Is violence inevitable?

 As the Trump administration continues to roughshod over our nation, some people in the media continue to use the phraseology of “Trump did this …” or “Trump did that … .” thereby creating the illusion that Trump is fully in charge. We are, therefore, misdirected by failing to recognize the coordinated attack, the result of decades of planning.

Why is this important?

Because the so-called “flood the zone” tactics are overwhelming our ability to respond. And, because the plutocrats, oligarchs and corrupt Republicans are so secure in their positions that they are now defying any sanction or court order trying to rein them in. Some have noted a quote attributed to Andrew Jackson, though it may be someone else, when he was a similar dictatorial president. In responding to a Supreme Court ruling that would have thwarted his genocide of the Cherokee people, he said, “John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it.”

The Trump administration is taking this approach, even in defiance of the GOP-owned Supreme Court. It’s already doing so in the mistaken deportation case. However, anticipate that this will be an outlier. SCOTUS will ultimately back this fascist regime.

It’s critical to understand this situation. Historically, the federal government’s Executive Branch has been tasked with enforcing a court ruling — often the U.S. Marshall’s service. Who runs the the Executive Branch? Yep. The oligarch-backed Trump administration that has already, as part of its tactics in place well before the 2024 election, appointed loyalists in key positions. In short, the administration can ignore court rulings without fear of enforcement.

In concert with this strategy, the Trump administration has employed other tactics. One is freezing or cutting off federal funds of the target entity. Another is lifting regulations and thus the guardrails protecting us from bad actors, such as removing rules of the Clean Air Act, for example. His minions and media friends have combined their efforts to attack the media by hassling those outlets that displease him. Further, as it rips government agencies out by their roots and purposely creating chaos to destroy them, the will of the oligarchy is fulfilled.

If things aren’t frightening enough, these right-wingers are anticipating, nay even spoiling, for violence. The administration and governor allies like Greg Abbott have lifted restrictions on gun ownership and freed members of hoc militias like the Proud Boys and other insurrectionists of the January 6 rehearsal. To thwart opposition in the 2026 mid-terms, there is continuing efforts to suppress voters.

This is bleak, made worse by the feckless leadership of the Democratic Party and its current failure to launch any meaningful opposition. All we see on social media is begging for more money from old guard Democratic organizations or individuals. The only legitimate fight now comes from the most progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Bernie Sanders joined with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in holding rallies across the country. These two are walking the talk. David Hogg, a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, is also taking action. He was elected vice chair of the Democratic National Committee a few months ago and he and his allies are working to unseat old guard Democrats, calling them old, ineffective and out-of-touch. Some of the old guard fear that shifting the party to the left is an existential threat but their embrace of some perceived middle ground clearly isn’t working.

So, where does this catalog of angst leave us? I know no one, especially those on the left saying it out loud, but how can this nation stop a fascist dictatorship without violence?

Trump and Abbott, in particular among fascist governors, are preaching violence. Remember how Abbott brandished firearms and suggested shooting journalists? Do you really think that was only performative? No, it was an open invitation. So, one question is how far can the anti-GOP rallies go before the faux-militias are unleashed?

Or, consider, with the top positions in the military, the Justice Department and elsewhere, how far is a bridge too far for the remaining staffers to show loyalty to their oaths to the Constitution and stage a military coup?

Even worse, what if these traitors in the nation want and are willing to foment a civil war?

Ask yourselves this: How much of a voter turnout and resultant victories will it take for the nation’s democracy to be restored and the traitors bought to justice?

Think about this between now and the upcoming mid-terms.

Jounalists are the last bulwark against fascism

It’s early Sunday morning and in the shadow of the White House Correspondents Association’s cowardice and after an initial scan of the news, some thoughts came to mind. As we know, words can be powerful, have meaning and consequences. All the reporting on Trump from any media not already captured by the right-wing power structure needs to change the way we/they’re writing about Trump. Instead of writing "Trump did xxxx," the phrasing should change to some form of this: “Trump, following the orders of his overlords did .…”

The same construction should be used with any administration official, including Elon Musk, as needed. Before you jump on me for being subjective and inaccurate, take into account these realities:

The “flooding the zone” executive orders were queued up well in advance of the 2024 election as part of Project 2525. Whether Trump lied that he knew about Project 2525 is irrelevant because the Heritage Foundation, the Federalist Society and ALEC had already done the heavy lifting.

The reason Trump won the 2016 election was not only the Democrats’ long-term fecklessness, but also because of the deals made to get Mike Pence on the ticket. This has been documented. Why wouldn’t a similar wash-rinse-repeat be far fetched?

It doesn’t matter if you believe Musk’s cybercrimed to steal the election. What we really need to know is how the Democratic Party leadership have failed the progressives of this country for 70 years.

While the WHCA fell over from a light verbal breeze from the White House, I know other journalists are working hard to protect the Fourth Estate — the one institution protected by the First Amendment. It’s no accident the Founders set up our Constitution this way. Looking at the political landscape now, the media and its brave practitioners are the last bulwark against a Fascist takeover of our country.unday morning and in the shadow of the White House Correspondents Association’s cowardice and after an initial scan of the news, some thoughts came to mind. As we know, words can be powerful, have meaning and consequences. All the reporting on Trump from any media not already captured by the right-wing power structure needs to change the way we/they’re writing about Trump. Instead of writing "Trump did xxxx," the phrasing should change to some form of this: “Trump, following the orders of his overlords did .…”

The same construction should be used with any administration official, including Elon Musk, as needed. Before you jump on me for being subjective and inaccurate, take into account these realities:

The “flooding the zone” executive orders were queued up well in advance of the 2024 election as part of Project 2525. Whether Trump lied that he knew about Project 2525 is irrelevant because the Heritage Foundation, the Federalist Society and ALEC had already done the heavy lifting.

The reason Trump won the 2016 election was not only the Democrats’ long-term fecklessness, but also because of the deals made to get Mike Pence on the ticket. This has been documented. Why wouldn’t a similar wash-rinse-repeat be far fetched?

It doesn’t matter if you believe Musk’s cybercrimed to steal the election. What we really need to know is how the Democratic Party leadership have failed the progressives of this country for 70 years.

While the WHCA fell over from a light verbal breeze from the White House, I know other journalists are working hard to protect the Fourth Estate — the one institution protected by the First Amendment. It’s no accident the Founders set up our Constitution this way. Looking at the political landscape now, the media and its brave practitioners are the last bulwark against a Fascist takeover of our country.

How the Oligarchs Have Won

 I want my friends to understand some things about the Musk-Trump administration. If you’ve followed me or my blog, you’ll know my discussion here is based on monitoring the Trump activity since 2015 and from reading books and other materials, starting in 2020 with “Democracy in Chains.” I’ve posted this list so many times so I am not gong to repeat myself. What I’d like to do here is offer you some thoughts and reflections from having read these books.

First, please stop saying or stop agreeing with those who say Trump is stupid or an idiot or anything else to paint him as someone without mental faculties. He’s probably an idiot savant with his skills being grifting and cult-like persuasion. He is also a tool of the billionaire class — willingly or unwillingly or knowingly or unknowingly. It’s pretty clear he is also a Russian asset.

Second, he is not in this alone. An entire cabal of one-percenters support this destruction of our government. These libertarian oligarchs and plutocrats have fueled this government takeover with billions of dollars, much coming from but not limited to the fossil fuel industry. The network of this cabal is more widespread than most people know and includes billions of dollars, thousands of participants, thousands of meetings and hundreds of right-wing organizations.

Third, this is a 71-year effort starting with elite southern whites rebelling against Brown v Board of Education. The effort, supported by billions of dollars, has been sophisticated, stealthy and has allowed the right-wing libertarians to use the most up-to-date technology to further their goals. They’ve played the long game and every step toward their goals has been incremental enough to go unnoticed until it broke into the open fully with Trump’s election in 2016.

Fourth, the Democratic Party leadership and other progressives in the country not only failed to see what was happening but ignored the few who did see what was happening. In being so feckless, the party failed to muster its resources in order to expose and push back the stealth revolution. When Hillary Clinton said we are facing a “vast right-wing conspiracy,” the feckless party leadership blew off the warning as hyperbolic rhetoric. She was right and they were wrong. The Democratic Party has been a eunuch ever since.

Fifth, the Seven Mountain dominionists (one of the most visible being Ted Cruz) and Christian nationalists managed to infiltrate the evangelical, non-denomination Christian community. James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Jim and Tammy Baker, Jimmy Swaggart, Kenneth Copeland, (yes, even) Billy Graham and many more were manipulated or were manipulators to jump on the hot-button issues. The anti-LBGTQT, anti-abortion-pro-birth movement, purity culture and birth control were effective distractions for the real work at hand, although some of those in the so-called Jesus movement were sincere in their beliefs. Supported by the billionaire class behind this, a vast number of evangelical congregations and mega-churches violated the law by flat out endorsing right-wing candidates either from the pulpit or through other means. The goal is to grow a population of poor controllable masses.

Sixth, Texas and Florida have been the test beds for this radicalization. Along with the hot-button issues, the goal is to destroy the public education system, and in doing so, eliminate critical thinking skills for the masses. It will infuse curricula with revisionist history to eliminate the wall between church and state. And we know what church that will be and how Christian sharia law will unfold. The so-called parental choice is really a propaganda phrase for vouchers to build an elite educated base to undertake the real work of running industries and a country. It is also to further Christian-nationalist segregation and line the pockets of the education-industrial complex. Further, suppressing votes with obstacles and gerrymandering are part of this.

Seventh, the long-range effort to control the judiciary has largely succeeded. The U.S. Supreme Court is now fully corrupt and right-wing. So are many of the lower federal courts. While some of the ongoing lower court rulings are legitimate in overturning some of the Trump administrations activities, the concerns about the administration’s ignoring them will be moot. The guardrails are essentially gone with the oligarchs owning SCOTUS. The constitutional crisis won’t be the regime ignoring lower court orders nor in having no way to force compliance. The ongoing appeals will go to SCOTUS where the rulings will favor the oligarchs. One of the enablers of this takeover of the courts was Mitch McConnell when he was the Senate majority leader. Flying well below the radar, McConnell attended many of the Koch Industries right-wing briefings and benefited greatly from their contributions, as well as those from Russia.

Eighth, the right-wing oligarchs will also use violence to get what they want. The January 6, 2021 insurrection was a rehearsal. The Proud Boys and other right-wing militia are out there waiting for the call to arms, which is part explains the pardons for the insurrectionists. Just in the last few days I’ve heard rumblings that the Republicans who aren’t Trumpers are being intimidated. It’s more than the fear being primaried. Some are silent because of direct threats to them or their families in order to keep them in line. In short, the oligarchs own the United States Congress.

Ninth, following the Third Reich’s Joseph Goebbels, it’s chief propagandist, the attack on the First Amendment has ramped up. Of course, Trump himself has been beating on the press for years. But now, it’s in earnest. The White House Correspondents Association has traditionally controlled what media representatives attend briefings in the White House, but now the administration has ripped away that guardrail and is now favoring the right-wing echo chamber. Just this week, Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos made clear where he stands and, along with spiking a presidential endorsement last year, he is making the Post’s opinion pages reflect the libertarian agenda. Real journalists are jumping ship. It’s probably the start of a campaign to shape the media to his will. And the BigMedia is also helping with its bread and circuses celebrity worship having been in place for years.

Tenth, there are actually two endgames. As we watch Elon Musk and the Trump administration dismantle other government departments, we have to realize that these libertarian oligarchs know some services are indispensable; e.g. air traffic control, NOAA and some public health functions. Don’t be fooled. These people are not stupid. Their plan will be to privatize these essential services so only those with wealth can afford them. The current moves are telegraphing this corruption with Musk already having billions in government contracts and reaching for more, such as the air traffic control program. Look for others to cash in. Musk and Bezos will benefit from space exploration and IT contracts. Koch Industries will benefit from mineral and fossil fuel extraction, And, so it goes. As for the regulatory programs to prevent pollution and other deleterious effects from industry, those will be destroyed.

The second end game is a Convention of the States under Article V of the United States Constitution to roll back our foundational document to the 1850s. It will leave only two functions for government — militarized law enforcement and national defense. Those priorities explain why police departments have been militarized over the past seven decades and why Trump is filling up the Pentagon and the military with loyalists. When enough people wake up and start resisting and rioting, the federal government and police forces are not only prepared but also will have aid from the right-wing militias.

Finally, I have yet to see or hear anyone proposing a way to resist and save our democracy.