As Stan Lee would say, “‘Nuff said.”
They ain’t foolin’
And if you fool around with them
You’re gonna get yourself a schoolin’
“Beware” — Morry Lasco, Dick Adams, Fleecie Moore (1946)
"what digby sez..."
Digby's Hullabaloo Posts
You’ll be fine
Progressives are allowed to have their advocates too. I’m very sorry if that offends the right wingers who are supported by just about every business on the planet (and believe me they are losing their shit over this ad) but that’s how it is.
Was there ever any doubt?
From Leigh Ann Caldwell at Puck:
Last weekend, before his inauguration, Trump floated in conversations the notion of redirecting funds from the $370 billion Inflation Reduction Act, the massive infrastructure bill with a hilariously disingenuous name, to projects he wants to underwrite. The idea also came up earlier this week when he met with Republican congressional leaders, according to a person who received a rundown of the meeting. Rep. Sam Graves, the new chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told me that’s not an immediate priority, but will happen “later in the year.”
Graves said it would be part of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization bill, which funds highways and, well, surface transportation projects, which will begin to come into focus in the second half of the year. Or, Trump could ignore the Impoundment Act, the law that requires the administration to spend money on what Congress legislated, as his allies have suggested for a host of issues.
Someone needs to ask Russ Vought what he plans to do on this. I don’t think it was in any of their plans to be spending money on this stuff. They want to redirect the money to thinks they have to spend in the near term so that the Congress can cut programs. I guess we’ll see which way they go. Trump definitely wants his name all over the place.
Freshman Rep. Addison McDowell (R-N.C.) introduced legislation this week to rename the Dulles International Airport (IAD) near Washington after President Trump.
McDowell, who represents North Carolina’s 6th Congressional District, proposed the bill on Thursday alongside Reps. Guy Reschanthaler (R-Pa.), Brian Jack (R-Ga.), Riley Morre (R-W.Va.) and Brandon Gill (R-Texas).
If the legislation ends up passing through Congress and is signed into law, the airport will be named ‘‘Donald J. Trump International Airport’’.
I believe there is a 99% chance that they will actually do this. It costs nothing and Dear Leader will be thrilled beyond belief.
And so it begins
After President Petro of Colombia denied entry of two US repatriation flights of Colombian migrants, President Trump has announced these retaliatory measures. Petro said he wouldn’t allow the flights in until Trump establishes a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants.
The move reflects how Mr. Trump is making an example out of Colombia as countries around the world are grappling with how to prepare for the mass deportations of unauthorized immigrants that he has threatened.
[…]
Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, said earlier Sunday in a series of social media posts that Colombia would not accept military deportation flights from the United States until the Trump administration provided a process to treat Colombian migrants with “dignity and respect.”
Mr. Petro also said that Colombia had already turned away military planes carrying Colombian deportees. While other countries in Latin America have raised concerns about Mr. Trump’s sweeping deportation plans, Colombia appears to be among the first to explicitly refuse to cooperate.
“I cannot make migrants stay in a country that does not want them,” Mr. Petro wrote, “but if that country sends them back, it should be with dignity and respect for them and for our country.” He said he was still open to receiving deportees on nonmilitary flights.
[…]
Mr. Petro also cast attention on Americans living in Colombia. In a social media post, Mr. Petro said that more than 15,000 Americans were living in the country without authorization, and called upon them to “regularize” their immigration status.
Colombia is America’s long time ally in the region, longer than any other country. But whatever. They dissed Dear Leader, they will pay.
Note that last paragraph. There are plenty of American expats living in other countries and I would guess that they may very well become pawns in this game too. There are almost 2 million of them living in Mexico alone.
Not that Trump cares. He probably thinks they shouldn’t be allowed to live overseas and keep their American citizenship anyway. But two can play at this game and there is a very good chance this is the kind of tit-for-tat that could lead to something very dangerous. It’s how wars begin.
I wrote about Tate last week a criminal sex-trafficker and alleged good friend of … Barron Trump? I guess it does figure
I posted this a year and a half ago, pointing out that Donald Trump was consorting with some truly vile, fringe figures, among them Paul Ingrassia, now working for the White House:
Amanda Marcotte has written a fascinating deep dive report on online radicalization for Salon that I highly recommend. I’ll just excerpt this piece of it:
The same rabbit-hole phenomenon that can draw social media users deeper into the world of eating disorders or suicidal ideation also appears to be a factor in online radicalization. Lisa Sugiura notes that many of the men she interviewed while researching the “incel” community were first drawn into that world through unrelated or apolitical online material, before the algorithm turned their heads toward darker stuff. One interviewee, she said, had done a “simple Google search” about male pattern baldness and eventually ended up on “incel forums, which were heavily dissecting and debating whether being bald is an incel trait.”
That man became an incel “very much through the algorithm,” Sugiura said, and through online conversations with people who “showed him a different way to view the world.”
“Pathologies like eating disorders and suicidality exist on a continuum with radicalization,” said Brian Hughes, the American University scholar. “In a lot of cases, they’re co-morbid. Depression and radicalization are commonly seen together.” Just as online merchants hawking dangerous diet products exploit young women’s insecurities, he added, the world of far-right influencers displays “an obsession with an idealized masculine physique, which often leads to steroid abuse.”
The most famous example of that phenomenon is Andrew Tate, a British influencer currently being held by Romanian authorities on charges of rape and human trafficking. Tate’s alleged victims say he choked them until they passed out, beat them with a belt and threatened them with a gun. A former kickboxer, Tate has made a fortune by showing off his muscular physique and expensive toys, gizmos and gear to attract a massive online following of young men, promising that he can turn them into “alpha males.” Tate has become so popular with boys and young men in the English-speaking world that educators are organizing and sharing resources in an effort to combat his influence.
“There’s been a huge increase in rape jokes that the boys are making,” a seventh-grade teacher in Hawaii told Education Week.
“Pathologies like eating disorders and suicidality exist on a continuum with radicalization,” said Brian Hughes of American University. “Depression and radicalization are commonly seen together.”
Conspiracy theories and right-wing propaganda often hook people, as Tate does, by appealing to anxiety and insecurity, especially regarding hot-button issues like race, gender and status. In his legal brief in the case of Steven Carrillo, Hughes explained that the murderer “was gratified by the feelings of anger and indignation” from far-right videos he saw on Facebook and “was rewarded with more extreme, more angering content.” (Carrillo pleaded guilty to murder and eight other felony charges last year, and is serving a life sentence without parole.)
There are some possible solutions and she goes into them. It’s going to be a challenge but it’s not impossible.
If you think this stuff is just a fringe concern, here’s Paul Ingrassia, a Claremont fellow and Trump insider:
It’s not surprising that incel fringers would have been hanging out with Trump down at Mar-a-Lago. It was a daily freak show. But I confess that I didn’t think they’d actually put a BFF of Andre Tate at the Department of Justice. My bad. Of course they would.
This post by attorney Tor Ekeland has been making the rounds on Blue Sky and I think it’s worth sharing:
My dad was tortured by the Gestapo for 4 days and thrown in a concentration camp for being in the Norwegian Resistance. Growing up, he would tell me things he learned in the Resistance. I thought, I’m never going to need this stuff. Here’s some of those things #Thread
First, you’re never going to win a head on battle with an adversary that’s got you outgunned. That’s not the point of the Resistance. The point is to create friction, make it hard for your adversary to operate, to increase transaction costs.
Second, resistance doesn’t have to be a dramatic act. It can be a small act, like losing a sheet of paper, taking your time processing something, not serving someone in a restaurant. Small acts taken by thousands have big effects.
Third, use your privilege and access if you’ve got it. He and his buddies stole weapons from the Nazis by driving up with a truck to the weapons depot, speaking German, acting like it was a routine pick up, and driving away.
Fourth, and this is part of the third point really, sometimes the best way to do things is right out in the open. Because no one will believe something like what you’re doing would be happening so blatantly. All good Social Engineers know this.
Six, and this is a no brainer, operate in cells to limit damage to the resistance should they take you out. Limit the circulation of info to your cell, avoid writing things down and . . .
Seven, be very careful with whom you trust. Snitches and compromised individuals are everywhere. My Dad was arrested because of a snitch. His friends weren’t so lucky, the Gestapo machine gunned the cabin they were in without bothering to try and arrest them.
Eight, use the skills you have to contribute. Dad was an electrical engineer. When the Nazis imposed the death penalty for owning a radio (the British sent coded messages to the Resistance after BBC shows) he said he became the most popular guy in town.
He adds sarcastically:
But everything’s cool and we’re not going to need to engage in any of this. We don’t have a President who openly admires and coddles dictators while trashing our democratic allies. Our President has read the Constitution he’s taken an oath to uphold, and so have his followers.
Yeah…
I was listening to a podcast yesterday with JV Last at the Bulwark and he suggested that lawyers in the DOJ not resign when they’re asked to do some of the unethical, illegal and unconstitutional things that Trump and Bondi are going to demand they do. He says they should stay there and just fuck up the work. And maybe that applies across the government. I don’t know if it will work but these are huge agencies employing millions of people and it’s hard for me to believe that the toadies Trump hires to supervise know what they’re doing. I mean, Russ Vought can’t oversee every detail, right?
Anyway,these are thoughts that apply to all of us. We are looking at two years of being relatively powerless in the institutional sense (although the House of Representatives is so close that it’s going to be very difficult for them to get any legislation passed —- unless Democrats cooperate and they’d better not.) So these ideas about subversive resistance are useful and I really hope people are thinking along these lines. Trump’s agenda is massive and it’s in danger of hurtling completely out of control. Resistance in whatever way we can find it vital.
That comment is Elon with his full two months of being a gadfly in Mar-a-Lago wielding influence over a complex health and financial issue he knows nothing about.
Yes, the richest man in the world is going to be pushing to take bare subsistence money away from disabled people.
We are hearing that Susie Wiles is trying to build some walls between Elon and the Prez and rein in DOGE but who knows? And I don’t know how Trump could mess with SSDI unilaterally but I’m sure they have some ideas. It’s just insane that this idiot has influence on the government in any way.
Democrats? Can’t you do something with this?
By the way, here’s Elon being cute as always (when he isn’t talking to Nazis and delivering a Sieg Heil at the inauguration:
He literally said he wants to “just clean out Gaza”
Trump made some big news last night:
President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Saturday that he wants Jordan and Egypt to take Palestinians from Gaza into their territory “temporarily or long term.”
Since the start of the war in Gaza, Egypt and Jordan have led the Arab world’s opposition to any forced transfer by Israel of Palestinians from Gaza.
Trump on Saturday spoke on the phone with Jordan’s King Abdullah, who congratulated him on his inauguration.
King Abdullah “stressed the pivotal role of the U.S. in pushing all sides to work towards achieving peace, security, and stability for all in the region,” the Jordanian royal court said in a statement. But Trump said the two leaders discussed an entirely different topic — the millions of Palestinians who live in Jordan, and the possibility that more will move there from Gaza.
“I said to him, ‘I’d love you take on more,’ because I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it’s a mess. It’s a real mess,” Trump said. He added that he planned to speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Sunday and ask him to accept Palestinians from Gaza.
“You’re talking about a million and half people, and we just clean out that whole thing,” Trump said. “It’s literally a demolition site. Almost everything is demolished and people are dying there, so I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing at a different location where they can maybe live in peace for a change.”
He sees some great potential for shitty Trump condos on the beach. Remember when he said this?
”Gaza is interesting. It’s a phenomenal location, on the sea. The best weather, you know, everything is good. It’s like, some beautiful things could be done with it, but it’s very interesting.”
I don’t think I need to add much to this even though I am tempted to scream at the top of my lungs that anyone who thought it made sense to vote for him because of “genocide Joe” have made the lives of the people they care about in Gaza so much worse.
During a 20-minute question-and-answer session with reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday, Trump also said he’s ended his predecessor’s hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. That lifts a pressure point that had been meant to reduce civilian casualties during Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza that is now halted by a tenuous ceasefire.
“We released them today,” Trump said of the bombs. “They’ve been waiting for them for a long time.” Asked why he lifted the ban on those bombs, Trump responded, “Because they bought them.”
Oh by the way:
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump’s pick for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said that she believes Israel has a “biblical right” to the occupied West Bank, parroting a view held by extremist Zionists on Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territory.
It’s going to be just great.
Pick a fight
For all their sky-is-falling rhetoric about Project 2025 last year, Democrats (with exceptions) have settled into business as usual in D.C. They just chose old and busted over new hotness for a top Oversight Committee post. It’s what they know. It’s their comfort zone, well-worn groove, rut [your preferred metaphor here]. Well, the rest of us will be feeling discomfort beyond serving in the congressional minority for the forseeable future. If Democrats have another gear, they’d damned well better find it now.
From December 2016 during the first Trump transition:
The biggest challenge Democrats face is not Donald Trump, but constitution. Not the one in the National Archives, but their inner constitution.
The Democratic Party as an “establishment” organization is conservative by disposition. When shaken or defeated, or when facing the unknown, like now, such organizations by reflex seek safety in the comfortable and familiar. They shy from risk. Democrats fret about what Republicans might say about them at election time. Inner circles across the country worry about fundraising: regular donors might not support untested, young leaders. Democrats fret about how a new direction might induce “division in the party.” (Translation: chieftains might have less influence going forward).
[…]
After confiding my concerns about Democrats playing it safe in the age of Trump, my friend summed up the situation in a single, powerful metaphor: “The Ring has to go to Mordor. It won’t help to carry it back to The Shire.”
Thank you. Now if only Democrats will reach inside and find some heroes.
It’s clear that Trump’s allies and enablers are spineless. Democrats need to find theirs. Pick a fight. Take risks. Stop living in the past. The norms you grew up with are gone.
Politics Girl (Leigh McGowan) gets what I’ve been writing (but is much better on camera.) *
Democrats are bringing 20th-century knives to a 21st-century gun fight. The Trump-oligarch alliance is not your grandfather’s country-club Republican Party. That’s gone.
Stop trying to play ball with autocrats, hoping for crumbs. Former RNC chair Michael Steele knows better. He knows who gave him fleas.
Next Saturday, Democrats as a party have a chance to set a new direction when they elect new leaders in National Harbor, Md. Will it be new hotness or business as usual? Whom they choose to lead for the Trump 2.0 years will define them or perhaps sink the greater Us.
Choose your fighters and pray they do. We have to work with what we elected in November for at least two years.
* FYI, Bluesky vids still won’t play inside WordPress. Otherwise, I try to avoid X posts.
Not burning out is key to pushing back
This next period of American history is going to be more of slog than the first Trump administration. Pray it isn’t as deadly.
We’re all trying to summon an effective response to Trump 2.0, but the angst gets in the way, doesn’t it? Greg Sargent points to recommendations at Civic Texts, the blog website of technology journalist Alexander B. Howard.
In the wake of Trump pardoning violent Jan. 6 seditionists and portraying them as victims, Howard offers some suggestions for self-care and safety online. “If you want to hit the trifecta of intolerance, ignorance, and bigotry, however, post online about religion, immigration, and the First Amendment at the same time. (It’s like grabbing a third rail, but less fun.)”
Trump and his enablers in the states, in Congress, and in the Supreme Court represent “the worst crisis for the rule of law in my lifetime, paired with a muted response from American society,” Howard writes. “The flood of actions is intentionally designed to overwhelm, intimidate, and flood the zone with cruelty expressly designed to instill hopelessness and fear. The authoritarian playbook is being deployed against Americans at scale.” So far, reaction in Congress is “relatively muted.”
I don’t know where and when the line will be crossed that force Republican senators to check the presidency so clearly unbound by the constitution or rule of law. There is nothing practically to be done about President Trump or former President Biden’s pardons, as that power is near-absolute under our Constitution, checked only by the impeachment and removal from office that is currently unimaginable in this Congress.
For now, senators (including a few Democrats) have submitted to Trumpish humiliation. Not an auspicious sign for any nascent resistance.
Almost as unimaginable is how in an “I’ve got mine culture” where freedom is a worship-word, few seem alarmed that Trump and his Project 2025 allies mean to take theirs from them in a “concerted assault on truth, the rule of law, & the Constitution.”
Howard directs readers to Ben Raderstorf’s “If You Can Keep It” where the policy advocate for Protect Democracy offers advice on how to triage your responses to Trumpish actions and statements. Modulate your expenditure of intellectual and emotional responses to the flood of Trump 2.0 outrages “based on the likelihood and irreparability of the damage.”
It’s best not to burn yourselves out. “Numbing down” (pun intended) opponents is a deliberate component of the authoritarian plan for turning the United States into Viktor Orbán’s Hungary. Or worse.
Authoritarianism thrives on despair. Trump aims to grind down critics by throwing so much at the media, civil society, and his political opponents that they can’t keep up. Every moment we collectively spend chasing outrages that don’t really matter makes it more likely that we lose heart or focus, and then some threat that truly matters slips through.
They mean to “flood the zone with shit,” as Steve Bannon put it. So prioritize.
A few key bullet points:
- Is the action tangible, actionable, and detailed? Or intangible, abstract, and vague?
- Does this thing cause irreparable harm to real people?
- Does this action target the opposition in a way that may cause anticipatory obedience?
- Does this entrench the authoritarian faction in power and make it more difficult to dislodge?
Raderstorf fleshes out those points in “How to pay attention.”
“We refuse to allow any of what we have created to be lost, says Kimberlé Crenshaw of the African American Policy Forum. We are here because the forces behind the Confederacy never gave up after Reconstruction, or after Brown v. Board. Not in 150 years. “What are we gonna do to make sure that we don’t give up?”
First, don’t burn yourselves out chasing every shiny object Trump (and Musk) toss out to elicit an angry response. Be strategic.