Democracy Forward - https://democracyforward.org/ - is largely responsible for the Trump Administration’s having just rescinded the disastrous federal spending freeze. Pls. donate to keep these fearless advocates and lawyers working to save our democracy.

See the article in Politico about their work – they’ve launched their Executive Order Legal Response Center that will help facilitate fast legal responses to the raft of harmful Executive Orders President Trump has signed.

Friends, pls. re-stack this.

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Melissa Perry's avatar

I contacted my representative and both Senators yesterday.

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Lucius's avatar

"it seems highly likely that Trump has set himself up for an early, major — and entirely unnecessary — loss at the Supreme Cour"

This assumes that SCOTUS will actually do it's job. The fascist hacks have proven that they're more than happy to ignore the law and the constitution. Now that they're basically free from any risk of consequences I doubt they'll do anything but rubber stamp whatever Republicans put in front of them.

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Melissa Perry's avatar

Locally, the Louisville Kentucky post office is a giant cluster F. Multiple news outlets including the Fox affiliate reports 50+ trailers of unsorted mail and undelivered holiday packages. As the regional sort center, the US mail has reached new levels of being unreliable. I am still waiting on the life insurance claim form to complete for my retired civil servant father's death. It's been 45 days in the mail.

Last time Florida man was in office, his 2019 government shut down endangered the cash flow of my employer. This time sounds like he's gunning for my Social Security check.

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David J. Sharp's avatar

That news conference—Trump proves again that he is a sick old man unbounded by coherence.

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David J. Sharp's avatar

“… with a massive show of dominance and power.” Really. Rather with a whiny show of dominating and petulance.

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Beth's avatar

From the article: "....that organizations concerned about making payroll in light of the freeze should simply directly reach out to OMB Director Russ Vought..."

To be exact, she said that they should call Vought and "make their case". Like Russ Vought will answer his phone and talk to randos? Not to mention that no governmental agency should have to make a case for paying their employees.

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Tomonthebeach's avatar

My take on Trump is that, like most racketeers whom he envies, he thrives on extortion. He just said to America; "See, I can really f--k you up just by freezing money for you and your libtard programs. So, think about that the next time you want to oppose me." Al Capone, who Trump lovingly refers to as "Scarface" could bully people into doing his bidding because they did not want to risk the consequences of not making payoffs, etc. "Here take your weekly $200 and leave my business/family alone."

As Hitler demonstrated, once the fear becomes widespread, he can do whatever he wants to whomever he wants - even enslaving and exterminating groups whose ethnicity he asserts to be inferior - like Jews, who as a group were well-off enough to resist his phony Christo-nationalist rule. Sadly, the Democrats as a party were complacent that laws and the system would enable them to thrive. Yesterday, Chuck Schumer demonstrated that he too is sleepy as he referred to reactions to Trump's freezes as arousal - not anger. Only Warren & Sanders showed any spine yesterday while interrogating the most incompetent HHS Secretary nominee in history. Meanwhile, Dems cannot even bring themselves to expel DINO Fetterman who follows Trump around like a puppy and votes red like Sinema.

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David J. Sharp's avatar

“He’s breaking eggs while ignoring their price.” In a nutshell—bravo!

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