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America Fading Fast

Published by digby on March 3, 2025

Paris, March 2, 2025:

Last Friday, before President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the oval office and proceeded to embarrass America before the entire world, I happened to publish a piece here in Salon about how Trump’s anger and resentment were driving him and, in some cases, were making him lose control. He’s always had a short temper but since he’s been back in the White House he’s been lashing out in public more aggressively than in the past and it’s most often when someone fails to show what he deems to be proper deference.

For instance, he imperiously cut off UK Prime Ministers Keir Starmer in a joint press conference as he was talking about Canada and rudely chastised the Governor of Maine in a room full of other governors over her decision to follow the state and federal law relating to transgender citizens. But his unhinged behavior toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in that meeting on Friday was nothing less than a verbal beat down staged for the media, as Trump more or less admitted at the end when he said “this is going to be great television.”

The meeting began normally enough despite the fact that Trump had been insulting Zelensky non-stop for days, calling him a dictator and daftly claiming that Ukraine had started the war. He’d even ordered the US to vote with North Korea and Iran against a UN resolution calling for a secure and lasting peace because it blamed Russia for the war. Nonetheless, Zelensky gamely flew to Washington on the heels of earlier visits by the French and UK leaders trying to calm Trump down, agreeing to the “minerals deal” (or the “raw earth” as Trump insanely refers to them.) He hoped to convince Trump that he needs some kind of security guarantee with any peace deal or cease fire because the thuggish, war criminal Putin can’t be trusted to keep his word and Ukraine would be a sitting duck.

Trump and VP JD Vance obviously had other plans. Vice Presidents never jump into photo ops and press avails to berate a foreign leader but JD Vance did just that rudely interrupting to make as shallow comment about America being a good country because it engages in diplomacy which prompted Zelensky to politely ask if it was ok if he responded.

Clearly taken aback by Trump’s repeated insistence that Russia had suffered just as much as Ukraine in the war, he spoke about all the earlier agreements for cease fires since 2014 that Russia had signed and then promptly broken and asked, “what kind of diplomacy, JD, are you speaking about?” Like the nasty junior high mean girl he is at heart, Vance snapped back that “it’s the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country.” It was at that point that he claimed Zelensky was being disrespectful and should be thanking the president for his generosity.

Vance then proceeded to go after Zelensky for forcibly conscripting soldiers (something the Trump administration has been telling them they have to do) and when Zelensky said that he should come to Ukraine to see what it’s like Vance was forced to admit that he’d never been but had seen “the stories” of Zelensky’s “propaganda tours.” That’s what JD Vance likes to call diplomacy apparently.

Trump then entered the chat to berate Zelensky for saying that the US would be affected by Putin’s aggression, screaming in his face like a drunk real housewife, “don’t tell us how to feel! We’re strong!” He then went on to tell him that he “has no cards” and he’s “gambling with WWIII” whining that Zelensky wasn’t being thankful enough and he didn’t think that was “nice.” He said Zelensky’s hatred for Putin (for invading his country and killing hundreds of thousands of its citizens) was the problem in getting to a deal and repeated his fatuous insistence that he could trust Putin because they had both been persecuted by the “Russia hoax” after which he proceeded to rant incoherently about Hunter Biden’s bathroom.

That performance was hailed by all the GOP sycophants as a “master class” in diplomacy.

As he has pretty much been insisting from the day Putin invaded and Trump called it a “genius” and “savvy” move, Trump clearly believes Putin is entitled to take what he wants and that America supplying Ukraine with arms to fight him is a waste of money and a waste of time. His refusal to even talk about a security guarantee translates to surrender since we know that Putin will not keep his word. This is all theatre and that weird meeting was clearly a set-up to give Trump the excuse he needed to withdraw completely. Perhaps the sickest part of it was that he wanted Zelensky to lick both his and Putins’ boots in public while he did it.

If Europe is unable to fully support Ukraine and Russia finally overruns Ukraine and commits atrocities as they did in places like Bucha (as they certainly will) Trump and his henchmen will simply say that Zelensky was asking for it. Trump now hands out a red hat that says “Trump was right about everything” and as long as he can blame someone else for the carnage he creates, the people around him are willing to let him believe it.

The Europeans called an emergency meeting in London over the weekend and invited Zelensky to attend. They all ostentatiously embraced him and each other in a show of total unity.

(He even had a meeting with King Charles which I’m sure irritated Trump.) There seems to be some idea that maybe things with the US can be patched up, perhaps just long enough for them to gather the necessary support to Ukraine which may very well include troops on the ground. But there is little doubt that the U.S. is now out. They have accepted it. The question is whether they are going to go along with Trump and his minions throwing their weight around at NATO, the G7 or the G20 anymore. Why should they?

For Europe this isn’t theatre and Zelensky isn’t a plaything to entertain themselves as they perform for Vladimir Putin. Forcing Ukraine to surrender because Trump has withdrawn his “cards” isn’t really an option for them. Putin is knocking on their door and unlike Trump they know what he is and they know what he wants.

Zelensky was right when he said that just because there’s an ocean between us and them, we will feel the reverberations of what has happened. Trump may think that he and Putin have a bond but Putin thinks Trump is a joke. He’s played Trump perfectly from the moment he met him and his efforts are bearing fruit. The whole world sees that America is now a paper tiger run by a fool and that’s a very bad position for a fading superpower to be in.

Salon

Tipping Toward Autocracy

Published by Tom Sullivan on March 3, 2025

Taking to the streets

“We are closing in fast on the limits of constitutional process to contain Trump,” Brian Beutler writes this morning. Read: Get off your asses (if you haven’t already).

Beutler urges congressional Democrats to boycott Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday in spite of the fact that “Democratic leaders have instead encouraged members to ignore the activists and show up to be berated and lied to by an aspiring dictator.”

They are encouraging members to “bring a guest who has been harmed by the Trump administration’s early actions or will be hurt by the House Republican budget,”

Like abused spouses, Democrats “imagine that attendance will be taken, absences will be noticed, and backlash directed at frontline members who don’t treat Trump with the same respect they’d show a normal statesman.”

Which is the point! Trump is neither normal nor a statesman. Don’t behave as if he is! Sadly, most Democrats in Congress have two speeds. If you don’t like this one, you’ll really dislike their other one. But as a therapist might ask a perfectionist client frozen by indecision, what’s the worst that could happen if they boycott? Perhaps they should consider what could happen if they don’t?

The Trump beast thrives on attention. Give him none. Make the press divide its attention.

Beutler adds:

Trump has shown contempt for both Congress and the courts, and singled out elected Democrats and liberal judges for particular abuse. He has plain dictatorial ambition and taunts the overwhelming majority of Americans with his aspirations to kinghood. He is a criminal who claims to be above the law. He has betrayed both this country and American allies for purposes of self-enrichment, and seeks to align the United States with a global axis of murderous thieves. We don’t have votes of no-confidence in the American system, which limits the number of ways Trump’s opponents can express their total lack of faith in his leadership, but one easy option is to not make ourselves captive to another of his dishonest screeds.

If all we’ve witnessed these past six weeks, or for nine years prior, hasn’t prepared frontline Democrats to win that narrow debate, they might consider new lines of work.

Contrary to Beltway commentary, Congress and the courts aren’t the last guardrails. Mass public protest is, with all the risk that entails with an autocrat in the White House who’d like to see protesters shot.

Elected federal Democrats have a platform and they damned well better use it while they can and spare their constituents that risk. But not by standing behind a lectern and blandly blathering about how Trump is not addressing the price of eggs. Yes it’s true, most average Americans are unaware that their freedoms are gravely at risk. But the job of leaders is not to ignore the risk but to make them care … before physical risk is their only recourse for preserving their beloved freedoms.

Beutler continues:

We are closing in fast on the limits of constitutional process to contain Trump. If they collapse, mass politics and civil disobedience will be the only tools left available.

So just as Democrats have learned to contemplate everything through the eyes of the median voter, and how he intends to cast his ballot in the next election, they should begin evaluating the form of their opposition for how well or poorly it will help them rally the public.

With respect to this joint address, they should know that Trump will lie promiscuously. Less than two months into his presidency, he’s driven a strong economy to the brink of collapse, but will blame the evident turbulence—for which he is singularly responsible—on Joe Biden and Democrats. He will lie about Russia and Ukraine and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He will lie about waste and fraud in government, while stripping it for parts.

Without a counter-program, this is all most Americans will hear. If Democrats boycott the address and stage an alternate event, Americans will gather that something is very wrong, and may even hear a rival but true story about the republic under internal siege.

And it’s past time for workaday Americans to hear a story like that. To be rallied. To see that Trump’s entire opposition views him as a derelict. That he’s set the country up for failure, so that a small band of connected billionaires can loot it and retreat to their fortresses.

I wish I were more hopeful that Democrats will send that message in a manner that will demand press coverage.

If Trump on Tuesday were to openly declare that the U.S. is now aligned with Putin’s Russia against NATO and Ukraine, which of you Democrats wants to be in his audience giving assent by your presence?

* * * * *

Have you fought the coup today?
Choose Democracy
Indivisible: A Guide to Democracy on the Brink
You Have Power
Chop Wood, Carry Water

A River In Egypt

Published by Tom Sullivan on March 3, 2025

“How is anyone bewildered about this?”

“Trump is not just changing American foreign policy,” writes Fareed Zakaria. “He is reorienting America’s moral compass, a compass that has been firmly set since the country’s founding almost 250 years ago.” Like people elsewhere, Americans have made their share of mistakes over that time, but through it all, we knew “whom to root for — those who seek freedom — and whom to condemn — those who try to crush liberty.”

But no. Donald Trump is not “reorienting America’s moral compass.” The man lacks the gene for a moral compass, has no use for one, and he’s trying to break the country’s, not reorient it.

Marcy Wheeler on Sunday mocked CNN’s attempt to make sense of Trump’s behavior in the Oval Office last week and to discern why a “US president would choose the Kremlin over America’s traditional partners.” As if it’s a real puzzler:

Much of it, like the frequent suggestion that Trump is somehow a Kremlin agent, or beholden to Putin, is without evidence.

Perhaps the right-wing US ideological fantasy that Russia is a natural US ally in a future confrontation with China, and can be broken away from its most important backer, is motivating Washington’s dramatic geopolitical shift.

But for many bewildered observers, both explanations for Trump’s extraordinary pivot to the Kremlin seem equally misplaced.

Wheeler replies:

CNN asserted there’s no evidence to back the claim that Trump is “beholden to Putin” in spite of the fact that Russia helped Trump win in 2016, after which Dmitriev reached out and discussed a bunch of investments — investments which would require ending sanctions — as a way to improve relations. CNN asserted there’s no evidence to back the claim that Trump is “beholden to Putin” in spite of the fact that Russia attempted to help Trump win in 2020 at least by sending disinformation framing Joe Biden and his kid via Russian agent Andrii Derkach to Trump’s personal lawyer. CNN asserted there’s no evidence to back the claim that Trump is “beholden to Putin” in spite of the fact that Derkach made similar efforts in 2024, and a bunch of Russian malign influence efforts (possibly including bomb threats that forced the evacuation of Democratic precincts) similarly aimed to help Trump and others who would “oppose aid to Ukraine.”

CNN asserted there’s no evidence to back the claim that Trump is “beholden to Putin” in spite of the fact that a key Putin advisor, Nikolay Patrushev, said this in November:

In his future policies, including those on the Russian track US President-elect Donald Trump will rely on the commitments to the forces that brought him to power, rather than on election pledges, Russian presidential aide Nikolay Patrushev told the daily Kommersant in an interview.

“The election campaign is over,” Patrushev noted. “To achieve success in the election, Donald Trump relied on certain forces to which he has corresponding obligations. As a responsible person, he will be obliged to fulfill them.”

He agreed that Trump, when he was still a candidate, “made many statements critical of the destructive foreign and domestic policies pursued by the current administration.”

“But very often election pledges in the United States can iverge [sic] from subsequent actions,” he recalled.

“[C]ommitments to the forces that brought him to power … he will be obliged to fulfill”? Trump’s win comes with “corresponding obligations”?

Wheeler outlines some of the evidence of Trump’s Russia ties from 2016 and beyond, connections his inner circle lied and evaded testifying to conceal. She asks the obvious question:

And here we are, eight years later, utterly bewildered why Trump might be in such a rush to deliver up Ukraine to Russia and lift sanctions to pursue business deals, precisely the quo outlined by the lies told years ago.

Really? How is anyone bewildered about this?

Certainly not MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. She connected the dots on Trump’s post-inauguration actions and pointedly asked who benefits:

Anyone still bewildered about Trump’s behavior toward Russia is drifting down a river in Egypt.

I don’t know the provenance of this warning by @AnnaOdesitka from Musk’s Twitter, but Marcy found it worth retweeting:

MESSAGE from my father. I went to lay down but he want me to urgently write what he say:

“Dear American partners and friends, hello. Do not listen to any American expert who is not saying what I say to you. They are idiots who don’t understand Russia. Putin is using standard KGB practice of destroying deal. I say this to you because Putin will not survive if he don’t have all of Ukraina to show Russians it was worth it. But he also needs immediate ceasefire because Russia is close to collapse. This is my not opinion but fact. I through my daughter relay this to you for months.

His only option is to use America to force our surrender. But Trump need to sell it to American population as peace plan. Every good deal offered will be saboteur. Until Putin and Trump can sell that Ukraine is not interested in peace and America give Russia green light to finish this.

Vance role is “innocent bystander”. It’s meant to look like person not involved who is not comfortable morally. It’s theatre. Vance is innocent bystander role so that Trump can look as though he want peace, but every time agreement benefitting Ukraine is proposed, Trump ordered Vance to saboteur it. This is old KGB trick of destroying agreements with looking like clean hands.

Trump is too stupid to know he is being used by Russia. He only needs to be managed. Vance is actively and willingly work for russia as innocent bystander tactic. This is dark hour for you. Apollo 13 Crew never give up hope. You must take example of them to work together to land America safely from crash. You have no time left.”

That last sentence certainly is true.

Update (just in): Another “who is this good for?” Welcome to Trump’s “home of the knave.”

Now who would benefit from this?🤔 “Treasury ends enforcement of database meant to stop shell company formationThe U.S. Treasury Department says it will not enforce a Biden-era small business rule intended to curb money laundering and shell company formation” abcnews.go.com/Business/wir…

— @GottaLaff (@gottalaff.bsky.social) 2025-03-03T14:36:32.956Z

* * * * *

Have you fought the coup today?
Choose Democracy
Indivisible: A Guide to Democracy on the Brink
You Have Power
Chop Wood, Carry Water

A Useless Waste Of Space

Published by digby on March 2, 2025

Mike Johnson has long been a Ukraine supporter. But he loves Trumpy more. Here he is spinning like a top:

In a stunning exchange on Sunday’s Meet the Press, Johnson took umbrage with the notion that President Donald Trump and others on the Right are “on Putin’s side” in the wake of the chaotic Oval Office meeting with Zelensky on Friday

“It’s pretty absurd for anyone in the media or Democrats to somehow proclaim that President Trump, the White House, or Republicans in Congress are on Putin’s side,” Johnson said. “It’s a joke. We understand that he is a dangerous adversary and he is the one that provoked the war.”

Of course, Trump expressed the exact opposite sentiment in a Feb. 18 statement — making clear he believes Ukraine, not Russia, was the aggressor which sparked the war.

“You should’ve never started it,” Trump said of Ukraine.

Welker promptly referenced Trump’s comment.

“But Mr. Speaker, you’re saying that we all know that Putin provoked the war,” Welker said. “Actually, President Trump said that President Zelensky provoked the war. The week started with the U.S. siding with Russia and North Korea at the UN, refusing to condemn Russian aggression in Ukraine. It ended with this Oval Office confrontation with Zelensky. Is President Trump realigning the United States with Russia here?”

“No,” Johnson said. “President Trump is trying to get these two parties to a point of peace. And it takes certain maneuvers and certain strategies to do that. You have two parties who, to this point, have not shown any interest apparently in getting to peace. What President Zelensky did in the White House was effectively signal to us that he’s not ready for that yet. And I think that’s a great disappointment. We have to get this settled. And we stand with our allies, we always do. But they have to be reasonable.”

Trump called Zelensky a dictator, said that Ukraine has no cards (and he’s sick of it) that Russia will get to keep the territory it’s taken, no chance for it to join NATO and that there will be no security guarantee after a cease fire and peace deal with a man who has broken every cease fire agreement it’s signed.

WHAT DEAL IS UKRAINE SUPPOSED TO BE SIGNING ON TO???? Thank you sir, may I have another?

No mention of the fact that Russia has been asked to give up NOTHING and that Trump iwent on and on incoherently about how he’s bonded to Putin and trusts him implicitly because of the Russia investigation — started in Hunter Biden’s bathroom. Why would Zelensky trust a lunatic like that?

Johnson also told Welker that he and Musk have been spending late nights with the DOGE algorithm which is finding massive amounts of “waste, fraud and abuse” in Social Security. That sounds just great.

Johnson is evil.

Protests!

Published by digby on March 2, 2025

They are happening all over the country along with town halls full of angry constituents. Yesterday people lined the streets near the Sugarbush ski resort to protest JD Vance on his way to a ski weekend. People reportedly yelled at him on the mountain as well and he ended up leaving early:

Of course the MAGA cultists, including Mike Johnson, say these are all George Soros paid protesters but that’s a lie. The Vance protest was completely organic, coordinated on Reddit and Facebook. People don’t need to be paid. They are trying to save the country. And the protests are about everything, Musk and DOGE, veterans, Medicaid, Ukraine, federal workers, Tesla all of it.

I don’t know how long it will take people who aren’t tuned in to politics to fully grasp what’s going on but this is the important first step.

Here are just a few moments I happened to bookmark over the last couple of days:

Republican Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas QUITS and LEAVES town hall early — after being criticized about Elon Musk and Donald Trump firing VETERANS. And the crowd booed Marshall — one woman yelling “we’re gonna vote you out.”

Protesters occupying the Tesla Dealership in lower Manhattan. Security is trying to keep more people from entering.

Boston too..

The crowd didn’t care for Tennessee Rep. Harshbarger’s answer about the J6 pardons.

Angry Republicans at Texas town hall for Rep. Keith Self.

Massive applause Rep. Tom Suozzi, N.Y., received in a +5 Trump district after he called out Trump’s antics in the White House with Zelensky.

Stand With Ukraine in Beverly Hills, California …

Times Square…

Those are just a few examples of what’s going on around the country. There are many more.

Somebody’s Fuming

Published by digby on March 2, 2025

Remember this?

It was the middle of Donald Trump’s presidency, and he was—yet again—mad at Saturday Night Live. And he wanted the federal government to help him settle the score.

In March 2019, the then-president of the United States had just watched an episode of the long-running, liberal-leaning NBC sketch comedy series (it wasn’t even a new episode, it was a rerun), and grew immediately incensed that the show was gently mocking him.

“It’s truly incredible that shows like Saturday Night Live, not funny/no talent, can spend all of their time knocking the same person (me), over & over, without so much of a mention of ‘the other side,’” Trump tweeted, long before he was banned from Twitter for inspiring a violent mob. “Like an advertisement without consequences. Same with Late Night Shows. Should Federal Election Commission and/or FCC look into this?”

Don’t be surprised to see Trump’s new stooge at the FCC, Brendan Carr, actually “look into” it. I can’t imagine how anything could be done but with the way things are going I won’t be surprised.

Meanwhile, just look at that little man-baby Trump whining about people making fun of him. I think it says it all.

Arming The Border

Published by digby on March 2, 2025

For no apparent reason

The pro-war crimes Sec. Def. is apparently preparing for war on the Southern border:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered about 3,000 active-duty troops to the southern U.S. border, including soldiers from a motorized brigade equipped with 20-ton armored Stryker combat vehicles, defense officials familiar with the effort said.

The defense secretary approved the orders Friday, said two officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal Defense Department planning. The soldiers are primarily from the 4th Infantry Division’s 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Carson, Colorado, and will be joined by soldiers specializing in engineering, intelligence and public affairs, the officials said.

The Pentagon announced the deployment in a statement Saturday afternoon after the news was first reported by The Washington Post. Hegseth has ordered the deployment of the Stryker unit and a helicopter battalion to “reinforce and expand current border security operations to seal the border and protect the territorial integrity of the United States,” the statement said.

The troops will arrive in coming weeks, underscoring the Defense Department’s “unwavering dedication to working alongside the Department of Homeland Security to secure our southern border and maintain the sovereignty, territory integrity, and security of the United States under President Trump’s leadership,” the statement added.

About 2,400 soldiers will deploy with the Stryker brigade combat team and an additional 550 will go with the aviation unit, said another defense official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. A handful of others will join them.

After news of the deployment, Hegseth said in a post on X that the administration is “dead serious about 100% OPERATIONAL CONTROL of the southern border.”

And then there’s this:

The mission had been in planning since January and comes despite a sharp drop in border crossings since the Trump administration took office. Hegseth said during a trip to the border in February that all options are on the table to support President Donald Trump’s efforts to stop illegal migration.

I’m sure it will make great television. So is war. Super great.

Will Trump Let Him Do It?

Published by digby on March 2, 2025

Musk has his eyes on Social Security

Trump says that he won’t touch benefits. But he’s all for Elon eliminating waste. fraud and abuse in the program, all of which is defined by Elon.

Here’s what he thinks of the program:

The billionaire argued Friday on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast that the United States government is “one big pyramid scheme” before blasting Social Security as “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.”

When asked to clarify, Musk said, “Well, people pay into Social Security and the money goes out of Social Security immediately, but the obligation for Social Security is your entire retirement career. If you look at the future obligations of Social Security, it far exceeds the tax revenue.”

Musk, who oversees Trump’s cost-cutting initiative for federal spending, the Department of Government Efficiency, added that “people are living way longer than expected” and thus the government’s obligation to pay the debt “will be much worse in the future.”

After seeing the Republicans all cozy up to Putin and allow Musk to eviscerate the federal workforce I’m sure they’ll let him do whatever he wants with Social Security too. They are completely gone. So I’m not sure what can stop him if he decides it’s got to be severely slashed. Trump? Because he “promised?” Lol.

By the way, there’s already trouble on the way:

Social Security has never missed a benefit payment since the program first began sending individuals monthly benefits more than eight decades ago. But the recent actions at the U.S. Social Security Administration by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency are putting monthly benefit checks for more than 72.5 million Americans at risk, former commissioner and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley told CNBC.com.

“Ultimately, you’re going to see the system collapse and an interruption of benefits,” O’Malley said. “I believe you will see that within the next 30 to 90 days.”

Ahead of any interruption in benefits, “people should start saving now,” O’Malley said.

The Social Security Administration uses multiple systems and technologies that Elon Musk has criticized for leading to errors. As commissioner, O’Malley told Congress the agency needed more funding for IT modernization.  

O’Malley said DOGE leaders are now making changes at the agency, and significant staff cuts have already led to system outages. Those intermittent IT outages may happen more frequently and for more extended periods of time until there is a “system collapse and an interruption of benefits,” he said.

Feature not bug I’m afraid.

That will just be from Elon and Big Balls and the boys messing around with the technology. The problem will be exacerbated by laying off the 50% of the workforce Social Security as they’ve already announced. If you don’t get your check, good luck getting anyone on the phone to report it.

Once they start finding “fraud” the fun really starts.

Update– oops, looks like he’s already on it. We’re fucked.