This retired ICU nurse watched and heard the entire DOJ Trump tirade. It was like being back in a psych unit again. He is nuts, bonkers, crazy as a loon, a full fledged sociopath. He is very dangerous because they will do anything. Burn the whole place down around him. And he has “Special K” narcissistic sociopath Elon Musk running wild ( reminds me of a bipolar person in manic phase.) They must be stopped. The Calvary isn’t coming.
Yes. Full agreement. As the daughter of a man who was a mentally ill malignant narcissist, who then ended up with dementia I can verify what you're describing. I also ended up with my dad living with me the last 3 years of his life. I won't go into detail here about that as it's all triggering. My therapist wants me to record my story in hopes of helping others. I haven't made a decision yet on that. Now back to my main issue. WHY oh why can't others see what is so abundantly clear?! As a collective group of people (the U.S.) they can't see what is right in front of them?! His whole being shouts hey look at me I'm a lunatic! It rolls off of him in waves. Anyone who is like that is capable of anything. Nothing is off limits to them. I firmly believe until more people identify and acknowledge just how dangerous and unfit he is to be president not much of anything will be done. On a separate note I also feel that part of the problem is Americans have become too complacent. For many life has been too easy. They haven't had to go off fighting in wars to protect our or someone else's freedom in a long time. They assume our freedom is a given. Newsflash, it isn't.
My mother was a narcissistic personality disorder sociopath too. I feel your pain. It is amazing how badly people want to see sociopaths as normal. They are good at knowing which people they can sucker in.
How can people be so gullible? He is stealing our freedoms right from under our noses. He wants to be a strong man. He is a petty com. Why can’t he be stopped?
He can't be stopped because our Congress members are complicit. They could shut him down today. It's as simple as that. Think about that. A group of people who have been elected BY THE PEOPLE have betrayed the very people who have put them in their positions. If I dwell on it all for too long it makes me physically ill. Until they decide to step up expect more of this. This should go without saying but they prove how completely out of touch they are with their constituents. Because no one except his hard-core maga base wants this.
Ugh...Im sorry. I've wondered a few times which was worse, having a mother that way or a father. I'd have to go with the mother. For obvious reasons. We automatically place her in the role of providing for our emotional needs as children. Our fathers not so much. I don't understand how they're able to deceive so many. I used to sit back and watch my dad in action and think whelp he's snared another one in his trap. You have my sympathy.
I too am a retired registered nurse who has worked with addicts, alcoholics, and psych patients. Some were in a specific unit for their care, but the majority were typical medical/surgical patients. As my grandmother used to say “all the crazy people aren’t in Pineville”. This is a state psychiatric hospital in Pineville, Louisiana. I recognized Donald Trump was a sociopath in his first run for president. Any man who will make comments about his own daughter as he did is a sociopath. My husband and I have seen the writing on the wall for some time now. We have watched as the people of our country have become apathetic to the lies and corruption of politicians. I am so scared for our country. For our children and grandchildren. We will be in a civil war before this is all over. There is no way Elon Musk should be involved in our lives. He is not an elected official nor is he a cabinet member. He is also a narcissistic sociopath. His own daughter legally changed her her last name not to be affiliated with her father. She has no sympathy for him. We need to pray and prepare to fight.
“I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.” -Peter Thiel
Elon Musk copted and Peter Thiel founded a company that became PayPal.
Other executives at PayPal went on to found or lead other huge tech companies including YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, Affirm, and many VC firms.
This group became known as the PayPal mafia because they basically controlled Silicon Valley.
Peter Thiel mentored a young JD Vance and helped him get set up in his first VC firm.
Peter Thiel and the PayPal mafia funded JD Vance's successful Senate run. Amazing because he had absolutely zero political experience.
Thiel and Musk all but forced Trump to choose JD Vance as VP in exchange for funding his presidential campaign.
The three of them, plus a lot of other tech billionaires subscribe to an ideology called the Dark Enlightenment espoused by this super weird, creepy dude:
Curtis Yarvin aka Mencius Moldbug.
Yarvin preaches that the media and academia represent "The Cathedral" that secretly controls power and must be dismantled.
He advocates for a corporate run, monarchy, led by a CEO-Dictator. If Trump is gone from office, perhaps by Vance organizing a 25th Amendment removal due to
claims about Trump’s cognitive decline, Vance moves in and that process begins.
Remember, it was just a couple of years ago when Musk said Trump was too old to even be a CEO, let alone the president.
Yarvin says that Democracy is an "outdated software" and openly opposes it and that:
- Government agencies should be dismantled and The U.S. should be broken up into "patchworks" controlled by tech oligarchs.
- That the elite tech billionaires should rule because they have the intelligence to "fix" society
- That the "masses are asses" too dumb to govern themselves.
The strategy is to gut the government via R.A.G.E - Retire All Govt Employees to make government incapable of operating.
Then to replace government with private corporations.
To eliminate elections because they are "obsolete"
To use distraction and chaos to prevent public resistance.
Trump is their useful tool to be disposed of as soon as they can wrest control.
This is why Elon wears a black MAGA hat. They are not Trump supporters, they are "Dark MAGA"
This isn't a hypothetical. The plan is already in motion:
- Musk, Thiel, and their network are actively dismantling democratic institutions.
- JD Vance, the “MAGA heir,” is being positioned to help implement this transition.
- The public is too distracted to realize what’s happening.
- If successful, democracy in America will be permanently replaced by a corporate-run authoritarian state.
---
This excellent video outlines this in-motion strategy:
Time code: 4:30 Vance: "Accept that This entire thing is going to fall in on itself. And so the task of conservatives right now is to preserve as much as can be conserved and so when the inevitable collapse of the country comes ensure that conservatives can help --> build back <-- the country."
The single most frightening think I have ever read is that Curtis Yarvin wants to take the poor, elderly, disabled, weak masses - heck, he might want everyone to end this way - and turn us all into some kind of sick biofuel. BIOFUEL! When I read that I felt like my heart stopped. There are no words to describe how sinister and absolutely disgusting and evil that is. I will fight against these tech sociopaths for as long as I’m here, even in tiny subversive ways. Example - I bought 20 banned books and because the bastards have decided you can’t donate them to schools and libraries I’ve put them in those tiny, little book boxes all over the city. F*** them. It makes me feel better if even one person reads one book.
Good for you for fighting and doing what every American needs to do: civics.
“For, in a democracy, every citizen, regardless of his interest in politics, 'holds office'; every one of us is in a position of responsibility; and, in the final analysis, the kind of government we get depends upon how we fulfill those responsibilities. We, the people, are the boss, and we will get the kind of political leadership, be it good or bad, that we demand and deserve.” —John F. Kennedy
“We are the government. You and I.” —Theodore Roosevelt
"But, Jefferson worried that the people - and the argument goes back to Thucydides and Aristotle - are easily misled. He also stressed, passionately and repeatedly, that it was essential for the people to understand the risks and benefits of government, to educate themselves, and to involve themselves in the political process. Without that, he said, the wolves will take over." —Carl Sagan
"Unless the people, through unified action, arise and take charge of their government, they will find that their government has taken charge of them. Independence and liberty will be gone, and the general public will find itself in a condition of servitude to an aggregation of organized and selfish interest." —Calvin Coolidge
"Every citizenry has the government they deserve" —Joseph de Maistre
Aristotle wanted monarchy and opposed direct democracy and republics because direct democracy and republics led to demagoguery, Big Money, and mob rule (not in the sense of ochlocracy, but in the sense of stereotypical Stupublicans and before the political realignment Dixiecrats, as well as the fanatics in the socialistic movement - like the anarchists and syndicalists, the latter including proto-fascists and the fascistic movement).
I have been fixing up beater houses my whole life. Whenever I frame in a wall and sheetrock it, I always throw in a couple of my out-of-date political books for insulation...my version of a time capsule. Of course these days book burning comes as a wildfire.
TriTorch, you left out the dark lords at the Federalist Society; They've been plotting a long time.
The sad truth is we are all *guilty - me too, of being too busy to notice while all this was simmering. There were warnings, in fact I sounded a few but was thought to be 'nuts' - histrionic.
By a stroke of bad luck I wound up at a conservative Catholic law school, and my Con law professor was very active in the Federalist Society. Circa 1981. They’ve been playing the long game at least since then. I think that experience was singularly important in my having given up the idea of practicing law, although I did finish what I started and picked up a JD. In the end, I found that at least knowing how the game is played made the experience, on balance, worthwhile.
Trump isn't acting like a stereotypical Alzheimer's patient, so they won't be able to get justification: many people with Alzheimer's can still do their jobs. Also, they wouldn't dare, due to the Trumpanzees.
They know they need Trump (since the base serves Trump) and thus they will not get rid of him. Trump serves the Conservative Lions (the toned down neoconservatives) which includes nearly all of the rich people in his Cabinet and thus they will not get rid of him as long as he continues to serve them. When Trump becomes powerful enough to no longer need them (the Bernie Bros, the hard greens, the socialistic movement like the anarchists and syndicalists, the Trumpanzees, and ironically Big Money like the Conservative Lions, will speed up the works with a Second Constitution at the end of 2028) they will not care since they think they will be able to control Ivanka, but it will become clear at the end of 2030 that they will not be able to. Also, they cannot create a justification since Trump has been acting like this since 2015 and they did nothing about it.
That’s an excellent summary of what I heard too. “Dark Enlightenment” - sounds like a secret “black arts” society. I almost didn’t use “” around the word “black” but then I guess that would miss part of Elon and Trump’s who schtick. The eugenics thing is part of it too.
That's why they don't care about Social Security, health insurance, SNAP, etc. I really believe they just plan to let the elderly, disabled, poor, chronically ill, and homeless just die. They have no use for us.
The only reason the public is distracted is because of the shock and awe approach of Project 2025 and trump and Musk's dismantling of our government. Every day - no, every hour of every day - there's a new outrage happening. It's more than our brains can handle, and the feeling of helplessness, of "how the hell do we stop this?" is overwhelming. If you have a solution for this, do share it. Because right now it feels like a steam roller is heading straight for us, our bodies bound in the stars & stripes and lined up supine on the asphalt.
The only real solutions are to get control of our local town councils, mayoral offices, and school boards while doing all we can to become self-sufficient in order to wean ourselves off of their control grid. There are many ways to achieve this here: https://tritorch.substack.com/p/united-we-stand-divided-we-fall
This is a very accurate outline of who is running the country, some behind the scene. Most people have never heard of Curtis Yarvin. Peter Thiel and Vance (owned by Thiel) are fully on board with Yarvin’s sick “philosophy.”
I am glad some smart people are hopeful, cuz I am not.
I’m 70 so no big deal for me but thinking about the future for my kids and my grandchildren makes me profoundly sad.
Really? I don’t think so, but maybe? Anyway, I wish there was a way to get people to pay attention to their plan… because they are deadly serious and so far, have been pretty darn effective
God help all of us! JD Vance had no money to run for the Senate. Thiel is the one who financed him to get into Congress. Everything you said is true. I know how to stop them. If Congress doesn't get off its ass, our military has to intervene and bodily throw those punks out of the White House. Better yet hang all of them for high treason to the people and the U.S. Constitution. I have reached a point that I hate this country! And even more so it's stupid ass ignorant citizens. Trump has done nothing but be a damn liar.
I’m very sorry that I can’t afford to be a paid subscriber anymore but I’m very grateful for your ongoing truthful perceptions of America. I haven’t lived in America for many years and maybe that’s why I’ve been able to see its disintegration more clearly over the years. I’ve been trying to warn my American friends and relatives for at least 25 years but they just laughed and said everything will be OK. Now everything is obviously not OK but most of them tell me they don’t watch the news and just want to stay positive. I’m speechless.
I wonder if America’s karma is finally catching up and it’s time to pay the piper? The European colonization of the Americas reduced the indigenous population by 90% in the century following 1492 and caused the deaths of about 56 million people by 1600. The deaths are attributes to factors including introduced disease, such as smallpox and measles, as well as warfare and societal collapse.
Is this the next episode in this daily drama?
Could Russia Win a War Against America Without Ever Firing a Shot? Russia’s cyber attack on Ukraine and subsequent invasion may just have been a dress rehearsal…
Where are you getting that? I’ve known Hartmann to be a progressive/center-left thinker and talk show guy.
I’d say you must be thinking of someone else, unless you’ve got some secret info that’s been hidden for the last couple of decades! Could you please corroborate your accusations?
Mary, I am two years younger than you are and I’d just started college in 1985. I love Aimee Mann and oh, that album from Kate Bush is just perfection. Thanks for sharing this with us. I keep thinking about the past…like oh my god I was 20 years old and had no idea I only had 38 years until my country became a fascist hellscape. I sit and pine for all the years when we were living in a far from perfect country, but nothing like the nightmare it is now. I feel like a secret clock was ticking and ten years ago many of us started to hear it tick louder and louder until the alarm started ringing and ringing louder and louder like someone screaming and we can’t turn it off. I protest, I march, I call my CA reps (all Democrats but I tell them they need to get their sh** together) I give what money I can to important elections coming up. Sometimes I think it’s all futile. But in the end, I won’t be able to live with myself if I did absolutely nothing. Thank you for being a light in the darkest, darkest night. You are someone, who no matter, what, will always make me feel like I’m not alone. Thank you.
Mary, I am writing to discuss April 20th, when DJT can use the Insurrection Act to declare martial law. If this is allowed to happen, and he can use the vast powers of the Presidency unencumbered, the world is heading into another dark age. Why are none of our leaders screaming about this? Why are lawsuits not being filed to stop him from using this power during peacetime?
I know you are already working on this or will know who to turn to prevent this.
I think we're getting to the point where lawsuits aren't going to be enough. He's already ignoring court orders. If this isn't stopped soon, I fear far worse than a dark age. With three authoritarian regimes fighting over the Arctic's resources (and a poor record of honoring treaties), I see global war.
Russia and China will be too weak for years to go to wat, but judging by China's five year plans, Russia being supplied by China and India, Putin no doubt purging the pro-American oligarchs in the future and also forcing HIS oligarchs to hand over more of their fortunes to him as capo di capo di tutti, and Russia becoming a total war economy by next year, I would think they would be ready to fight by the end of 2030. Since Great Powers do not attack each other, I would think geopolitical interests in the developing world (after the developing world stabilizes after the War on Terror, the fall of rogue states, and the Ukraine conflict) will result in a war which will escalate to include all the Great Powers by early 2033 (but the U.S will not get involved due to becoming isolationist due to pre-2030 Russia and China being weak: we can assume it will get involved in early 2036).
I forgot about that, but he will only declare martial law when extending the state of emergency fails to kick out migrants, thus I think he will "only' declare martial law on January 20th, 2026 (and to be fair, since there will be a recession by then martial law could theoretically end it by cracking down on crime and encouraging the militarization of labour).
Call me an optimist, (and I am), but I have faith in the American people. Watching all the demonstrations, the Republican town halls, gives me hope that my faith is not misplaced,and the good people of America shall prevail. If you have any doubts, watch this video. It's a wonderful story of ordinary people is a small town in New Jersey standing up for a beloved couple who got arrested by ICE. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqF0lX-sMmY
Last night, Rachel Maddow showed a focus group of Michigan Trump voters. They could not believe what Trump was doing and seemed to regret their vote. My thought was how did they not see it. The level of stupidity of the electorate baffles me. Sorry no imagination was required to see this one coming.
I took my young granddaughter with me to a Hillary rally 3 days before the presidential election. Hillary was a few hours late because she was flying in from Reno. When she took the stage, she commended the crowd and warned us about this Donald Trump. I told my granddaughter see her, she is going to become our first woman president. The 1st Rubicon Mary? You're right, he cheated and lied and successfully killed the dreams of all US women in 2016.
many are very slow to the gate to get the message regarding trump..however..they are beginning to see it and get angry..on MSNBC tonight,rachel maddow showed clips from a teleconference type interview with voters in wisconson,( i believe there were 9)..in any case all of them had voted for trump, and all were now having "buyers remorse" because they all thought he was going to improve the economy and bring prices down..one lady admitted he was becoming a dictator, and NOT doing things he had promised for the economy..others concurred and had a few more comments..problem is,2 months in and we are already in a constitutional crisis thanks to trump, ,and the sycophants in the house and senate will not do anything to rattle the poor old mans cage!they wont even do town halls or contest elon musk,who is NOT elected..he certainly is getting to play games with our government,and it IS a game to him as he laughs about it every interview..he bought and paid for mr trump..
There is no deus ex machina. It has come down to you and me. trump has to be stopped and WE have to do it. WE have to be the ones who stand in front of the tank
Thank you, Mary 💙, for your column tonight and song.
I have been paying attention for too long since it was something I was and am good at. Since it was EASY for me to understand what was going on in the news when I watched it, it has been a hard realization after the 2024 election that the majority of voters do not want to watch the news or even listen to the news.
Due to their amnesia, I am afraid that society will not recover from Donald's and Elon's wrecking ball to the government.
Thank you for supplying this link. In support of Canada, I wear a T-shirt with the Canadian maple leaf and the message "Elbows Up" every day now. I got it from a Canadian seller on Etsy.
I'm going to respond to my own question by at least saying… join protests, town halls, office visits, calls to reps, boycotts, read banned books, & so much more. #DoSomething #DoNotObeyInAdvance
This retired ICU nurse watched and heard the entire DOJ Trump tirade. It was like being back in a psych unit again. He is nuts, bonkers, crazy as a loon, a full fledged sociopath. He is very dangerous because they will do anything. Burn the whole place down around him. And he has “Special K” narcissistic sociopath Elon Musk running wild ( reminds me of a bipolar person in manic phase.) They must be stopped. The Calvary isn’t coming.
Yes. Full agreement. As the daughter of a man who was a mentally ill malignant narcissist, who then ended up with dementia I can verify what you're describing. I also ended up with my dad living with me the last 3 years of his life. I won't go into detail here about that as it's all triggering. My therapist wants me to record my story in hopes of helping others. I haven't made a decision yet on that. Now back to my main issue. WHY oh why can't others see what is so abundantly clear?! As a collective group of people (the U.S.) they can't see what is right in front of them?! His whole being shouts hey look at me I'm a lunatic! It rolls off of him in waves. Anyone who is like that is capable of anything. Nothing is off limits to them. I firmly believe until more people identify and acknowledge just how dangerous and unfit he is to be president not much of anything will be done. On a separate note I also feel that part of the problem is Americans have become too complacent. For many life has been too easy. They haven't had to go off fighting in wars to protect our or someone else's freedom in a long time. They assume our freedom is a given. Newsflash, it isn't.
My mother was a narcissistic personality disorder sociopath too. I feel your pain. It is amazing how badly people want to see sociopaths as normal. They are good at knowing which people they can sucker in.
How can people be so gullible? He is stealing our freedoms right from under our noses. He wants to be a strong man. He is a petty com. Why can’t he be stopped?
He can't be stopped because our Congress members are complicit. They could shut him down today. It's as simple as that. Think about that. A group of people who have been elected BY THE PEOPLE have betrayed the very people who have put them in their positions. If I dwell on it all for too long it makes me physically ill. Until they decide to step up expect more of this. This should go without saying but they prove how completely out of touch they are with their constituents. Because no one except his hard-core maga base wants this.
Ugh...Im sorry. I've wondered a few times which was worse, having a mother that way or a father. I'd have to go with the mother. For obvious reasons. We automatically place her in the role of providing for our emotional needs as children. Our fathers not so much. I don't understand how they're able to deceive so many. I used to sit back and watch my dad in action and think whelp he's snared another one in his trap. You have my sympathy.
I too am a retired registered nurse who has worked with addicts, alcoholics, and psych patients. Some were in a specific unit for their care, but the majority were typical medical/surgical patients. As my grandmother used to say “all the crazy people aren’t in Pineville”. This is a state psychiatric hospital in Pineville, Louisiana. I recognized Donald Trump was a sociopath in his first run for president. Any man who will make comments about his own daughter as he did is a sociopath. My husband and I have seen the writing on the wall for some time now. We have watched as the people of our country have become apathetic to the lies and corruption of politicians. I am so scared for our country. For our children and grandchildren. We will be in a civil war before this is all over. There is no way Elon Musk should be involved in our lives. He is not an elected official nor is he a cabinet member. He is also a narcissistic sociopath. His own daughter legally changed her her last name not to be affiliated with her father. She has no sympathy for him. We need to pray and prepare to fight.
For now it seems, we 'are' the cavalry; When it hits boil over.
Yep, we are the Calvary
I agree. I think the muskrat is manic.
Special K
Yes, both manic + ketamine.
Special K?
Ketamine
Thank you.
Street drug name for … Ketamine, because it causes a dissociative state.
Yep
Yep!
HOW can they be stopped?
Guillotines come to mind.
Mary, you are in a tough position. I admire your courage.
I do, too, Molly! Dr. Trump is so strong! It takes courage to write about a family like the orange man's. I admire and respect her very much!
I did not write this:
---
“I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.” -Peter Thiel
Elon Musk copted and Peter Thiel founded a company that became PayPal.
Other executives at PayPal went on to found or lead other huge tech companies including YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, Affirm, and many VC firms.
This group became known as the PayPal mafia because they basically controlled Silicon Valley.
Peter Thiel mentored a young JD Vance and helped him get set up in his first VC firm.
Peter Thiel and the PayPal mafia funded JD Vance's successful Senate run. Amazing because he had absolutely zero political experience.
Thiel and Musk all but forced Trump to choose JD Vance as VP in exchange for funding his presidential campaign.
The three of them, plus a lot of other tech billionaires subscribe to an ideology called the Dark Enlightenment espoused by this super weird, creepy dude:
Curtis Yarvin aka Mencius Moldbug.
Yarvin preaches that the media and academia represent "The Cathedral" that secretly controls power and must be dismantled.
He advocates for a corporate run, monarchy, led by a CEO-Dictator. If Trump is gone from office, perhaps by Vance organizing a 25th Amendment removal due to
claims about Trump’s cognitive decline, Vance moves in and that process begins.
Remember, it was just a couple of years ago when Musk said Trump was too old to even be a CEO, let alone the president.
Yarvin says that Democracy is an "outdated software" and openly opposes it and that:
- Government agencies should be dismantled and The U.S. should be broken up into "patchworks" controlled by tech oligarchs.
- That the elite tech billionaires should rule because they have the intelligence to "fix" society
- That the "masses are asses" too dumb to govern themselves.
The strategy is to gut the government via R.A.G.E - Retire All Govt Employees to make government incapable of operating.
Then to replace government with private corporations.
To eliminate elections because they are "obsolete"
To use distraction and chaos to prevent public resistance.
Trump is their useful tool to be disposed of as soon as they can wrest control.
This is why Elon wears a black MAGA hat. They are not Trump supporters, they are "Dark MAGA"
This isn't a hypothetical. The plan is already in motion:
- Musk, Thiel, and their network are actively dismantling democratic institutions.
- JD Vance, the “MAGA heir,” is being positioned to help implement this transition.
- The public is too distracted to realize what’s happening.
- If successful, democracy in America will be permanently replaced by a corporate-run authoritarian state.
---
This excellent video outlines this in-motion strategy:
Time code: 4:30 Vance: "Accept that This entire thing is going to fall in on itself. And so the task of conservatives right now is to preserve as much as can be conserved and so when the inevitable collapse of the country comes ensure that conservatives can help --> build back <-- the country."
Purpose of DOGE: Dismantle Existing System of Governance & Build Back Spiderweb AI Infrastructure: https://old.bitchute.com/video/EUer0GMfzKvl [7:03mins]
The single most frightening think I have ever read is that Curtis Yarvin wants to take the poor, elderly, disabled, weak masses - heck, he might want everyone to end this way - and turn us all into some kind of sick biofuel. BIOFUEL! When I read that I felt like my heart stopped. There are no words to describe how sinister and absolutely disgusting and evil that is. I will fight against these tech sociopaths for as long as I’m here, even in tiny subversive ways. Example - I bought 20 banned books and because the bastards have decided you can’t donate them to schools and libraries I’ve put them in those tiny, little book boxes all over the city. F*** them. It makes me feel better if even one person reads one book.
Good for you for fighting and doing what every American needs to do: civics.
“For, in a democracy, every citizen, regardless of his interest in politics, 'holds office'; every one of us is in a position of responsibility; and, in the final analysis, the kind of government we get depends upon how we fulfill those responsibilities. We, the people, are the boss, and we will get the kind of political leadership, be it good or bad, that we demand and deserve.” —John F. Kennedy
“We are the government. You and I.” —Theodore Roosevelt
"But, Jefferson worried that the people - and the argument goes back to Thucydides and Aristotle - are easily misled. He also stressed, passionately and repeatedly, that it was essential for the people to understand the risks and benefits of government, to educate themselves, and to involve themselves in the political process. Without that, he said, the wolves will take over." —Carl Sagan
"Unless the people, through unified action, arise and take charge of their government, they will find that their government has taken charge of them. Independence and liberty will be gone, and the general public will find itself in a condition of servitude to an aggregation of organized and selfish interest." —Calvin Coolidge
"Every citizenry has the government they deserve" —Joseph de Maistre
Aristotle wanted monarchy and opposed direct democracy and republics because direct democracy and republics led to demagoguery, Big Money, and mob rule (not in the sense of ochlocracy, but in the sense of stereotypical Stupublicans and before the political realignment Dixiecrats, as well as the fanatics in the socialistic movement - like the anarchists and syndicalists, the latter including proto-fascists and the fascistic movement).
I have been fixing up beater houses my whole life. Whenever I frame in a wall and sheetrock it, I always throw in a couple of my out-of-date political books for insulation...my version of a time capsule. Of course these days book burning comes as a wildfire.
That is so cool!
Ever see "Soylent Green?"
Good for you, Denise!
Reminds me of the movie Soylent Green!
TriTorch, you left out the dark lords at the Federalist Society; They've been plotting a long time.
The sad truth is we are all *guilty - me too, of being too busy to notice while all this was simmering. There were warnings, in fact I sounded a few but was thought to be 'nuts' - histrionic.
By a stroke of bad luck I wound up at a conservative Catholic law school, and my Con law professor was very active in the Federalist Society. Circa 1981. They’ve been playing the long game at least since then. I think that experience was singularly important in my having given up the idea of practicing law, although I did finish what I started and picked up a JD. In the end, I found that at least knowing how the game is played made the experience, on balance, worthwhile.
Can you say what you ended up doing, career wise ? That's a lot of time committed to that degree.
I ended up working as a regulator in environmental protection, both at sea and on land.
Wow Bill ! I 'see' you and you have my utmost admiration and respect. Thank you so much for your service.
They are a severely mentally ill bunch.
Trump isn't acting like a stereotypical Alzheimer's patient, so they won't be able to get justification: many people with Alzheimer's can still do their jobs. Also, they wouldn't dare, due to the Trumpanzees.
They will invent justification. All he needs is the billionaires in the cabinet to vote his way.
They know they need Trump (since the base serves Trump) and thus they will not get rid of him. Trump serves the Conservative Lions (the toned down neoconservatives) which includes nearly all of the rich people in his Cabinet and thus they will not get rid of him as long as he continues to serve them. When Trump becomes powerful enough to no longer need them (the Bernie Bros, the hard greens, the socialistic movement like the anarchists and syndicalists, the Trumpanzees, and ironically Big Money like the Conservative Lions, will speed up the works with a Second Constitution at the end of 2028) they will not care since they think they will be able to control Ivanka, but it will become clear at the end of 2030 that they will not be able to. Also, they cannot create a justification since Trump has been acting like this since 2015 and they did nothing about it.
That’s an excellent summary of what I heard too. “Dark Enlightenment” - sounds like a secret “black arts” society. I almost didn’t use “” around the word “black” but then I guess that would miss part of Elon and Trump’s who schtick. The eugenics thing is part of it too.
That's why they don't care about Social Security, health insurance, SNAP, etc. I really believe they just plan to let the elderly, disabled, poor, chronically ill, and homeless just die. They have no use for us.
And collect the spoils of war.
The only reason the public is distracted is because of the shock and awe approach of Project 2025 and trump and Musk's dismantling of our government. Every day - no, every hour of every day - there's a new outrage happening. It's more than our brains can handle, and the feeling of helplessness, of "how the hell do we stop this?" is overwhelming. If you have a solution for this, do share it. Because right now it feels like a steam roller is heading straight for us, our bodies bound in the stars & stripes and lined up supine on the asphalt.
The only real solutions are to get control of our local town councils, mayoral offices, and school boards while doing all we can to become self-sufficient in order to wean ourselves off of their control grid. There are many ways to achieve this here: https://tritorch.substack.com/p/united-we-stand-divided-we-fall
This is a very accurate outline of who is running the country, some behind the scene. Most people have never heard of Curtis Yarvin. Peter Thiel and Vance (owned by Thiel) are fully on board with Yarvin’s sick “philosophy.”
I am glad some smart people are hopeful, cuz I am not.
I’m 70 so no big deal for me but thinking about the future for my kids and my grandchildren makes me profoundly sad.
I think most people have heard of Mencius Moldbug, but do not know his real name.
Really? I don’t think so, but maybe? Anyway, I wish there was a way to get people to pay attention to their plan… because they are deadly serious and so far, have been pretty darn effective
God help all of us! JD Vance had no money to run for the Senate. Thiel is the one who financed him to get into Congress. Everything you said is true. I know how to stop them. If Congress doesn't get off its ass, our military has to intervene and bodily throw those punks out of the White House. Better yet hang all of them for high treason to the people and the U.S. Constitution. I have reached a point that I hate this country! And even more so it's stupid ass ignorant citizens. Trump has done nothing but be a damn liar.
Can you please name the author of this quote so I can share?
The most prolific of all writers: unknown
Women must save our sacred democracy. Katanji Brown Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan show our stunning diversity. They and our judiciary must stop Orange Hitler Caesar: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/women-will-save-our-democracy
And there are others… Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Tammy Duckworth, Elizabeth Warren, etc.
Klobuchar…
Also Jasmine Crockett and Chris Murphy
I’m very sorry that I can’t afford to be a paid subscriber anymore but I’m very grateful for your ongoing truthful perceptions of America. I haven’t lived in America for many years and maybe that’s why I’ve been able to see its disintegration more clearly over the years. I’ve been trying to warn my American friends and relatives for at least 25 years but they just laughed and said everything will be OK. Now everything is obviously not OK but most of them tell me they don’t watch the news and just want to stay positive. I’m speechless.
I wonder if America’s karma is finally catching up and it’s time to pay the piper? The European colonization of the Americas reduced the indigenous population by 90% in the century following 1492 and caused the deaths of about 56 million people by 1600. The deaths are attributes to factors including introduced disease, such as smallpox and measles, as well as warfare and societal collapse.
Is this the next episode in this daily drama?
Could Russia Win a War Against America Without Ever Firing a Shot? Russia’s cyber attack on Ukraine and subsequent invasion may just have been a dress rehearsal…
https://hartmannreport.com/p/could-russia-win-a-war-against-america
Karma? Could be.
Thom Hartmann is a Putin-lover, a Truther, a Birther, and an anti-Semite.
Where are you getting that? I’ve known Hartmann to be a progressive/center-left thinker and talk show guy.
I’d say you must be thinking of someone else, unless you’ve got some secret info that’s been hidden for the last couple of decades! Could you please corroborate your accusations?
Eff you !
Look him up on RationalWiki.
Mary, I am two years younger than you are and I’d just started college in 1985. I love Aimee Mann and oh, that album from Kate Bush is just perfection. Thanks for sharing this with us. I keep thinking about the past…like oh my god I was 20 years old and had no idea I only had 38 years until my country became a fascist hellscape. I sit and pine for all the years when we were living in a far from perfect country, but nothing like the nightmare it is now. I feel like a secret clock was ticking and ten years ago many of us started to hear it tick louder and louder until the alarm started ringing and ringing louder and louder like someone screaming and we can’t turn it off. I protest, I march, I call my CA reps (all Democrats but I tell them they need to get their sh** together) I give what money I can to important elections coming up. Sometimes I think it’s all futile. But in the end, I won’t be able to live with myself if I did absolutely nothing. Thank you for being a light in the darkest, darkest night. You are someone, who no matter, what, will always make me feel like I’m not alone. Thank you.
80's music was awesome. Those deep vinyl cuts. Concert tickets for $25.
Agree with all of this.
Thank you for standing strong & continuing to speak the truth. I pray someday (soon), you are blessed/rewarded for your strength.💙
Mary, I am writing to discuss April 20th, when DJT can use the Insurrection Act to declare martial law. If this is allowed to happen, and he can use the vast powers of the Presidency unencumbered, the world is heading into another dark age. Why are none of our leaders screaming about this? Why are lawsuits not being filed to stop him from using this power during peacetime?
I know you are already working on this or will know who to turn to prevent this.
God bless you, Mary.
Randall Gillispie
I think we're getting to the point where lawsuits aren't going to be enough. He's already ignoring court orders. If this isn't stopped soon, I fear far worse than a dark age. With three authoritarian regimes fighting over the Arctic's resources (and a poor record of honoring treaties), I see global war.
Russia and China will be too weak for years to go to wat, but judging by China's five year plans, Russia being supplied by China and India, Putin no doubt purging the pro-American oligarchs in the future and also forcing HIS oligarchs to hand over more of their fortunes to him as capo di capo di tutti, and Russia becoming a total war economy by next year, I would think they would be ready to fight by the end of 2030. Since Great Powers do not attack each other, I would think geopolitical interests in the developing world (after the developing world stabilizes after the War on Terror, the fall of rogue states, and the Ukraine conflict) will result in a war which will escalate to include all the Great Powers by early 2033 (but the U.S will not get involved due to becoming isolationist due to pre-2030 Russia and China being weak: we can assume it will get involved in early 2036).
I forgot about that, but he will only declare martial law when extending the state of emergency fails to kick out migrants, thus I think he will "only' declare martial law on January 20th, 2026 (and to be fair, since there will be a recession by then martial law could theoretically end it by cracking down on crime and encouraging the militarization of labour).
Call me an optimist, (and I am), but I have faith in the American people. Watching all the demonstrations, the Republican town halls, gives me hope that my faith is not misplaced,and the good people of America shall prevail. If you have any doubts, watch this video. It's a wonderful story of ordinary people is a small town in New Jersey standing up for a beloved couple who got arrested by ICE. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqF0lX-sMmY
Last night, Rachel Maddow showed a focus group of Michigan Trump voters. They could not believe what Trump was doing and seemed to regret their vote. My thought was how did they not see it. The level of stupidity of the electorate baffles me. Sorry no imagination was required to see this one coming.
I took my young granddaughter with me to a Hillary rally 3 days before the presidential election. Hillary was a few hours late because she was flying in from Reno. When she took the stage, she commended the crowd and warned us about this Donald Trump. I told my granddaughter see her, she is going to become our first woman president. The 1st Rubicon Mary? You're right, he cheated and lied and successfully killed the dreams of all US women in 2016.
many are very slow to the gate to get the message regarding trump..however..they are beginning to see it and get angry..on MSNBC tonight,rachel maddow showed clips from a teleconference type interview with voters in wisconson,( i believe there were 9)..in any case all of them had voted for trump, and all were now having "buyers remorse" because they all thought he was going to improve the economy and bring prices down..one lady admitted he was becoming a dictator, and NOT doing things he had promised for the economy..others concurred and had a few more comments..problem is,2 months in and we are already in a constitutional crisis thanks to trump, ,and the sycophants in the house and senate will not do anything to rattle the poor old mans cage!they wont even do town halls or contest elon musk,who is NOT elected..he certainly is getting to play games with our government,and it IS a game to him as he laughs about it every interview..he bought and paid for mr trump..
There is no deus ex machina. It has come down to you and me. trump has to be stopped and WE have to do it. WE have to be the ones who stand in front of the tank
I’m ready to do so.
Thank you, Mary 💙, for your column tonight and song.
I have been paying attention for too long since it was something I was and am good at. Since it was EASY for me to understand what was going on in the news when I watched it, it has been a hard realization after the 2024 election that the majority of voters do not want to watch the news or even listen to the news.
Due to their amnesia, I am afraid that society will not recover from Donald's and Elon's wrecking ball to the government.
I know how you feel, and here is someone else that also does. I hope this helps you know you are not alone.
CHARLIE ANGUS - ELBOWS UP/ RALLY FOR CANADA- London, Ontario
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mDGmmc67vh8
BTW Charlie is doing a cross Canada tour on the ElbowsUP campaign
Thank you for supplying this link. In support of Canada, I wear a T-shirt with the Canadian maple leaf and the message "Elbows Up" every day now. I got it from a Canadian seller on Etsy.
Even when everyone does see what's happening before their eyes... How do we actually stop it?
I'm going to respond to my own question by at least saying… join protests, town halls, office visits, calls to reps, boycotts, read banned books, & so much more. #DoSomething #DoNotObeyInAdvance